EssaySnark

  • about
  • contact
  • help
  • sign up
  • login
CLICK FOR MORE!
  • Essay Questions
    • Harvard
    • Stanford
    • Wharton
    • Chicago Booth
    • Kellogg
    • MIT Sloan
    • Tuck
    • NYU Stern
    • Columbia
    • Yale SOM
    • Berkeley Haas
    • UVA Darden
    • Duke Fuqua
    • Michigan Ross
    • UCLA Anderson
    • Cornell
  • Strategy Guides
    • MBA Career Goals in Entrepreneurship
    • School-Specific MBA Application Guides
      • Harvard 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Stanford 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Wharton 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Kellogg 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • MIT Sloan 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Columbia 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Chicago Booth 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • *MORE SCHOOL-SPECIFIC GUIDES HERE*
  • MBA Consulting
    • Free essay reviews
    • What stage are you in?
    • Military MBA
    • BIPOC Program
    • Testimonials & Reviews
    • Guest Posts
  • My SnarkCenter
    • My Strategy Guides
    • My Favorite Posts
    • Discounts & Offers

“Should I apply to Columbia? Like, now?”

January 19, 2012 by EssaySnark - Discusses Columbia 4 Comments

This post has been marked as OLD. EssaySnark's advice and strategies for winning MBA applications don't change from year to year, but some of the school-specific admissions policies, essay questions, or other information covered in this article may be outdated.

Columbia Business School’s application deadlines are the confusingest of the confusing.

They have two different intakes and rolling admissions and this Early Decision thingy and whatever. And that’s just for the standard F/T MBA. Then they’ve got like five different flavors of EMBA, all with different dates too.

The worst of the confusing though is the fact that their Regular Decision deadline is in April.

“Whoa, that gives me plenty of time!” we hear you think, a sudden burst of Columbia inspiration hitting your bloodstream.

Or maybe you smashed together a whole bunch of apps in these first two weeks of January and now you’re on a deadline high, looking around, seeking another target to apply your newfound application dedication towards.

Hold up big fella.

1. If you’re just now thinking about deadlines and considering Columbia, then that tells us you’re getting started waaaaay late. Which means we have little hope for you. You’re rushing things, you’re panicked, you’re riding an artificial I’m going to bschool! euphoria and you don’t know what you’re doing. You’re cutting corners, or your clueless. This is not the way to get into Columbia (or any other top school).

2. Or, if you’re just now considering Columbia because all your other schools have said no then you need to step back and assess the reasons why. Columbia is not an easy nut to crack, particularly with a Regular Decision app…. and even more so if you’re coming to the game now.

We have so many cautionary tales for you — we hear about so many BSers just like you who went before, desperate folks who crammed together some last-minute apps in the January timeframe… and came up with nothing. Basically, they did exactly what you’re doing now, and it Did Not Work Out. Yes, they often are able to turn it around the next time through… but oh wouldn’t it be so much lovelier to not go through the gummi-worm stage?

Here’s the deal on Columbia:

1. Their process is rolling. This means they evaluate applications in the order they’re received, and they’re filling the class as they find qualified candidates.

2. The application has been open since May. People have been applying all the way along. They started reviewing the Regular Decision candidates in December — and they’ve already been admitting a good number of them. Between Early Decision and the already-admitted Regular Decision peeps, they could be moving towards like half the class already accepted.

3. The bulk of Columbia’s Regular Decision apps come in right around the January 4th fellowship deadline (which you’ve obviously already missed). If you apply now, you’ll be sitting in the queue behind a whole slew of other candidates (others who had their act together ‘cuz they submitted in time for some possible $$$). They won’t even start to look at your app until they work through all those others.

What do these points add up to?

If you haven’t yet gotten that Columbia app in, you’d best make it happen like SOON or you really should not bother.

Let’s say that again: If you’re serious about Columbia, you need to get your application in *now* – with their rolling admissions process, anyone applying after mid-to-end-January is at a serious disadvantage and has a very low chance.

We’ve seen absolutely amazing candidates who applied to Columbia in like February, and got waitlisted and then rejected – but they were admitted immediately when they reapplied in the early round the next season. This tells us that the reason they were rejected originally was simply because the class was full. There was no more space.

So once more with feeling:

If you’re serious about Columbia, GET YOUR APPLICATION IN IMMEDIATELY.

If you can’t pull this off — if you’re not able to submit a solid application within the next 10 days or so — you should just wait till next season.

That “10 days” advice is arbitrary. If you can submit on like February 5th, maybe you’re fine. Or maybe even February 15th could work out. Or maybe not. Who knows, EssaySnark is not sitting in the Columbia admissions office, we don’t have any inside info — all we have are patterns of what we’ve seen in many past seasons. Columbia has been doing rolling admissions forever, and this is pretty much always how it patterns out.

Not sure if this will register for you but we’ll say it again: It is always easier to get into Columbia through the Early Decision process. That deadline is in October (they already filled probably a third of the class from those candidates.) And even though it feels like a world away, believe it or not, if you hold off on applying now, you would be able to submit your ED app for next season in about six months. As we just said, they open their application for the next season in May. It’s likely that they might change their questions — EssaySnark is guessing that their current essay 3 will go away, however essays 1 and 2 are likely to be similar — regardless, you’d need to spend some time in crafting up some quality answers to whatever the questions are at that point. If you apply in the June/July timeframe, you will almost certainly have an answer back by September.

Yes, this would mean delaying your bschool ambitions for a full year — you’d be starting school in Fall 2013 if you go this route. But you could also have a much easier time getting in if you do. If you flail an application together now for the current-season Fall 2012 start, then we’re not holding our breath that you’ll be successful anyway.

And as we’ve cautioned against for ages, it is WAY easier getting in to a top school as a “fresh” applicant than as a reapplicant. (Though, there is a valid exception: If you’re considering one of the flavors of EMBA that Columbia offers, you should go for it — all this freak-out stuff about timing is specific to the full-time MBA — Columbia EMBA Saturday-Only has a deadline on February 8th and you’re not “too late” to apply to that.)

So. Considering an app to Columbia now? OK fine — do it now and you may have a chance. Or, step back from the edge and let the voice of EssaySnark reason speak to you, and take a calm, cool, rational approach, and perhaps you’ll avoid some heartbreak and gummi worms.


Want more insights into Columbia with detailed information on how Early Decision works and when you should apply and even more important, how to put together a good application? Check out the SnarkStrategies Guide for Columbia and other top schools to get the lowdown on app strategies for each!

Filed Under: application rounds, rolling Tagged With: rolling admissions Bschools: Columbia

« Previous: nothing here today
Next: Guest post! Another Take Two story! With advice from an MBA friend! »

So who the heck is EssaySnark, anyway?!

We're the snarky experts in MBA admissions!

Sometimes amused and often appalled by what candidates write in their MBA applications to top bschools, EssaySnark created this little blahg to share common mistakes. Learn from them and avoid making admissions directors laugh (or want to hurl) when they read your essays. If you are hoping to have your essay reviewed anonymously on the blahg for free, submit it for consideration.

Want EssaySnark's personal assistance with your MBA applications? Start with our menu of consulting services and please read the Help FAQ to learn how we operate. Still have questions after doing all that? Email Team EssaySnark at gethelpnow at essaysnark dot com.

Good luck on your apps, Brave Supplicant!

Here's what others have said about this:

  1. Ccatcher says

    January 20, 2012 at 5:04 am

    @EssaySnark: What about Cornell. Is it OK for international applicants to apply for the Jan 25 deadline which is their R3 deadline?

    Reply
  2. essaysnark says

    January 20, 2012 at 2:39 pm

    @Anonymous, our understanding is that all $$ available at Columbia is only awarded to those applying by the Jan. deadline, however it's possible that those are just merit-based grants. They do have some need-based money too, unsure if that's awarded through the same process or not. Either way, you should know that Columbia is not known as the most generous of all bschools.

    @Ccatcher: https://essaysnark.blogspot.com/2012/01/one-less-traveled-by-cornell.html

    Reply
  3. Anonymous says

    January 21, 2012 at 5:41 pm

    @Ccatcher: I think you shod check when they announce their R3 decisions. If they drag the decisions to late apr, early may, it may be a big rush to apply for v
    Student visa. My greatest nightmare wld be getting into a top school and not getting my visa on time. Having said that, you shld check with ad comm abt this issue as I've mix feedback from ad comms

    Reply
  4. essaysnark says

    January 21, 2012 at 6:37 pm

    @Anonymous, sorry but no. Cornell Rd 3 on Jan 25 poses no issue for int'l candidates and visas.

    Reply

Tell us what you think. Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign up for the 'Snark via email

Enter your address to get weekday blahg posts by email.

UPCOMING MBA APP DEADLINES

  • INSEAD Round 4
    in 1 month, 0 weeks, 6 days, 2 hours
  • INSEAD Jan '22 intake Rd 1
    in 1 month, 2 weeks, 2 days, 2 hours
  • INSEAD Jan '22 Intake Rd 2
    in 3 months, 0 weeks, 3 days, 2 hours
  • (expected) HBS Class of 2024 app requirements released
    in 3 months, 2 weeks, 3 days, 3 hours
  • (expected) Columbia J-Term/ED app to open
    in 4 months, 2 weeks, 1 day, 3 hours
   
From a BSer January 2020:
"love the guide books!"


CLASS OF 2023 MBA APPLICATION STRATEGY GUIDES

     
    The 2020 Berkeley-Haas MBA Application Guide - updated for the Class of 2023 application!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Berkeley Haas - refreshed and updated, with brainstorming exercises and structured maps to help you focus your stories!
   
    The 2020-2021 NYU Stern MBA Application Guide that covers the main essay, the EQ Endorsement and Pick Six!
SnarkStrategies Guide for NYU - discusses your requirements for the Class of 2023 essays!
   
    The 2020-2021 Columbia MBA Application Guide
SnarkStrategies Guide for Columbia Business School for 2020-2021 applications
   
    The 2020 Harvard MBA Application Guide - completely overhauled and updated for the coronavirus era!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Harvard Business School!
   
    The 2020-2021 Duke Essay Guide - covers the 25 Random Things essay and all the rest too!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Duke Fuqua - up to date for the current season!
   
    The 2020-2021 MIT Essay Guide covers the org chart, the contacts for two references, and additional tips for the cover letter and 'introduce yourself' video -- and everything else you need to know!
SnarkStrategies Guide for MIT Sloan MBA - totally revised for the Class of 2023!
   
    The 2020-2021 Tuck Essay Guide has been refreshed with latest insights and advice for your essays about "investing generously" and "why Tuck"!
SnarkStrategies Guide for the Dartmouth Tuck MBA - completely overhauled for 2020, to help you demonstrate how you are nice, aware, etc stuff!
   
    The Yale SOM MBA Application Guide for Class of 2023 candidates!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Yale SOM - updated for 2020-2021
   
    The 2020-2021 Chicago Booth MBA Application Guide - ready to go to support your Class of 2023 essay strategy!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Chicago Booth for this year's MBA app!
   
    The 2020 Wharton MBA Application Guide - even more advice on how to get to a win with those essays!
SnarkStrategies Guide for The Wharton School - with new tips for 2020!
   
    The 2020 Kellogg Essay Guide - with a full methodology to identify your 'lasting impact' and your 'values' -- plus tips on 2020 world events and applicability to your essays!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Kellogg MBA - updated and revised for the new realities of 2020!    
      The 2020 Stanford MBA Application Guide - for "what matters most" in your MBA application!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Stanford GSB for the Class of 2023
   
    The 2020-2021 UCLA Anderson MBA Application Guide - updated for Class of 2023 on "impact"!
SnarkStrategies Guide for 
UCLA
   
   

Brave Supplicants' latest reviews on The 'Snark


Apr 10, 2020
by George on EssaySnark
Great Starting Point

I thought getting over the GRE/GMAT hurdle was fairly straightforward--disciplined study then test execution... Read more

Apr 10, 2020
by George on Single Shot Express MBA Essay Review
Worth Every Penny

I used the Single Shot Express to decimate essay #1 at my first-choice school. Paired with the school... Read more

Feb 9, 2020
by KA on Waitlist Assist
Committed

You continue to blow me away with your commitment to us BSers! Thanks again for everything. It's been... Read more






Not sure where to begin with EssaySnark?
Our Snark Selector
will tell you!



What were we snarking about at this time in past years?

  • 2020: ($) Updating the admissions office on changes to your profile post-submit: GMAT/GRE/classes
  • 2020: ($) The reality of applying to external scholarships for your graduate education
  • 2019: Harvard Business School is....
  • 2017: Military Candidate Question: "Why does Stanford have a smaller percentage of Vets?"
  • 2016: Success Stories that never materialized
  • 2016: Used to be, the waitlist meant you had a real chance.
  • 2016: ($) The biggest reason why Round 3 is not worth it.
  • 2015: The BSer's Quiz!
  • 2014: ($) Writing essays for MBA scholarship apps
  • 2014: Consider broadening your horizons.
My Tweets

See the Top U.S. Business Schools on a Map!


EssaySnark is currently available! We're accepting new clients! Standard turnarounds apply. If you're in a hurry, Speedy Review is available!

EssaySnark® is a registered trademark. All content copyright © 2010–2021 Snarkolicious Press · Privacy Policy

Where should you start with EssaySnark?

Which EssaySnark service is right for you? Answer a few questions to find out!

This field must be set to Everyone - then in the Settings -> HTML -> After Fields screen there's JavaScript to hide it.
Sending