Columbia University

Program Basics

• • MBA Program
  • Columbia Business School
  • 3022 Broadway
  • Uris Hall, Room 216
  • New York, 10027, New York
  • United States
  • Program Web site: http://www.gsb.columbia.edu/mba
  • Status: Private
  • Program e-mail address: apply@gsb.columbia.edu
  • Graduate business school is accredited by:
    • Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)

SCHOOL BASICS

• Graduate business school enrollment:

  • Total: 2,281
  • Full-Time MBA: 1,278
  • Executive MBA: 888
  • PhD Program: 95
• • Other graduate degree programs:
    • Other
    • Master of Marketing
  • Master of Science in Financial Economics

PROGRAM COSTS

• Total direct costs (tuition and required fees) of the entire MBA program:

  • Resident: $113,180.00
  • Nonresident: $113,180.00
  • Recommended annual budget (Resident): $87,870.00
  • Recommended annual budget (Nonresident): $87,870.00

PROGRAM LENGTH

• • Full-time program (months): 21

ADMISSIONS

• Application Deadlines

  • Semester: Spring 2012
  • Deadline: Oct 5, 2011
  • Semester: Fall 2012
  • Deadline: Oct 5, 2011
  • Semester: Fall 2012
  • Deadline: Apr 11, 2012
• • Does the program have rolling admissions? Yes
  • Is proficiency in English required for admission? Yes
  • Is a minimum score on an English language proficiency test required? No

• Which English language proficiency tests are accepted?

  • • TOEFL Internet Based Test
    • TOEFL Paper-based Test

• Relative Importance of Application Elements:

  • GMAT Score: Very Important
  • Resume/Work Experience: Very Important
  • Application Essays: Very Important
  • Interviews: Very Important
  • Recommendations: Very Important
  • Undergraduate Transcripts: Very Important

APPLICANTS

• • Applications (admitted and denied) to the newest class: 6,669
  • Applicants who were accepted to the most recent class: 16 %
  • Applicants who were re-applicants from prior years: 10 %
  • Percentage of this year's reapplicants accepted: 20 %
  • Applicant interviews are: By invitation only
  • Applicants (admitted and denied) who were interviewed: 26 %
  • Admitted applicants who were interviewed: 100 %

CLASS PROFILE

• Full-time students in newest entering class (2010-2011) that are:

  • Female: 35 %
  • International: 38 %
  • Married: 13 %

• Students from following regions:

  • Africa: 1 %
  • Asia: 14 %
  • Europe: 13 %
  • North America: 65 %
  • Latin America and the Caribbean: 6 %
  • Oceania: 1 %
  • Dual citizenship: 13 %

• Percentage of U.S. students in newest entering class who are from the following regions:

  • Northeast: 37 %
  • Mid-Atlantic: 12 %
  • South: 9 %
  • Southwest: 7 %
  • Midwest: 9 %
  • West: 15 %
  • Possessions and territories: 1 %
• • Mean months of work experience of newest entering class: 56
  • Median months of work experience of newest entering class: 54

• Middle 80% range of work experience of newest entering class in months:

  • From: 34
  • To: 83
• • Median age of entering class: 28
  • Mean age of entering class: 28

FINANCIAL AID

• • Full-time MBAs apply for financial aid through: Dedicated financial aid office at the B-school
  • Full-time MBAs who applied for financial aid for the current academic year: 40 %
  • Full-time MBAs receiving financial aid in the current academic year: 53 %
  • Mean MBA financial aid package for the current academic year: $56,152.00
  • Median MBA financial aid package for the current academic year: $61,410.00
  • On what basis are scholarships awarded?
    • a combination of need and merit
    • academic merit
    • financial need
  • How does an applicant apply for scholarship consideration? As part of the admissions application
  • Mean scholarship awarded to full-time MBAs in the previous academic year: $10,192.00
  • Percentage of first-year students receiving financial aid who receive at least the same amount in their second year of study: 100 %
  • Does the school offer a guaranteed loan to all MBAs regardeless of nationality? No

GMAT

• • Are applicants required to take the GMAT? Yes
  • Are applicants allowed to submit the GRE? Yes

CLASS OFFERINGS

• • Average number of students in a full-time MBA core class: 62
  • Average number of students in a full-time MBA elective class: 43
  • Elective courses available to full-time MBA students: 180

• Electives that have been added to the full-time program since June 30, 2010:

  • Strategic Innovation Management
  • Analytics for Complex Business Decisions
  • Persuasion
  • The Marketing of an American President
  • Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization Workshop

• Concentrations and specializations offered to full-time MBA students:

  • • Consulting
    • Finance
    • Entrepreneurship
    • General Management
    • Marketing
    • Real Estate
    • Supply Chain Management
    • Accounting
    • Leadership
    • Operations Management
    • Economics
    • Corporate Social Responsibility
    • International Business
    • Portfolio Management
    • Media/Entertainment
  • Social Enterprise, Decision & Risk Analysis, Healthcare & Pharmaceutical Management, Value Investing, Private Equity and Retail & Luxury Goods

• Joint-degree programs offered to full-time MBAs:

  • • MBA/MS (Science)
    • MBA/JD (Law)
    • MBA/MD (Medicine)
    • Other
    • MBA/MSN (Nursing)
• • Does the school offer an accelerated full-time MBA program? No

• The school believes that its leading areas of study for full-time MBA students are:

  • • Finance
    • General Management
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Marketing
    • Consulting

FACULTY

• • Faculty employed by the B-school: 299

• Full-time faculty:

  • Tenured: 72
  • Non-Tenured: 75

• Adjunct/Visiting Faculty:

  • Tenured: 0
  • Non-Tenured: 154

• Women on Faculty:

  • Tenured: 9
  • Non-Tenured: 35

• Minority Faculty:

  • Tenured: 17
  • Non-Tenured: 23

• International Faculty:

  • Tenured: 33
  • Non-Tenured: 39

• Faculty with PhDs:

  • Tenured: 72
  • Non-Tenured: 68

STUDENT LIFE

• Professional clubs available to full-time MBA students:

  • • Biotech/Health care
    • Corporate Social Responsibility/NetImpact
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Consulting
    • Other
    • Business Ethics
    • Finance
    • Marketing
    • Nonprofit
    • VC/ Private Equity
    • Environmental
    • High Tech
    • Information Technology
    • Investment Banking
    • Media & Entertainment
    • Human Resources
    • New Media

• Networking clubs available to full-time MBA students:

  • • Black MBA Association
    • Hispanic Student Organization
    • International Club
    • Partners/Family
    • Women in MBA
    • Other
    • Volunteer
    • Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual
    • Wine

TEACHING/ACADEMICS

• Teaching methods used:

  • Case Study: 40 %
  • Experiential Learning: 5 %
  • Lectures: 38 %
  • Simulations: 2 %
  • Team Projects: 15 %

• Requirements for graduation:

  • • Students must have attended a minimum number of classes
    • Students must have earned a pre-determined GPA/Letter grade average
    • Other
  • Students must attain 60 credits to graduate.

TECHNOLOGY

• • Technology improvements in the last three academic years: In the last three years technology enhancements have continued to be aligned directly with the School’s focus on providing its students with a distinguishing student academic experience. In the last year, to improve student services, the School has performed upgrades to its wireless service infrastructure, upgraded student kiosks and printers, as well as introduced a new mobile application for iPhones to provide constituents as well as the public with easier access to services and information.

B-SCHOOL ALUMNI

• • Living MBA alumni: 40,000
  • Active MBA alumni clubs: 64
  • Countries in which MBA clubs exist: 36
  • Living MBA alumni who gave in past year: 15 %
  • Mean gift from MBA alumni: $4,702.00
  • Median gift from MBA alumni: $200.00
  • Did school receive an individual gift in excess of $10 million in the past academic year? Yes
  • Business School endowment: $508,658,932.00
  • Does the main university offer career placement services for alumni? No
  • Does the main university have an alumni networking Web site? Yes
  • University alumni networking site: http://www.columbia.edu/alumni
  • Does the B-School have an alumni networking Web site? Yes
  • Business school alumni networking site: http://www.gsb.columbia.edu/alumni
  • Does the B-SCHOOL offer career services for alumni? Yes
  • Do current MBA students have access to an alumni database? Yes

CAREER SERVICES

• • Graduates seeking full-time professional MBA employment: 76 %
  • Graduates not seeking employment: 12 %
  • Graduates for whom you have no information regarding employment: 12 %

• Annual job-searching trips that the school coordinates or participates in:

  • Destination: Silicon Valley/Seattle Trip
  • Month: January
  • Amount Paid By School: Partial
  • Destination: Los Angeles Study Trip
  • Month: January
  • Amount Paid By School: Partial
  • Destination: London Banking Days
  • Month: November
  • Amount Paid By School: Partial
  • Destination: International Development/Washington, DC
  • Month: December
  • Amount Paid By School: Partial
  • Destination: Hong Kong Finance Trip
  • Month: January and August
  • Amount Paid By School: Partial

• Job Offers for 2011 graduates

  • Received first job offer by graduation: 86 %
  • Received first job offer in three months following graduation: 11 %
  • Did not report having received a job offer: 1 %
  • Accepted first job offer by graduation: 75 %
  • Accepted first job offer in three months following graduation: 16 %
  • Did not report having accepted a job offer: 2 %

• Top recruiting organizations most recent academic year:

  • McKinsey & Company 39
  • Goldman, Sachs & Co. 18
  • Citi 16
  • Deutsche Bank 13
  • Bain & Company 12
  • Credit Suisse 12
  • American Express 11
  • Barclays Capital 11
  • Bank of America/Merrill Lynch 10
  • Boston Consulting Group 9
  • JPMorgan Chase 9
  • Booz & Company 8
  • Deloitte Consulting 8
  • IBM Corporation 8
  • Morgan Stanley 8
• • Job-accepting graduates who received a signing bonus: 68 %

• Base salary, signing bonuses and other compensation for most recent employed graduates:

  • Mean base salary: $113,340.00
  • Median base salary: $110,000.00
  • Mean signing bonus: $30,889.00
  • Median signing bonus: $25,000.00
  • Mean other guaranteed compensation: $65,437.00
  • Median other guaranteed compensation: $37,000.00

• Graduating students who accepted jobs in the following functional areas:

  • Consulting: 27 %
  • Finance/Accounting: 52 %
  • General Management: 3 %
  • Marketing/Sales: 13 %
  • Other: 5 %

• Graduating students who accepted jobs in the following industries:

  • Consulting: 22 %
  • Consumer Products: 8 %
  • Financial Services: 51 %
  • Manufacturing: 1 %
  • Media/Entertainment: 4 %
  • Non-Profit: 1 %
  • Petroleum/Energy: 2 %
  • Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology/Health Care: 2 %
  • Real Estate: 3 %
  • Technology: 5 %
  • Other: 1 %

• Graduates who accepted full-time jobs in the following regions:

  • Asia: 7 %
  • Europe: 8 %
  • North America: 83 %
  • Latin America and the Caribbean: 2 %

• Within the U.S., graduates who accepted full-time jobs in the following regions:

  • Northeast: 85 %
  • Mid-Atlantic: 4 %
  • South: 1 %
  • Southwest: 2 %
  • Midwest: 1 %
  • West: 7 %

• Top recruiting organizations for internships, most recent academic year:

  • McKinsey & Company 25
  • JPMorgan Chase 21
  • Credit Suisse 20
  • Goldman, Sachs & Co. 19
  • Deutsche Bank 15
  • Morgan Stanley 15
  • Deloitte Consulting 12
  • American Express 11
  • Bain & Company 11
  • Bank of America/Merrill Lynch 11
  • The Boston Consulting Group 9
  • Citi 9
  • Amazon 7
  • UBS 6
  • Barclays Capital 5
• • Internships awarded that are paid: 95 %

• Weekly internship compensation:

  • Mean: $1,864.00
  • Median: $2,000.00

SCHOOL COMMENTS

• • School Comments: Apply for Scholarship Consideration as part of the admissions application and unique scholarship application

• • -In addition to the benefits of being located in New York (guest speakers, professional symposiums, internships during school), I was most impressed by the diversity of the student body. Although I am from the US and have not worked in a foreign country, I have built an invaluable international network.
    
    -Columbia has an excellent program and access to world-class resources in New York City. I particularly appreciated the real world experience and perspectives many practitioners and executives bring in, whether as a speaker or an adjunct faculty. I also find my best courses and academic experiences to be the ones led/taught by adjuncts. This is something that other top programs are unable to offer, and one that I had not thought about being enrolling.
    
    -Living as a student in NYC is painful unless you're (1) rich, (2) trust-fund baby, or (3) company is paying for it.
    
    -The Applied Value Investing program at Columbia is unique and offers an unparalleled set of classes that teach students how to become great investors. For anyone interested in a fundamental approach to investing, Columbia Business School is second to none. I cannot comment on the strength of the rest of the curriculum.
    
    -Columbia Business School has outgrown the current facility and needs to invest in the building of a new one, which they currently are working towards. In the meantime, the staff, program, and professors are trying to adjust to the influx of students and the growing program. They do their best, but when there's only four semesters to impact these students, a 'miss' in curriculum or courses or programming has a drastic impact on the overall experience.
    
    -Overall, it's a very good program although some of the core classes are not very good. But the experience, exposure, network and location are the key at CBS.
    
    -Columbia Business School's real estate curriculum is exceptional, and it was the motivating factor in my decision to enroll at CBS. The core curriculum is fairly strong, especially the introductory corporate finance class. The required operations and marketing classes were less impactful. Columbia's greatest asset is its location; by virtue of being in New York, the school attracts tremendous adjunct professors and guest speakers, providing a real-world context for the classroom work.
    
    -Core curriculum was a complete waste of time/money. Far too much of a focus on alcohol-infused events loosely masked as "networking" instead of actually learning. Far too much of a focus on I-banking and consulting, and if neither are of interest to you (I came from I-banking and would NEVER return) you're on your own. Academic rigor was laughable, and forced "team projects" were usually unnecessary and after first semester simply became exercises in delegation/taking turns. WAY too much overlap in certain classes/concepts (this was a huge disappointment to me).
    
    -I loved the people I met at Columbia Business School. They are very cosmopolitan and international in nature with open minds to meet new people. I also felt the school to be very collaborative which was a surprise. Columbia in the past had a reputation for being overly competitive. The cluster experience and clubs have definitely improved the environment for the better.
    
    -Columbia had far less community than I expected and hoped for--a lot of students seem to disappear into the city on weekends, especially if they lived here before school. The quality of students in the admitted body is uneven--I've dealt with a large number of students on team projects that do not seem to be responsible, motivated or intelligent. The business school seems to devote few resources outside of finance and banking as career paths. If you want to start a business or study strategy, the course offerings are slim.
    
    -Columbia's one-of-a-kind "Value Investing Program" was my focus for the second year and provided access to a niche within the investment management industry that is dominated by Columbia graduates, and that still revolves around the business school. If one's objective is to learn the art of investing and to gain access to the investment world's elite practitioners, there is simply no other business school that can compete with Columbia's curriculum, faculty, or network.
    
    -I find it a shame that ethics and FUNDAMENTAL economic principles were not a focus. Instead of requiring "plant operations" and marketing concepts as core classes, how about providing all future business leaders with a foundation in various economic schools of thought!? Columbia prides itself as a prestige institution, but my impression is one of a glorified trade school. My most intellectually stimulating classes were the electives I took outside the business school in other Columbia graduate schools (and the amount of work in such classes was WELL beyond that required by the b-school classes...go figure).