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: (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.) (The important takeaway for you as an applicant is that Columbia prides itself on its Master Classes, so make sure you understand what they are and why they are important to the Columbia academic experience. Columbia, like many other top schools, has made a push to better connect the theory covered in its core classes with the practical challenges that its graduates will face, and Master Classes are the school’s way of doing that. For your response, while this question doesn’t specifically ask about a professional failure, such an example might provide you with rich material for a response. Just be sure to emphasize what you learned as a result, and, ideally, how you applied this lesson later on. Even though the next question specifically asks for a failure, don’t be afraid to use another failure for this question if that would answer the question best.) (As we always say, the admissions office is most interested in what you learned from such a failure. Although the second part of this question asks a theoretical question — What would you do? — ideally you can describe a time when you applied what you learned to another real-life situation, thus preventing the same problem from happening again.) (Use this space wisely. If there is a glaring weakness in your profile, and you have not already addressed in somewhere else in your application, then you can use this space to succinctly address it. However, do not dwell on your weaknesses, go on and on with excuses about something that happened ten years ago, or unduly draw attention to a minor weakness!) For more advice on applying to Columbia, visit the Veritas Prep Columbia Business School information page. And for more information on MBA application deadlines, visit our business school application deadlines area!
Columbia January Term Admissions Essays
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