We talked recently about how, and whether, the CFA affects your chances of getting into a good MBA program. There’s one small concern that we sometimes have when we see the CFA on the resume. For a school that gets a gazillion application from finance dudes (and a smattering from chicks – let’s face it,...
($) The CFA and the MBA: The one caveat (and the most common mistake for finance candidates)
June 19, 2013 by
Columbia: “What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal?”
May 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Otherwise known as, The REALLY BIG change with Columbia’s 2013 essays On Friday we did a brief review of how the Columbia MBA essays have changed for 2013. What we failed to sufficiently discuss was the short-answer question. The good news is, the completely overhauled, new-and-improved, massively updated 2013 SnarkStrategies MBA Application Guide for Columbia [...]
Learn More...Columbia 2013 Essay Guide
May 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Columbia has very straightforward essays – but the rest of their admissions process seems incredibly complicated. J-Term? Early Decision? Deferred Decision? Rolling Admissions? What do all these things mean? EssaySnark’s MBA application Strategy Guide for Columbia Business School lays out all these options and explains where the advantages lie. We give you a simple map [...]
Learn More...2013 Columbia MBA essay analysis
May 17, 2013 by 7 Comments
Our completely overhauled, new-and-improved, massively updated 2013 SnarkStrategies MBA Application Guide for Columbia is now available (published on 5/20/13 – just four days after the essay questions were released!). Or, keep reading for our initial thoughts on the essays that we posted right when they came out. As we blahgged yesterday, Columbia’s questions are [...]
Learn More...Columbia essays are out, and we have a half-off deal to celebrate!
May 16, 2013 by 12 Comments
The new admissions season is here! Columbia has released its essay questions, and all you motivated BSers are in luck. Half-Off Deal on the Complete Essay Package One day only! 50% off the standard price of Must click through this link for discount Want to get started on your 2014 MBA admissions essays? Sign up [...]
Learn More...EssaySnark’s 2013 Bschool Essay Question Predictions
May 10, 2013 by 3 Comments
EssaySnark’s Predict-O-Meter: As of 5/30/13, we are 2 for 3 on what we thought would happen with this year’s MBA apps. It’s May. Creeping up to the middle of the month. That means, bschools are gonna start releasing their new essay questions soon. Harvard is usually the first one out of the gate with questions. [...]
Learn More...MBA Essay Questions: Columbia Business School
The 2013 Columbia MBA Application Guide is now available! ☆ 2013 Columbia MBA Essay Questions Short-answer question: What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (100 characters) Three essays (plus an optional – use only if needed): Given your individual background, why are you pursuing a Columbia MBA at this time? (500 words) Columbia Business School [...]
Learn More...essay critique: another Columbia essay 1: “immediate and long term post-MBA goals”
December 24, 2012 by
This essay was actually submitted for a free review LAST YEAR – yes, it languished awhile. (It probably didn’t help this BSer that it was submitted at 9pm on Dec. 25th — that’s, uh, Christmas Day, just BTW — and it’s also in the crisis zone of the week before Round 2 deadlines begin… it’s...
essay critique: Columbia essay 1: “Why are you pursuing an MBA…?”
November 26, 2012 by
Many moons ago we got this very nice request for a free essay review: Hi Essaysnark, I’d like to get your feedback on my essay 1A for Columbia. I understand that you are backed up with requests and will manage my expectations accordingly. I bought the Snarkguide to Columbia & HBS – they have been...
More Columbia confusion
November 12, 2012 by 2 Comments
UPDATE 4PM MONDAY Thank you, Columbia, for updating your website! Original post below. Columbia has just two essays this year…. Or do they??? This is a school that’s known for sending mixed messages. We already ranted about them more than enough for one admissions season but this inconsistency in their APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS needs to be [...]
Learn More...Applying to Columbia’s Regular-Decision round
November 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment
If you’re working on your MBA application for Columbia Business School, you may be worried about timing. At least, we HOPE you’re worried about timing — people often get very lackadaisical around Columbia, because of how they list out their deadlines on their site. The final deadline for applying to Columbia in the regular round [...]
Learn More...Columbia and NYU: What’s the difference?
October 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment
OK great, so you applied to Columbia…. you’re in love with the place – despite how critical the ‘Snark was about them recently, you still love them, fair enough. But now you’re getting antsy. Most other schools’ Round 1 deadlines are behind us…. what to do now? Round 2 is way off in January at [...]
Learn More...And finally, a Columbia post that looks to the positive
October 1, 2012 by 3 Comments
Wow, we had Rail on Columbia Week recently didn’t we? To summarize our theory of why Columbia Business School took a hit in their apps last season: We think that people got turned off. There’s more than the explanation around a Wall Street stumble going on at Columbia. It’s probably the international loan issue too [...]
Learn More...Why were NYU’s numbers off too? (another Columbia rant)
September 28, 2012 by 5 Comments
We’ve been bashing Columbia pretty heavily this week. (Post I: Columbia no longer a favorite? – Post II: Why Columbia got schooled – Post III: More theories on why Columbia got dinged.) We do still think that Columbia is a good school — we know of a BUNCH of totally awesome and very impressive students [...]
Learn More...More theories on why Columbia got dinged (part 3)
September 27, 2012 by 2 Comments
The potential for awesome titles for posts on this subject seems to be endless. Talk about turning the tables, eh? All the BSers in the world are collectively saying to Columbia, How do you like me now? Getting rejected sucks. There’s some admissions officers out there who now know what that feels like. To continue [...]
Learn More...Why Columbia got schooled.
September 26, 2012 by 2 Comments
To continue our dissection and theorization from yesterday of the 19% drop in Columbia apps… We posited that Columbia’s sins may be due to some hubris. And maybe that sense of entitlement crept into the school’s admissions policies – policies which, interestingly enough, have been largely loosened up this year. Case in point: Up to [...]
Learn More...Columbia no longer a favorite?
September 25, 2012 by 3 Comments
It’s really strange. At this time last year, we already had helped almost a dozen BSers with apps to CBS — who’d already gotten in. Based on their rolling admissions, and the early opening of their application, it’s possible to be admitted to Columbia Business School before most BSers have even submitted their first-round applications. [...]
Learn More...Planning your multi-school strategy Part 3
August 6, 2012 by
Recently we talked about how to chunk out your approach and which schools you should write essays for first. Today let’s look at planning your strategy across the entire admissions season. We said the other day that you should not need to apply to more than 3 schools, and that applying to more than 5...
more on Columbia’s “life experience” essay
July 31, 2012 by
Last week we talked about an essay (that we didn’t post) written for Columbia’s “life experience” question. And we gave the Brave Supplicant a pass on talking about some experiences that happened at school, even though we typically advise that you steer clear of school-related topics for this particular essay. We also said that this...
essay critique: Columbia essay 1 (2012 version)
July 26, 2012 by
We got a Columbia career goals essay submitted to us recently that was quite strong. It’s another one in that category of so-good-we-don’t-want-to-post-it. It’s not so great that it’s ready to submit, but it’s got some elements that are good enough that we’re going to offer feedback without literally posting the draft. The awesomeness of...
quasi essay critique: Columbia’s “life experience” essay
July 17, 2012 by
Got this submitted to us recently, in part: Hi EssaySnark! My name is ______________. I have been stalking this blahg and reading all your fantastic posts! I have especially enjoyed going through the essay critiques over the years. Your commentary has been exceedingly helpful so far (though you may not agree that it has helped...
Considering Columbia? Some quick facts
June 28, 2012 by
It’s very tempting to want to jump in on a Columbia Business School MBA application simply because they’ve released their essay questions so early. Remember that Columbia does things differently where their admissions procedures are concerned. Here’s a few pointers to help you understand how things work at this school: It’s not any easier to...
“I got into two great schools. Should I try again for Stanford?”
May 21, 2012 by
We answered a question on BTG the other day and thought it would be worth repeating here. The Brave Supplicant is in the admirable position of holding acceptances to two Really Good Schools – Columbia and LBS. Yet this BSer really wants to go to Stanford. We can appreciate that! Stanford is an amazing place....
Politics and economics
May 4, 2012 by 2 Comments
Today’s musings are sort of related to what we threw out there yesterday — at least, in the context of the elite getting eliter (yes we know that’s not a word). This NY Times article is not about bschool per se, but it’s sure got a lot of bschool references. The article is about a [...]
Learn More...One-year MBA options
April 25, 2012 by 2 Comments
Recently we talked about the Kellogg 1Y program – but we didn’t exactly explain what it is. So here’s some backstory to fill in the gaps, in case we piqued your interest in this quick-I-want-to-be-done-with-it MBA option. First though, let’s start with the basics. The Kellogg two-year MBA is the standard full-time MBA degree that [...]
Learn More...The real reason you were rejected (simplified).
April 24, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Let’s break it down further. If you weren’t accepted to bschool this past season, there are only two possibilities: Either: a) your profile isn’t strong enough, or b) your presentation of your profile wasn’t strong enough To grossly oversimplify, either your GMAT (or GPA) isn’t good enough, or your essays weren’t. Or both. That’s it. [...]
Learn More...The changes to Kellogg’s programs Part 3
April 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment
>Completing our diatribe about Kellogg’s shift from the traditional two-year MBA to an increased focus on the 1Y, what this move says to us about them is essentially one of two things: Either Kellogg is acknowledging that they’re not quite at the level of a Harvard or a Stanford, programs which turn away gobs of [...]
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