Columbia Business School Application Essay Tips, 2024-2025
Columbia Business School (CBS) has made several changes to its essay questions for both January and August term applications this year. August term applications have three rounds of deadlines (Round 1 is September 10, Round 2 is January 7, and Round 3 is April 1). The school has also introduced two application deadlines for its January term candidates (Round 1 is June 18, and Round 2 is August 15). Our guidance for each essay question follows.
The admissions committee added a new short-answer question for both January and August entry applicants. They also rephrased two questions to more prominently address collaboration and community. This includes last year’s third prompt about why “Columbia Business School is a good fit for you academically, culturally, and professionally.” The new wording asks, “How would you co-create your optimal MBA experience at CBS?” which will allow applicants to highlight how they intend to collaborate with classmates (and professors) to maximize their experience and leave a positive impact on the school. All CBS applicants must complete three essays and two short-answer questions.
To write successful essays for CBS, you need to convey that you have clear goals, especially well-thought-out reasons for wanting to attend the school and live in New York City (NYC), and strong values. Moreover, you must do your homework on CBS so you can really prove that it is the best place for you. CBS doesn’t want to be a commuter school filled with people coming to Manhattan for a two-year vacation; it wants to know that you recognize and appreciate it for the world-class business school it is and that you plan to be a leader in its community. So, demonstrating “fit” is critical. Let’s delve deeper into each CBS application essay question.
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SHORT-ANSWER QUESTIONS
What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 characters maximum)
This is a noticeably short statement (remember — 50 characters, not words!). Make your response as specific as possible, noting the position you want, the industry that interests you, and/or a company that is ideal for you. Keep in mind that whatever you say here should tie into your first long required essay.
August Short Answer Question: How do you plan to spend the summer after the first year of the MBA? If in an internship, please include target industry(ies) and/or function(s). If you plan to work on your own venture, please indicate a focus of business. (50 characters maximum)
This is a new question for August-term applicants, whereas previously, they might have addressed their summer plans in Essays 1 or 3 instead. Candidates now have a dedicated (albeit limited) space in which to describe their intended professional pursuits for the summer between school years. Ensure that your answer here sets the stage for your short-term career goals, at minimum. Be specific: Will you continue to be based in NYC? What types of deals, consulting projects, or products do you aspire to work on? If you intend to pursue an entrepreneurial endeavor, be sure to check out student resources from the Eugene M. Lang Entrepreneurship Center. You can also reach out to students and/or recent graduates to get ideas about which companies typically hire summer interns in your intended field.
January Short Answer Question: Why do you prefer the January-entry term? (50 characters maximum)
Again, you’ll need to keep your response concise but specific. Some reasons you might prefer the J-Term are not needing a summer internship (e.g., you’re planning to return to your current firm or a family business after graduation) or wanting to complete school on an expedited timeline.
ESSAYS
Essay One: 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)
By starting with some simple context/backstory, you can give the admissions reader a sense of why your stated goals are credible and exciting. Simply launching into why you want to go into consulting or edtech or whatever your interest is could be confusing if you have not yet provided some sense of why you have that interest. So, your first task is to establish that your goals are feasible without rehashing the entirety of your professional path.
Next, delve into your long-term goal. By starting with your long-term goal, you are solidifying why you absolutely need a CBS MBA. Think big, think creatively, and think outside the box. Here, giving a job title is not essential (though you can), but you do need to convey what sort of impact you hope to make — on a community, on a company or organization, or somewhere else. In addition, give examples of how and why your long-term goal will be important.
Finally, describe your three- to five-year career goals, which should directly help you achieve your stated longer-term goals. Consider offering a specific job title and an example of a company or organization you aspire to work for. This will help the admissions committee connect with your goal. You have ample word count here to show that you really know what this job entails — that you are not just chasing prestige but have really thought about fit and about how, after you have completed the CBS MBA program, your desired role will prepare you for your long-term dream job. Be sure that your long-term goal can be achieved via your short-term goal. If you cannot build the bridge from one to the other, the admissions committee will question whether CBS can support you in such an improbable endeavor.
You can briefly finish with how the CBS MBA specifically will be critical in meeting your goals. Consider highlighting certain classes, centers, programs, and/or organizations that are unique to CBS that would be beneficial to you.
Essay Two: The Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership (PPIL) Pathway 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, students explore and reflect 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. Please respond to one of the below.
-Describe a time or situation when you had the need to utilize one of these five skills, and tell us the actions you took and the outcome. (250 words)
-Alternatively, please share a specific example of how you made a team more collaborative or fostered a greater sense of community within an organization. (250 words)
This essay is a great opportunity to give the admissions committee more depth and perspective on your unique background and experiences. But to begin crafting an effective response to this essay prompt, you first need to learn more about the PPIL program, so be sure to start there.
Because this is a short essay, every word counts. Our suggestion would be to devote approximately 50–75 words to describing the situation you experienced and why it stands out for you. With such tight constraints, you clearly need to get to the heart of the matter quickly. Of course, the situation you choose to discuss is important, but what is more important is revealing your values by sharing the steps you took. You might dedicate 100–125 words to relaying those actions and then use the remainder to discuss the outcome. Remember, your results don’t all have to be rosy. For example, if one takes on systemic racism, it almost goes without saying that the experience will not be an easy one. Even amid such restrictive limits, strive to convey the reality of applying one of the stated skills, and make sure your values are on display in a thoughtful manner.
If you choose to address the alternative essay component about collaboration and fostering community, you can use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action and Result) to illustrate how your efforts improved both your team’s results and overall experience (e.g., improving retention on your team, encouraging others to pursue active leadership or mentorship roles).
Essay Three: We believe Columbia Business School is a special place with a collaborative learning environment in which students feel a sense of belonging, agency, and partnership — academically, culturally, and professionally.
How would you co-create your optimal MBA experience at CBS? Please be specific. (250 words)
There are many unique ways to convey how you intend to contribute to the campus experience and collaborate with your peers to leave a lasting legacy at CBS. Before you begin writing, do significant research into what CBS has to offer that fits with your specific goals, including classes and professors (to check the “academic” box), extracurricular clubs and unique traditions (to check the “culture” box), and local networking and internship opportunities (to check the “professional” box). The ways you plan to contribute during your MBA experience should be tied to unique aspects of the school and particular interests and needs that you have.
For example, to fulfill the “academic” element, you could mention how you’d like to co-author a white paper with a specific professor or how you intend to collaborate with fellow students on an entrepreneurial endeavor through the Lang Center for Entrepreneurship. For the “culture” element, you could talk about taking a board position in an affinity-based club (Columbia Women in Business, Latin American Business Association, Ski & Snowboarding Club) and planning an event, panel, or trip. For the “professional” element, you might talk about how you could leverage your existing skills or network to help your fellow classmates. For example, if you are currently a consultant, offer to do mock interviews. If you are currently in the tech industry, offer to set up a panel with your existing industry mentors or leaders you know. Again, remember to tie the experiences you highlight to what you need to gain to attain your goals.
Research could take the form of reading the CBS website, speaking with students and alumni from similar backgrounds or in relevant post-grad roles, attending an info session, or visiting campus. The application specifically asks candidates to list the students and alumni they have connected with, so leverage such resources as the Hermes Society website to connect with students who have shared interests, backgrounds, or goals. Be aware that if you live in NYC, it is imperative that you schedule a campus visit. Not making an effort to go to campus and engage directly with students there can be a red flag.
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)
See our blog post on Optional Essay Do’s and Don’ts for guidance.
In the related article How to Get into Columbia Business School, you will find information on a variety of the MBA program’s offerings, such as the Lang Entrepreneurship Center, J-Term, Immersion Seminars, and the CBS World Tour.