Columbia Business School – What’s New (a Lot!) and How to Wow the Adcom with Your Essays

Several key changes have shaped this year’s Columbia Business School application.

First, Columbia Business School eliminated rolling admissions for the fall cohort and removed the early decision option. The school now uses a round-based system similar to peer programs. We see this as a positive shift because it reduces stress around submission timing.

Second, the school updated two essay questions. In Essay Two, Columbia now emphasizes diversity and inclusion. Columbia looks for a clear example of how you have demonstrated these values.

Essay Three, which was Essay Two last year, still focuses on fit. However, the prompt is now more specific. Columbia also reduced the word count by 50 words.

Essay One and the short answer question remain unchanged. These responses are critical. They must clearly explain your career goals and how an MBA fits into your plan.

If you’re applying to Columbia Business School, read on for some tactical details about the process as well as guidance on how to approach the essay prompts.

Columbia Business School Deadlines (for Fall 2024 entry)

Round 1: September 13, 2023

Round 2: January 5, 2024

Round 3: April 3, 2024

Columbia Business School Essay Questions

Short Answer Question: What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 characters maximum)

Essay 1: Through your resume and recommendation, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next three to five years and what is your long-term dream job? (500 words)

Essay 2: The Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership (PPIL) is a co-curricular program designed to provide students with the skills and strategies needed to develop as inclusive leaders.  Through various resources and programming, the goal is for students to explore and reflect during their educational journey on the following five inclusive leadership skills:  Mitigating Bias and Prejudice; Managing Intercultural Dialogue; Addressing Systemic Inequity; Understanding Identity and Perspective Taking; and Creating an Inclusive Environment.

Describe a time or situation when you had the need to utilize one of more of these five skills, and tell us the actions you took and the outcome. (250 words)

Essay 3: 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, an extremely active co-curricular and student life environment, 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? Please be specific. (250 words)

Optional Essay: If you wish to provide further information or additional context around your application to the Admissions Committee, please upload a brief explanation of any areas of concern in your academic record or personal history. This does not need to be a formal essay. You may submit bullet points. (Maximum 500 Words)

Note for Reapplicants Applying in Successive Years: Reapplicants are not required to submit additional essays. Only the following reapplicant essay is required: How have you enhanced your candidacy since your previous application? Please detail your progress since you last applied and reiterate how you will reach your immediate and long-term post-MBA professional goals. (Maximum 500 words).

Columbia Business School Essay Advice

You can tell a lot about a school from the essay questions they ask applicants to answer. Columbia’s essay questions demonstrate that it seeks students who have defined, well researched career goals, hence the robust word count allotted to essay one and pointed short answer question. CBS emphasizes diversity in both background and thought. In addition, the school values leaders who embrace collaboration. Essays 2 and 3 ask you to show how your values align with CBS. The admissions team also evaluates the unique perspective you bring. Keep these nuances in mind as you craft your answers.

The ‘Why’ is as Important as the ‘What’ in Essay One

While the first essay prompt indicates that Columbia isn’t looking for a restatement of your resume, some insight into the past makes for a more powerful and authentic response. In addition to a clear and specific explanation of your goals, the most important thing to communicate is the ‘why’ behind them. Your past experiences often root this motivation.

The key is to be targeted about which of your past experiences you include. Start by thinking about the defining elements of the career you will pursue post-MBA. For instance, perhaps your dream is to launch a new beauty brand. The defining elements of this path could be described as (1) entrepreneurship and (2) consumer focused. Share things from your past that explain why you have a passion for entrepreneurship and also why beauty / consumer goods will be your focus as opposed to another product or service. Perhaps you launched a side business in college and loved the thrill of building something from scratch. And maybe your personal experience has demonstrated a gap in the current beauty marketplace that you feel compelled to rectify. Tell these stories to help the reader feel your passion and the authenticity underlying your goals.

After you provide context, shift to a forward-looking perspective. Clearly explain what you want to accomplish and how you plan to grow in the short and long term. This may require some research into your desired career path but does not need to be tied to one specific role or job. Instead, remain anchored in how you will continue to define success. Your long-term dream job should be a natural progression on that success path but don’t get too hung up on what’s “realistic”. This is where you can – and should – dream big about your future.

Don’t Be Intimidated by Essay Two – ‘Small’ Stories Can Make for Powerful Essays

Essay two is a question that CBS used to ask but replaced with another prompt in the last several years. As a first step, ground yourself in the PPIL curriculum. Then, with that context as well as the five inclusive leadership skills in mind, brainstorm a number of stories from your past that may fit. Don’t just stop at the first story that comes to mind – we find that this can cause people to overlook even stronger examples.

Many clients feel intimidated by this question. They often believe their past impact is not “big” enough. On the contrary, sometimes examples that were small in scale but had a significant impact on just one person or a few people – particularly if that impact was squarely driven by the applicant – can make for some of the most powerful essays.

In addition to identifying the best example in your arsenal, the key to a successful essay is to briefly cover off on the situation (250 words is short!) – this may even mean leaving out some of the story and keying in on only details that are relevant to the diversity angle. After you set the stage, focus most of your word count on your actions. Describe them in a way and level of detail that makes the reader feel like they were there and, of course, demonstrate how you were an inclusive leader. Don’t forget to end with the result – how your actions benefited others on your team, in your organization, society more broadly, etc.

Remember that ‘Fit’ is a Two-Way Street in Essay Three

To answer this question well, show that you understand your unique perspective. Highlight both your strengths and gaps. Then explain how CBS will support your growth—and how you will contribute. Further, they want to understand this fit across three dimensions – academic, cultural, and professional. That’s a lot of ground to cover, so make sure each point you choose to make is powerful and cut to the chase with each.

To stand out in a sea of “why CBS” essays, it’s more critical than ever to draw specific and personal connections between what you want and need to get out of your MBA and what CBS offers. For example, go beyond restating a class description and show how the knowledge you will gain will complement your current set of experiences. If you have experience or relationships within a specific industry, this could be a great place to show how those would benefit your classmates as well.

Cultural fit is often the hardest to describe. This is because you haven’t lived the student experience yet. This is where a campus visit, or at a minimum, 1:1 conversations with current students / recent alums come in handy. From hearing their experiences, you’ll notice what is most appealing or exciting to you. Don’t overcomplicate this one – genuine insights are always the best. Help the reader picture you as a member of the CBS community.

Interested in personalized, 1:1 coaching for your Columbia Business School application (and others)? Reach out to request an initial consultation.