2014 MBA Essay Tips Columbia Business School

The 2015 Columbia Business School  tips are now available. Click here to check them out! With its application questions this year, Columbia continues the industry-wide trend towards ever shorter essays, although it did not reduce the number of essays. Specifically:         Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢   Ã‚  Its question   about your immediate post-MBA goal has gone from 200 to 100 characters. Yes, that was      characters, not words.         Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢   Ã‚  Last year, Columbia had three required essays, two with 500-word limits and one with a 250-word limit.   This year, thats reversed; two have 250-word limits and one has a 500-word limit. In short, you will need to make every word, indeed every character, count. My tips are in blue below. Applicants must complete one short answer question and three essays. Short Answer Question: What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (100 characters maximum) Note the  character  limit. Your response must be less than a tweet. What do you want to do professionally and in which industry immediately after earning your MBA? You may want to provide a geographic location if it is important to your  MBA goal.   Warning: This question is not asking about intended area of study while in business school or a non-professional goal or even a long-term goal. Essays: 1.  Given your individual background, why are you pursuing a Columbia MBA at this time? (Maximum 500 words) This is a new question. What aspects of your background are motivating you to pursue your MBA at Columbia now?   On one hand, you can talk about any element of your background that has steered you in CBS direction. That can be fun and interesting, and that part of the question is very open-ended. However, in order to answer the Why Columbia and Why Now part of the question, you will need to really know the Columbia program as well as why you want at CBS MBA at this point in your career. The essay that shines will do a great job of showing both fit and self-awareness. 2. Columbia Business School is located in the heart of the worlds business capital Manhattan. How do you anticipate that New York City will impact your experience at Columbia? (Maximum 250 words) Please view the videos below: New York City limitless possibilities New York City fast paced and adaptable After watching those videos, think about how you intend to take advantage of the infinite opportunities and energy that is New York City. Will it be the ability to stretch your wings and live in the Big City after having grown up in a small rural area? Will it be exploring the cultural riches of NYC? Taking advantage of the incredible business opportunities. Be careful not to speak of those opportunities in the generalities that I have.   If you are interested in luxury goods marketing, as stated in your short answer, then talk here about how you will take advantage of Madison and 5th Avenues. If you are interested in finance or consulting, Manhattan and all the businesses in it are at your feet. How will you take advantage of this incredible location? If you love art, whether its part of your professional goals or is an avocation, what museums do you intend to transform into a second home? Keep in mind that 250 words is approximately three paragraphs. 3. What will the people in your Cluster be pleasantly surprised to learn about you? (Maximum 250 words) Make sure you understand Columbias Cluster System. Again, you only have 250 words here. I would use them to bring out something fun that you like to do now. Would you try to get your cluster to train for a marathon? Set up a karaoke night? Plan a ski trip? How have you contributed to social groups in the past? Relate you plans to a past successful initiative, and you will enhance your answer to this question. Or perhaps you would take a slightly more serious approach to this question and discuss a challenge overcome. Show that you are a survivor, not a victim and far stronger as a result of this experience. If you take this approach, dont make it too heavy or too personal. You will have barely met these people.   Optional Essay.  An optional fourth essay will allow you to discuss any issues that do not fall within the purview of the required essays. Clearly you can use this  optional essay  question to address a  weakness  in your profile or qualifications, but in my mind, this question is also open-ended enough to allow you to discuss a diversity element in your personal background or simply some unique area of interest. Also, tucking a weakness explanation somewhere else would allow you to end the application with a strength and not a flaw. Don’t use this essay as a grand finale or wrap up. And definitely don’t use it to rehash your reasons for wanting to attend Columbia; those reasons should be perfectly clear from the required essays. If you decide to respond to this essay, use it to educate the reader about another talent, interest, or commitment of yours. As always try to show  leadership  and impact. In short, give them more reasons to admit you. Knight-Bagehot Fellows. Rather than answer Essay 1, Part A above, current Knight-Bagehot Fellows applying to Columbia Business School should use the space allocated to the first essay (500 words) to complete the Wiegers Fellowship application essay. If you would like professional guidance with your Columbia Business School MBA application, please consider Accepted’s  MBA essay editing  and  MBA admissions consulting  or our  Ã‚  MBA Application Packages, which include advising, editing, interview coaching, and a resume edit for the CBS MBA application. Columbia Business School 2014 Application Deadlines August 2014 Entry Early Decision: October 2, 2013 Merit Fellowship Consideration: January 8, 2014 Regular Decision: April 9, 2014 January 2014 Entry October 2, 2013 *All deadlines are 11:59 p.m. EST on the date listed. //