Essay 2: Columbia Business School’s students participate in industry focused New York immersion seminars; in project based Master Classes; and in school year internships. Most importantly, our students are taught by a combination of distinguished research faculty and accomplished practitioners. How will you take advantage of being “at the very center of business”? (100-500 words)
The MBA team has clearly mentioned four academic components of the program for your consideration:
1) New York Immersion Seminars
2) Master Classes
3) Internships
4) Faculty
How will you take advantage of being at the center of Business?
CityLab puts New York City as the most economically powerful city in the world. The ranking is based on five indices: Global Metro Monitor Map (Brookings), Global Financial Centers Index (Z/Yen), Global City Competitiveness Index (The Economist), Global Cities Index (A.T. Kearney), and the City Prosperity Index (United Nations).
New York economy has a strong foundation in Finance, Technology, Real Estate, Healthcare, and Insurance. The booming digital media economy is replacing the traditional print media in the state. In terms of networking opportunities, New York is the best place for MBA graduates. 52 Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state - the highest in the US. A majority of the Fortune companies are in Banking/Finance/Insurance (J.P. Morgan, MetLife, Citigroup, AIG, New York Life Insurance, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, American Express, and MasterCard), Media/Telecommunication (Time Warner, Cablevision, Viacom, Verizon, CBS, 21st Century Fox), Technology (IBM, Google, FaceBook), FMCG (Colgate-Palmolive, Avon Products), Publishing (News Corp), Advertising (Omnicom Group Interpublic Group, Ralph Lauren), Luxury (Estee Lauder, PVH), and Healthcare (Pfizer).
Consulting
There is a reason why 40.3% of the latest Columbia MBA class chose Management Consulting as a job function. A 2015 study by the Association of Management Consulting Firms shows that 74% of the client chose consultants through referrals outside the firm while 73% based on feedback from colleagues within the firm. With an internship, Columbia MBA students get the chance to work with supervisors and project managers in the consulting firm – a pedestal required for getting job offers in this highly competitive industry.
The strong relationship that the Career Service team in Columbia Business School has developed with the consulting giants have ensured that the top four recruiters in 2015 were McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, The Boston Consulting Group, and Deloitte Consulting.
Management Consulting Immersion Seminar (Spring 2016 Schedule)
The four-week Columbia MBA course covers the trends in the consulting industry, the major players, and the challenges faced by New York based Businesses in the next decade. The immersion course includes site visits, lectures, and discussion on recommended reading material. The 2016 schedule include a visit to Bain, McKinsey, GLG, and Deloitte and campus visits from the representatives of Kennedy Consulting Research and Bridgespan.
Media/Advertising
New York City is a hub for Digital Media and Advertising companies, attracting some of the best talents in the world. The relationship that the advertisement agencies have developed with media companies over the years means that most of the budgetary spend are routed through agencies in New York, despite spend on TV dropping to 38% of the overall market. Digital Advertisement spending will reach $160 billion at 13.5% of the market in 2016, and is likely to overtake TV in 2018. This means MBAs planning to join Media companies will find greater opportunities to manage accounts in leading Digital Ad agencies. The agencies that traditionally used to relocate print budget to digital will now start dipping their hands into TV ads and spend on online videos. Over a 5-year period from 2015 to 2019, spending on US digital media assets is estimated to grow at 11.1% CAGR, taking 45% of the total Ad spend.
Keep Reading Essay #2 Tips with F1GMAT’s Columbia MBA Essay Guide
Short Answer Question 1: What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 characters maximum)
Short Answer Question 2: 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)
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: Please share a specific example of how you made a team more collaborative, more inclusive or fostered a greater sense of community within an organization. (250 words)
Essay 3: 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)
About the Author
I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.
For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.
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