How To Get Into Columbia Business School

Update: This article was originally posted on June 22, 2022. It has been updated with new information and tips below.

Columbia Business School is known for its excellence in finance, diversity, and access to unparalleled experiential and networking opportunities in the heart of one of the world’s biggest business hubs – New York City. Considering that CBS offers one of the best-ranked MBAs out there, earning a spot at this school requires you to really stand out among the competition. 

In this guide, we will go through how to get into Columbia Business School. While many applicants think that simply marketing themselves well is enough to gain admission, successful applicants are the ones who understand a) who Columbia is looking for, b) how CBS’s MBA program, community, and opportunities fit their profile and goals, and c) how to prepare a CBS-specific essay and interview. Read on for our expert advice on how to master these three things.

 

1. Understand who Columbia is looking for

Source: @columbia_biz on Instagram

“Only Columbia Business School gives you the opportunity to shape your career in the very center of business. There’s something about being positioned in New York City, where access to leaders across industry is truly advantageous. Here you will learn to take on challenges and respond dynamically. You’ll gain skills to succeed in fast-moving, competitive environments anywhere. Hone your strengths. Find your best career path. Realize success.” Columbia Business School Admissions 

Every year, Columbia’s admissions team enrolls around 900 students for their prestigious MBA program out of around 6,000 applications. Though CBS does work hard to admit a diverse class (44% of the Class of 2025 were women, 47% were international citizens, and 43% were of minority origins (in the US), they do tend to admit applicants with 5 years of work experience. Applicants also tend to have average GMATs of 730 (GRE scores were not reported).

Nonetheless, that does not mean that Columbia looks simply for good test-takers. Instead, they want a talented, principled, well-networked group of business leaders.

According to Columba’s Admissions team: 

In addition. Columbia tends to respond favorably to applicants who can demonstrate that studying in New York City is a differential for them, so make sure to reflect on how you will use the city of New York to complement your learning and accelerate your career. 

So, if this sounds like a community in which you’d be right at home, you’ll have to think of the ways in which you align with the main characteristics of Columbia’s students. This means forming your business school brand and then focusing on the aspects of that brand that align with strong achievements, leadership, and a value for diversity and collaboration.

 

2. Know CBS’s program and how you can use it

The second thing you must do to get into CBS is to know the MBA program and how it applies to your career goals. If you want to get into Columbia, you really need to show the admissions committee why it’s a good fit for you (and why you’re a good fit for the community too)!

While you will have to do your own research to find the specifics of what aligns specifically with your goals and profile, below we are highlighting some of the main aspects of Columbia’s MBA program so you can be informed about what makes it unique in comparison to other business schools.

 

CBS’s flexible and varied curriculum

While Columbia’s MBA curriculum is focused on business fundamentals as well as leadership, communication, and analytical skills, starting in the second year, students have more than 300 elective courses to choose from, there is a lot of room for specialization.

For students interested in studying at the intersection of business and other fields, there are eleven dual-degree options available. These eleven dual-degree tracks are as follows: an MBA/MS in Urban Planning; a DDS/MBA in Dental and Oral Surgery; an MBA/MS in Engineering and Applied Science; an MBA/MIA in International and Public Affairs; an MBA/MS in Journalism; a JD/MBA in Law; an MBA/MS in Nursing; an MD/MBA in Physicians and Surgeons; an MBA/MPH in Public Health; an MBA/MS in Social Work; and an MBA/MA in Private School Leadership.

 

New York-focused faculty and opportunities

Columbia GSB’s faculty members are excellent business experts and educators who often partner with some of the biggest names in business to identify the most important ideas for the classroom. For example, Modupe Akinola is an associate professor of management at Columbia Business School. Her career experience includes roles at Bain & Company and Merrill Lynch. She focuses on workplace performance and psychology, as well as workforce diversity and retention of minority talent. 

Given Columbia faculty’s extensive involvement in key industries, real-world examples are often used as cases in the classroom, allowing students to learn from the best. Through the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise, students work with faculty on experiential social enterprise projects such as the Nonprofit Board Leadership Program. And because of the school’s unparalleled location in New York City, students have access to experiential opportunities no matter what their industry is, whether inside or outside the classroom.

 

International opportunities 

Columbia’s global philosophy is evident in its many opportunities inside and outside the classroom to build international perspectives and experience.

Many of these opportunities are provided by the Jerome A. Chazen Institute for Global Business. Notably, the Global Immersion Program classes prepare students for a half term in the classroom for a one-week practical experience in the country of focus, where they meet with business leaders and authorities to complete projects. Countries that students have recently visited include the Philippines, Ghana, and Japan.

Students can also partake in the Chazen MBA Exchange program, which provides second-year students the opportunity to study abroad at one of over 20 partner universities for one semester.

Looking for more than just a summary of the Columbia MBA? 

Luckily, we’ve created a complete guide on CBS, including program specifics, MBA class profile, and CBS post-MBA salary and employment information. 

Additionally, we have dozens of sample Columbia Business School MBA essays that got our past clients into CBS, plus essays for numerous other top schools, all in one place. Click to join!

 

 

3. Prepare a winning CBS application

Last but certainly not least is knowing how to write an outstanding essay and prepare for a successful interview. Below are our top tips on succeeding at both of these key aspects of your CBS application!

 

Write an outstanding essay

Writing any admissions essay is a tough task, however, impressing CBS’s highly selective admissions committee is especially challenging. According to Columbia, here’s what they want to see in your admissions essays.

Here are the questions*:

*Though these questions are accurate at the time of publication, check out our Columbia Essay Analysis post for the most up-to-date questions and analysis. 

 

2.1. Short Answer Tips

Goal: What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 characters)

In their instructions, Columbia asks you to be extremely straightforward in telling them what you want to do professionally (and in which industry) immediately after graduating. Here are a few examples from CBS:

“Work in business development for a media company.”

“Join a strategy consulting firm.”

“Launch a data-management start-up.”

Since you’ve only got 50 characters, get straight to the point and make sure you answer the question they are asking (job + industry). Being creative at the expense of giving them the information they want will be a mistake. Finally, no need to add “I want to…” here. Just jump right in. 

 

2.2. Essay 1 Tips

Through your resume and recommendations, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next 3 – 5 years and what is your long-term dream job? (500 words)

Like last year, CBS wants you to focus more on your longer-term plans (logical, since they have asked for your immediate post-MBA goal in the first question). This type of question reveals that CBS is interested in understanding your plans for the future in terms of how you see your career advancing over the long haul.

To answer this question, like any goals essay, it’s important to keep in mind that this is not a restatement or dramatic retelling of your CV. You will, however, want to provide a few lines of context, as this helps the reader later understand that you have the skills and motivations necessary to succeed in your goals. 

Next, launch into your 3-5 year goal. This should be related to your post-MBA goal and should state how you intend to continue growing. Stagnant goals here will not work well. 

Finally, make sure you state your long-term plans. Columbia asks you for your dream job, so really dream! Envision the impact you want to achieve in the world with your career and discuss why this “dream job” is so important for you. At the same time, make sure your dream job is feasible. 

They do not ask you how CBS will help you reach your goals, like many other goals essays do. As such, keep any mentions of CBS brief and ensure the star of the show here is your future and your motivations for pursuing the path you desire. 

TOP TIP: If you’re still not sure about your MBA goals, we’ve written a post designed to help you think through what your objectives are and how you might present them in your MBA application. You can check that post out here! 

 

2.3. Essay 2 Tips

Unlike last year, when Columbia gave candidates 3 options for potential questions for essay 2, now there is just one required prompt for this section:

We believe Columbia Business School is a special place. CBS proudly fosters a collaborative learning environment through curricular experiences like our clusters and learning teams, co-curricular initiatives like the Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership, which aims to equip students with the skills and strategies necessary to lead in an inclusive and ethical manner, and career mentorship opportunities like our Executives-in-Residence program.

Why do you feel Columbia Business School is a good fit for you academically, culturally, and professionally? (300 words)

This question combines both the “Why Columbia” question and asks about opportunities for leading towards diversity and inclusion, a key foundation of Columbia’s community.

To begin, we suggest you watch this video and make a list of the opportunities you hope to pursue at CBS and in New York City. Then, tie each of these to a specific development goal you have during your MBA. 

One of the things that makes Columbia stand out from its other elite MBA competitors is its New York City location, and CBS heavily advocates this advantage. 

Since the city of New York plays such an important role in your CBS education, you want to demonstrate here that you’ve fully considered how you will take advantage of the city’s varied offerings and how this will lead to your development. 

Furthermore, Columbia is very proud of its many unique advantages (like renowned business leaders “dropping into” CBS classes), so you may also choose to discuss elements of the CBS MBA program like these that attract you. 

For example, a few years ago, our client Helena wanted to use her CBS MBA to transition from investment banking to private equity. When reflecting on the advantages CBS and New York City offered her to support this move, she knew access to one of the world’s PE hotspots was a huge asset.

It is also important that you address the last part of the question – how does CBS align with you culturally? Addressing this topic means really finding one of the core values of the school and finding a way to discuss how it aligns with your career plans in a meaningful way. To do this, we suggest bringing in some mention of how you have exhibited one of Columbia’s values, such as promoting DEI or being a good collaborator, and connect it to how you will continue to pursue this value at CBS in specific ways. 

While you should do your own research to find the most relevant courses, opportunities, values, and people at Columbia for your goals and experience, we do suggest addressing one of the opportunities mentioned directly in the question (clusters and learning teams, the Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership, and the Executives-in-Residence program). Particularly, we suggest that you address the topic of diversity and inclusion, which is foundational to CBS’s increased efforts to train leaders who truly value and promote inclusivity.  

Finally, make sure to include meaningful mentions of any students or alumni you’ve interacted with and how they have shaped your view that CBS is the best school for you. A laundry list of names won’t work here, but a quote from a mentor or citation of a class recommendation from a friend that helped reinforce your interest in Columbia would be appropriate. 

When writing your essay, strive for the same level of specificity and connection to your specific professional and personal goals.

To learn more about Columbia’s essays (including how to complete its optional essay) and check out sample essays that got our clients into Columbia Business School, click here!

 

Prepare a winning interview

After you’ve submitted your application and essays, you must wait to see if you get an invitation to interview. If you do get to the interview phase of the CBS application process, congratulations! This is an exceptional achievement. 

Columbia interviews are usually conducted by alumni (although in some cases, you may be interviewed by admissions staff), and you are interviewed blind (meaning that the interviewers do not have access to your application, only your CV). They typically last 45-60 minutes. Columbia interviews tend to be very friendly. Nonetheless, the interviewer is still trying to gauge how solid your motivations for wanting to pursue an MBA are, how interested you seem in the Columbia program, and if you truly plan to use the city of New York to your advantage. 

Interviewers often ask many standard MBA interview questions, as well as questions designed to test just how collaborative you really are. You can also expect numerous follow-up questions. 

Our clients who have interviewed with Columbia in the past say that the interviewer was very friendly and demonstrated a genuine interest in their answers. Though questions do tend to focus on standard MBA interview questions, be ready for anything. 

To see a list of potential interview questions you can prepare for, click here. 

 

Make sure you prepare a successful CBS application

Getting into the CBS MBA is no easy feat. 

With multiple essays, numerous letters of recommendation, and admissions interviews, a successful application to CBS requires that you carefully think about all aspects of your profile and craft the most cohesive, compelling narrative possible. 

Starting from scratch, though, can leave many applicants like you feeling confused and uncertain they are developing an application that will impress the CBS admissions committee. 

That’s why we created our MBA Resource Center, which includes everything you need to get into the CBS MBA, all in one place. This includes dozens of sample essays, recommendation letter questions and guides, sample letters of recommendation, MBA CV templates, interview mock sequences, and even sample answers to the most common interview questions. 

In short, our Resource Center puts the Ellin Lolis Advantage into your hands, giving you exclusive access to the materials we used to help maintain our 98.9% success rate.