Get the inside scoop on jobs and careers with Vault career guides. Columbia Business School Buzz Book is your complete resource to jobs, careers, interviews and recruiting.
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Columbia Business School Buzz Book Get the inside scoop on jobs and careers with Vault career guides. Columbia Business School Buzz Book is your complete resource to jobs, careers, interviews and recruiting. |
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Columbia Business School Buzz Book Welcome to the first edition of Vault's Columbia Business School Buzz Book. In this new and unique guide, we publish extended excerpts and sample admissions essays from surveys of students and alumni from CBS to bring you the inside scoop on its MBA program. The survey comments cover the following areas:
The guide is intended to serve as a complement to other references to business schools currently available that utilize school-reported data. Unlike those guides, Vault's Buzz Books (which also include the Business School Buzz Book , Law School Buzz Book and College Buzz Book) are composed almost entirely of information provided directly to Vault from students and alumni.
We received comments from CBS, which we have included comments next to appropriate survey sections, offset with a different font and indented to be easily recognizable as school-provided comments. Corrections within the body of the comments are enclosed in brackets. CBS also provided separate narratives that have included them at the end of each chapter, under the heading "The School Says."
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Status: Current student, full-time
Dates of Enrollment: 9/2004-Submit Date
Survey Submitted: February 2006
The admissions process is challenging. But given the degree to which I have been impressed (and at times awed) by the intellectual sophistication, diversity and maturity of my colleagues, the results admission achieves are worth it. Beyond GMAT scores, it is clear that Columbia is looking for students who are likely to be highly engaged with the business school community both during their time at school and after their graduation. Given this, clearly articulating an awareness of and interest in the networks that attending Columbia provides seems to be a major point in one's favor.
Admissions: The School Says
Columbia Business School looks for intellectually driven, interesting people from diverse educational, economic, social, ethnic and geographic backgrounds who have something special to offer their classmates and communities. Their common denominators are a record of achievement, demonstrated leadership and the ability to work as members of a team.
The admissions committee seeks intellectually inquisitive applicants who have superior academic credentials from all areas of undergraduate and graduate study. Excellent written and verbal communication skills are essential. Fluency in multiple languages is not required for admission but is increasingly desirable for the study and practice of global business.
Academics: Students Speak
Status: Current student, full-time
Dates of Enrollment: 9/2004-Submit Date
Survey Submitted: February 2006
The first year is brutal--especially if you do not have a background heavy in quantitative knowledge. That said, the core curriculum provides a phenomenal foundation for the future, regardless of the function one intends to pursue after graduating.
Beyond Columbia's traditional focus on finance, two other stand-out programs in social enterprise and media management are worth noting. The social enterprise program, in particular, is amazing--as are the professors and students it attracts.
Status: Current student, full-time
Dates of Enrollment: 9/2002-Submit Date
Survey Submitted: February 2004
CBS has a reputation for being a top finance school for a reason: it is! But that doesn't mean that students interested in marketing, social enterprise, management or entrepreneurship should look elsewhere. In fact, CBS has topnotch marketing, management and social enterprise programs.
Employment Prospects: Students Speak
Status: Alumnus/a, full-time
Dates of Enrollment: 9/2001-5/2003
Survey Submitted: March 2005
The job prospects for a Columbia MBA are excellent. The school has an excellent reputation with all the top investment banks and most of the consulting firms. While finance is still the top field for graduates to go into, consulting is a very strong second. There has also been a really strong surge of graduates going into the real estate, media and entrepreneurial fields.
The alumni network is massive, especially in the New York City area. The alumni clubs are fairly active. The alumni network is very helpful in getting insider information about a company or career.
Quality of Life: Students Speak
Status: Current student, full-time Accelerated MBA
Dates of Enrollment: 1/2003-Submit Date
Survey Submitted: February 2004
Our campus is in Manhattan. If you want to live in NY, Columbia is for you. It's a personal choice. We are intense, but the competition is friendly. No one is trying to kill people to skew the curve. We are trying hard to stand out in a crowd of amazing people while helping those around us to do the same. After all, we are judged by the quality of the school, not any one contest during school.
Status: Current student, full-time JD/MBA
Dates of Enrollment: 9/2003-Submit Date
Survey Submitted: February 2006
Living in New York is awesome. There are a million and one things to do; and when you're at one of the premier institutions in the City, you have tons of interesting speakers passing through the doors. It's impossible to keep up with everything.
Social Life: Students Speak
Status: Current student, full-time
Dates of Enrollment: 8/2004-Submit Date
Survey Submitted: April 2005
Columbia is a rockstar when it comes to social life. You have the underlying promise of a night out with friends in NYC on any given night, and there is always something going on on campus. Every Thursday, there is a free school-wide happy hour. Think keg party. It is awesome; and when it is warm outside, there is a massive patio where people can drink and talk. There is always an after-party somewhere in the city afterward. Very fun.
There are also a million professional and interest group clubs to join. Getting involved is key--you get much more out of the school and, honestly, the school is set up to cater to the clubs. Tuesday and Thursday afternoon and all of Friday are set aside for club meetings, activities, career education panels, recruiting events and alumni speeches. Very valuable.
