Columbia Business School is clear about the kind of student they admit into their full-time MBA program: collaborative, community-minded, and determined. They are looking for students who are both ambitious and ready to make an impact on their field (and the world), and prepared to develop meaningful personal and professional relationships.
As with other elite MBA programs, the essay questions are a critical component of the application because they provide you, the applicant, with the opportunity to show your abilities—in the areas of critical thinking and problem solving, leadership, and teamwork—through stories from your life. You will also be able to make the case for why you will be able to do what you say you want to do post-MBA. Unlike your resume, which will provide an overview of your life from the start of college, your essays should take a deep dive that will give the reader a view into the person (and personality) behind some of your most meaningful experiences and accomplishments.
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)
Although the question asks about your future goals, you will want to anchor this essay in the past. Because what you’ve already done, learned, and achieved is far more important than what you haven’t— what you say you want to do in the future. In order to fully satisfy the objective of this prompt, go into your backstory and detail the key moments that influenced you and the formation of your goals. As they note in the prompt, they already have an overview of your professional path to date, but they haven’t yet gotten a deep dive into your most pivotal experiences. Once the reader has taken this trip to your past, your proposed path forward will make much more sense.
The Writing Process
Begin with a brainstorm. Do not underestimate the importance of this step. Document your experiences, positive and negative, that prompted an evolution in your perspective—you know, those “ah-ha!” moments without which you would be a different student, professional, and/or person today. Then, record those experiences that will show the reader your abilities in innovation (critical/creative thinking and problem solving), leadership, and teamwork, as well as those experiences that reinforced your interest in an MBA program. Capture as many details as possible, paying particular attention to what you thought, felt, said, and did in each situation. Your focus should be on adult experiences (from the start of college and later), though stories from your youth could comprise up to 20 percent of this brainstorm.
During your brainstorm, don’t limit yourself by worrying about a cohesive narrative, the quality of your writing, or the number/length of your stories. Simply focus on collecting those situations that helped to guide your path to this point and impacted your decision to apply to the Columbia MBA program.
Craft an outline. Select the key stories you will use to anchor your narratives. Remember that you’ll use your essays to go deep into experiences that demonstrate the traits you want to emphasize. Think about your application as a whole and use your responses to strategically cover any qualities that may not be adequately addressed in other aspects of your application.
Write. Keep in mind that you must be showing, not telling the reader who you are. Invite the reader into your life by highlighting sensory details, such as smells and sounds, and don’t hesitate to engage your readers emotionally. Sprinkle in humor (if you feel comfortable doing so) or hit a poignant note. In contrast to your resume which provides a general overview of your experiences, your essay responses should go deep into a story that allows the reader to come to their own conclusions about some of your character traits and abilities. Highlight how you’ve struggled, triumphed, learned, and how these experiences have developed you into the person you are now.
Review. Revise. Repeat. Confirm your word count and read your essay aloud noting where you stumble. Make revisions as necessary. Once it reads smoothly, set it down and walk away for at least 24 hours. Then re-read it. Is it you? Is it personal and authentic? You want the reader to see the real person behind the applicant number. While we caution against “oversharing,” being appropriately vulnerable will create connection.
Read: How to approach Columbia’s Essays Part II
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