Columbia September 2101 MBA Essay Questions

Columbia has released its 2010 MBA essay questions, which are identical to last years; I've tweaked my comments (in red) a little.

In addition to learning about your professional aspirations, the Admissions Committee hopes to gain an understanding of your interests, values and motivations through these essays. How you answer these essays is at your discretion, there are no right answers and we encourage you to answer each question thoughtfully.

Dual Degree applicants: Please address the following questions within your response to Essay 1: How will the Dual Degree enhance your short-term or long-term goals?

Reapplicants: If you have applied to Columbia Business School within the past year, you are required to submit only the reapplication essay. If your last application was more than one year ago, you must answer essays 1, 2, and 3.

Essay 1

What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will Columbia Business School help you achieve these goals? (Recommended 750 word limit)

This is a forward-looking goals question. While you should include events and experiences that contributed to the development of your goals, the bulk of the essay should be about the future. What do you want to do immediately after completing your MBA? 5 years later? How will Columbia's program help you achieve your goals? Which of Columbia's strengths and programs are critical to your success? And be specific!

Essay 2

Master Classes are the epitome of bridging the gap between theory and practice at Columbia Business School. (View link below) Please provide an example from your own life in which practical experience taught you more than theory alone. (Recommended 500 word limit)

View with Real Player:  

I also recommend you read the section of CBS' web site about Columbia's Masters Classes.

To me, the masters classes are CBS's attempt to integrate the various business functions and add a real general management element to a program that tended to keep those business silos distinct. To respond to the question you need to bring an example from your life when you applied theory successfully. Ideally, you would want to use an example where you used management principles to guide your team, office, company, or club in solving a problem or completing a project.

Essay 3

Please provide an example of a team failure of which you've been a part. If given a second chance, what would you do differently? (Recommended 500 word limit)

When have you been part of a team that came in last. Or that came in second when it should have come in first? Or that failed to close the deal? Or did finish the project, but over budget and late so that your firm lost the client?

And more importantly, what have you learned from the experience? How would you attempt to change the outcome if you had the chance? When would you seize the initiative? When would you encourage others? When would you sit quietly and let someone with complementary strengths take center stage.

While the particular incident you choose should complement other elements of your application and ideally discuss some interest, activity, or experience not discussed in other essays, the key part of this question is the second one.

For more assistance, please see:

• Admissions Tip from Dr. Pausch 's Last Lecture (Part 2)
• Flaws Make You Real
• Personal Statement Tip: Our Response Defines Us
• Personal Statement Tip: Failure Questions

Optional Essay

Is there any further information that you wish to provide to the Admissions Committee? (Please use this space to provide an explanation of any areas of concern in your academic record or your personal history.)

Obviously you could use this optional essay question to address a weakness in your application, but in my mind, it 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.

If you would like help with your Columbia MBA application, please consider Accepted.com's MBA essay editing and admissions consulting or a Columbia Comprehensive Package. And if you purchase before July 31, 2009, you can save 15% on MBA comprehensive packages and essay editing services.

Columbia September 2010 MBA Deadlines

Columbia Business School uses a rolling admissions process. Applications are reviewed in the order in which they are received, and decisions can be rendered at any point during the review period. It is always to your benefit to apply before the posted deadline.

* Decision period begins when a complete application goes under review.

** Applicants who wish to be considered for a merit-based fellowship must submit a complete application by 11:59PM EST on January 6, 2009. Fellowship recipients for the September class are announced between January and May.

I stumbled across a couple of posts by new MBA bloggers. One blogger is about to start b-school, and one wants to apply. My thoughts on two of their posts:

• In "My first Blog - Who am I" and Why do I want to do an MBA?, The Man Who Thinks He Can explores his reasons for pursuing an MBA. I hope he won't take offense, but he really needs to sharpen his reasons. Detesting his current and previous jobs, as described in the first post, is a terrible reason to apply to business school. The reasons he lists in Why do I want to do an MBA? are at least positive, but they are not specific enough. His post-MBA goal should detail more than "a better network" or the possibility of getting an "enjoyable and well paid job." What kind of job does he want after his MBA? In what industry? Doing what? For most programs, direction and purpose is part of the admissions evaluation. He says that blogging is helping him clarify his thinking, and I hope it continues to do so.
• At the other end of the process sits Stratcase who has been accepted to b-school and offers suggestions to consultants about the MBA admissions process. I strongly agree with this piece of advice: "try to find a speciality." If you are a "consultant," you are just like all the consultants out there. However if you are an environmental consultant, or a health care consultant, or a process improvement consultant, there are fewer of you applying to business school. That modifier distinguishes you and helps you stand out from the crowd. Obviously, your work experience has to substantiate the title, but if it does, use it. For more tips on applying from consulting to business school, please see:
  • The Consultant`s Guide to MBA Admission, an ebook.
  • "Application Advice for Management Consultants."

You can almost feel it in the air: the nail-biting excitement of the soon-to-be-released US News and other business-school rankings, the proud chatter of accepted candidates on MBA forums worldwide, the online articles speculating on just how many more (or fewer) people will apply to business school this year. Whether you’re an MBA re-applicant (or re-re-applicant) or in the I-might-apply-this-year camp, it’s time to start doing some deep thinking about your candidacy.

I know you have many decisions to consider—from how many and which programs to target to how to pay for b-school in this global downturn—but here I’ll offer three tips that apply to everyone considering an MBA this year or considering whether they should consider an MBA this year.

1. Build your experience—now. Yes, the GMAT is important. And yes where you went to college is (somewhat less) important. But I’ve found year after year that my most successful clients distinguish themselves through their professional and extracurricular experience. Hold on, you may say, I’m not about to get promoted or take on new responsibilities, and I’m just happy to still have a job. Fair enough. But remember, b-schools love to admit proactive candidates, and it’s never too late to volunteer for new experiences at work and in other roles, especially during times when headcounts have been cut dramatically. Is there a cool new initiative that requires as many hands as possible? Sign up for it. Are there opportunities to reach across functional lines, maybe to find new customers or reposition products and services? Go for it. It doesn’t even have to be within your current workplace. Especially for applicants without formal business experience, having something to say in this domain can go a long way to setting you apart. For example, my successful IT/engineering clients have often been involved in friends’ start-ups, advising them on tech strategy, operations, and other key components. Be creative—it’s a key skill for any aspiring MBA. And, as Linda points out in a recent post, it’s never too late to add to your outside-of-work experience too. You may not have time to establish a new non-profit, but you can certainly contribute your time to existing service efforts (they don’t seem to have quotas on volunteers!).

2. Clarify your goals. Every year I help many of my clients think about their career goals—or, more accurately, how to position their goals. First, again as Linda points out, you have to have goals. Ideally you’ll be able to lay out what you’d like to do immediately post-MBA and in the longer-term, and why. Don’t be lazy on this point—“I’d like to be a management consultant and eventually an entrepreneur” is simply not specific enough. Why are you interested in consulting? Maybe you’re already a tech consultant or love problem-solving in multiple domains. What firms would you like to work with? McKinsey, BCG, and Bain are the usual suspects, but think more broadly, especially because recruiting rates for these firms have dropped precipitously with the economy. Are you big on operations? Then Booz Allen or A.T. Kearney may be great fits. Do you come from a healthcare background? Then ZS Associates may be worth mentioning. Ideally you’ll mention firms that recruit at the school in question. For the long-term goal you may not have to be quite as specific, but try to paint the picture. If it’s entrepreneurship, why? Ideally you have some entrepreneurial experience already or can demonstrate your passion for the field in some other way. What type of business would you like to establish? Why? What trends suggest this is a “hot” area? Ask yourself these questions. Or let us ask you them.

3. Start thinking in stories. One of the main ways I add value to my clients’ essays is by shaping them around key story elements. Story is a highly powerful tool that’s too often overlooked in the business world and elsewhere. If the schools weren’t interested in your stories they would just look at your grades, GMAT, and resume. But they want to know why you’re interested in an MBA and how you achieved what’s on your resume. They want to know what obstacles you faced at work and, sometimes, in your personal life. They want to know what lessons you learned. Frankly, they want to know if you can tell a good (true) story, because that’s crucial to holding your audience’s attention, whether it’s classmates, professors, future colleagues, shareholders, boards, or Congress. So think about what went into that great project management experience or consulting engagement or fundraising effort. What would be a good way to open the story? What were the obstacles you faced and how did you overcome them? What was the ending? In an upcoming post I’ll dive deeper into key story elements. Because great stories aren’t just for novels or movies, as evidenced by my clients’ results.

My fellow editors and I would be happy to help you with any or all of these strategies and others.

By Dr. Sachin Waikar, former McKinsey consultant, published author, and advisor to applicants to business and grad schools Dr. Waikar can help you tell your story through your MBA application.

UPDATE- THE TIPS FOR LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL'S  2010 MBA APPLICATION ARE NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE. PLEASE POST QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS TO THE NEW POST.

London Business School Deadlines

Stage    Application Due        Interview Decision    Admissions Decision
    1       14 October 2008     12 November 2008     18 December 2008
    2       06 January 2009     12 February 2009        31 March 2009
    3       03 March 2009         15 April 2009               22 May 2009
    4       30 April 2009            03 June 2009              08 July 2009

London Business School Essay Questions:

My comments are in red.

The essays are an opportunity to tell us more about yourself. Use the essays to detail your interests, values and goals. We are interested in what motivates you, evidence of leadership and team work, why you are looking to pursue an MBA at this point in your life, and what you will bring to the London Business School Community. The essays are a vital part of your application and thus we recommend that you spend a significant amount of time in their preparation. 

The essay questions for entry in August 2009 are listed below. 

Question 1 (600 words)
In what role do you see yourself working immediately after graduation? Why? How will your past and present experiences help you achieve this? How will the London Business School MBA Programme contribute to this goal? Why is this the right time for you to pursue an MBA? 

This is a classic goals question with the focus on your short-term goals -- what you want to do immediately after you receive your MBA. How did you develop this goal? Why does it appeal to you? How did your experiences shape your goal and how do they reveal the appropriateness of your goal. (If you are a couch-potato or klutz, don't say you want to be a professional athlete--which wouldn't be a match for b-school anyway.)  Finally, how will LBS help you achieve your goal?

Question 2 (200 words)
Where do you see your career progressing five years after graduation and what is your longer term career vision?

Here come the long-term goals question. London Business School splits the goals question in two. That doesn't mean the two unrelated. Far from it. Although a separate short question, your long-term goals should flow naturally from your short-term goals and previous experiences, including your hoped-for stint at London Business School.

Question 3 (500 words)
Please describe your experience of working in and leading teams, either in your professional or personal life. Include any specific challenges you have faced. Given this experience, what role do you think you will play in your first year study group?

First of all learn about the role of student life at LBS, in particular the role of study groups. Also, reflect on your experience in teams. If you have been involved in teams outside of work and your other essays focused on work, then this essay presents an opportunity to discuss another facet of your life. Have you been able to both lead and occasionally take a back seat when others with skills or qualifications you lack are better prepared to lead your team? After thinking about your team experience and the role of study groups at LBS show how your past experience will help you contribute to your study group.

Question 4 (400 words)
Student involvement is an extremely important part of the London Business School MBA experience and this is reflected in the character of students on campus. What type of student club or campus community events will you be involved with and why? How will you contribute?

Again, you need to research student life at LBS before you can answer this question. The best answers will directly respond to all elements in the question by showing that you have been involved in similar college, community, or professional organizations in the past. And you will be able to illustrate your abilities to contribute at LBS by discussing your earlier contributions.

Question 5 (150 words)
Describe any significant experiences outside of your home country. What did you gain from these?

This question reflects the importance of international and cross-cultural experiences for London Business School. Note the tiny word limit here. Short and sweet. What were the most 1-2 significant experiences you have had outside your home country and what did you learn from them.

Question 6 (300 words) (This question is optional)
Is there any other information that you believe would help the MBA Admissions Committee when considering your application?

Please see "The Optional Question: To Be or Not to Be "

Question 7 (300 words) (This question is for re-applicants only)
Please describe how your candidacy for the London Business School MBA has improved since your last application. 

This is THE key question for all reapplicants. London just asks it explicitly. Please see:

• Application Advice for MBA Reapplicants
• Create a Better Sequel: How to Reapply Right to Business School

Please note that applicants should submit their completed essays within the Essay template (Word 260kb)

If you would like help with your London Business School MBA application, please consider Accepted's MBA essay editing and admissions consulting or an LBS Comprehensive Package, which offers soup-to-nuts advising and editing for the LBS MBA application.