Tag Archives : Columbia Business School

Just weeks after ending its joint EMBA program with Haas, Columbia Business School has announced it will go it alone with a new executive program called EMBA-Americas. As its name suggests, the new program will serve experienced professionals living in North and South America.

While Columbia previously served EMBA students in New York and in the Bay Area (throughs its partnership with Haas), the school will now offer programs that meet in multiple locations in the Americas. In response to changing market conditions, Columbia will make an effort to bring the EMBA experience to students, in their local markets. According to the school’s website: “Columbia EMBA-Americas is designed for highly accomplished and motivated professionals who are looking to enhance their career with a top executive MBA degree, but whose location or schedule precludes them from attending the traditional alternating weekend format of Columbia’s EMBA New York Program.”

They say breaking up is hard to do. Don’t tell that to Columbia Business School and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, which announced that they will exit the Berkeley-Columbia Executive MBA Program in February 2013, when the current EMBA class graduates. In a joint announcement, the deans of the two schools said that the breakup was mutual, and was made in recognition of each program’s future plans.

The joint program, which has been around since 2002, was originally hailed as the ultimate “East Meets West” power combination, with Wall Street smart combining with Silicon Valley brains to create the next big thing in executive education. While the program has been a success by virtually any measure, one big thing has changed over the past decade: Both schools have announced or introduced their own in-house executive MBA options, leaving little room for the joint program.

Among Veritas Prep admissions consulting clients, Columbia Business School attracts more applications than all but several other schools. It’s no surprise, given how many grads Columbia places into high-paying Wall Street jobs every year. What may surprise you, though, is how many applicants apply to Columbia without really knowing whether or not it’s a good fit for them. We always urge these applicants to go back and do their homework a bit more before they start crafting their Columbia applications.

Are you thinking about applying to Columbia Business School? How do you know if Columbia really is a good fit for you? Today we present five reasons why Columbia may be the perfect school for you to target for your MBA experience:

Today we share an insider’s perspective from a current first-year Columbia Business School student. We asked him to share his thoughts on Columbia, the school’s culture, and whether or not the impression that some people have — that it’s a commuter school for many students — is true.

His guest blog post provides a terrific, candid take on what life is really like at Columbia. Read on!

Previously we announced that Columbia Business School had released its admissions deadlines for the 2011-2012 application season. The school has also released its admissions essays, and we’ll dig into those today.

Note that the first step to applying to Columbia is to create an “Inside MBA” account on the school’s website. Columbia requires you to create a separate account on the school’s actual application site, too. This can be a little confusing, although Columbia seems to be working toward consolidating the two under the “Inside MBA” system.

Continuing the trickle of new essays and deadlines coming from top schools for the 2011-2012 admissions season, Columbia Business School has released its deadlines for the new application season. Remember that Columbia is somewhat unique in that it not only has a September intake, but also a January one. This “J-Term” is really a 16-month program most suitable for someone who doesn’t need the benefit of an MBA summer internship. Columbia is also different in that it has a rolling admissions process without three discrete rounds, as is typical at most MBA programs.

We get no shortage of inquiries about Columbia Business School from applicants. It’s no wonder, given the school’s strong ties to the banking sector and its Ivy League heritage. You would be surprised, however, by how many applicants don’t really know the school before they apply. We always urge these applicants to go back and do their homework a bit more before they start crafting their Columbia applications.

Recently Columbia Business School and Columbia Law School jointly announced a new three-year JD/MBA program, joining schools such as Northwestern and Yale that have seen these accelerated programs grow in popularity over the past few years. The new program will accept its first class in the fall of 2011.

While the program’s final details are still taking shape, this is what we know so far: Columbia JD/MBA students will spend their first and third years at the law school and their second year at the business school. Students must complete each school’s core curriculum requirements, and can enroll in electives cross-listed at both schools. JD/MBA students will also be able to choose from any electives listed solely at either school. These students will be considered full-fledged members of both Columbia Law School and Columbia Business School. As such, they will have access to all of the academic, networking, and career opportunities that all students can use in both schools.

Continuing a string of Columbia Business School-related news, last week the school announced its new EMBA Saturday, a new variety of Columbia’s popular executive education program. The school’s existing program, now called the EMBA Friday-Saturday program, remains.

Henry Kravis, a Columbia MBA (Class of 1969), made headlines yesterday when he announced a gift of $100 million to Columbia Business School. The donation will help fund the construction of Columbia Business School’s new facilities in Manhattanville, just north of the Columbia’s Morningside Campus.

Last week Columbia Business School released its online application for the 2010-2011 admissions season. Oddly, they seem to make applicants create two accounts on their site: One on their “Inside MBA” site and one on Apply Yourself, which actually hosts Columbia’s online application.

Continuing our series of admissions insights clipped from Veritas Prep’s Annual Reports, our in-depth insider’s guides to 15 of the world’s top business schools, this week we look at six of Columbia Business School’s most popular professors. (Our Annual reports are absolutely free with registration, but we thought we’d share some snippets here to help get you started in your Columbia research.)

As we round out our analysis of the top MBA program’s application essays, here are Columbia Business School’s application essays and deadlines for the September 2010 intake. Everything remains pretty the the same since last year, but we’ve put everything to make sure our readers have everything they need. Our comments follow in italics:

Two weeks ago Columbia started accepting applications for the January 2010 intake of its accelerated MBA program. There is just a single deadline — October 7, 2009 — and the school promises a response time of eight weeks after an application goes into review. Below are the Columbia J-Term’s admissions essays, with our comments in italics:

Columbia January Term Admissions Essays

1. What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will Columbia Business School help you achieve these goals? (750 words)

(This is the fairly standard “Why an MBA? / Why this school?” question, but your answer will need to be a little more focused than the answer that an applicant would submit to a typical two-year program. The J-Term is especially designed for young professionals who plan to return to their current employers or otherwise don’t need the benefit of a summer internship to transition to a new career, and Columbia will closely look for evidence that you understand the pros and cons that such an accelerated program offers.)

Columbia Business School’s online application is available for the 2008-2009 season. Below are are this year’s Columbia application deadlines and admissions essays (our comments are in italics):

Columbia Business School Application Deadlines
Jan. ’09 Accelerated Program: October 8, 2008
Sep. ’09 Class, Early Decision: October 8, 2008
Sep. ’09 Class, International Applicants: March 4, 2009
Sep. ’09 Class, U.S. Applicants: April 15, 2009

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