Make no mistake, Columbia is a finance school above all else. Students rave about the school's finance faculty and the access that they have to top Wall Street executives. The alumni network doesn't hurt either – nearly every Wall Street firm is stacked with Columbia alumni. The result is that most finance-minded applicants consider Columbia. If you are one of them, you will need to especially focus on differentiating yourself from a large pool of similar-sounding applicants. Therefore, start thinking now about what makes you different from the rest of the investment bankers (and aspiring bankers) who apply to Columbia.
As you might expect, Columbia's core curriculum is heavy in finance and related courses. First-years take required courses in Financial Accounting, Corporate Finance, and Global Economics. Among others. Non-finance topics such as Marketing and Strategy, however, are studied in half-term courses. While these courses are also strong, be aware that much of your time will be spent on finance-related topics. Of course, you will there fore need to demonstrate an ability to handle a quantitative workload, ideally through your GMAT score and relavant work experience.
One academic area that Columbia emphasizes outside of finance is entrepreneurship. Some of the school' most popular electives include "Introduction ot Venturing" and "Launching New Ventures." Entrepreneurship is also studied and pursued outside of the classroom. Launched in 1996, the Eugene Land Entrepreneurial Initiative Fund provides seed capital ot worthy business plans crafted by Columbia students. The Fund acts less like a traditional business plan competition and more like a venture capital firm, taking an equity stake in any Columbia start-up with promise For students looking for a more conventional business plan competition, Columbia has joined forces with UC Berkeley's Hass School of Business to run the Social Venture Competition, which provides seed money to promising start-ups whose goal is to have a positive social impact. The bottom line is that if you are interested in an MBA for entrepreneurial reasons, let the Columbia admissions committee hear about it in your essays and your interview.
Columbiaalso emphasizes that international aspect of its curriculum. Each semester, the schools' Chazen Institute of International Business offers fellowships to up to four students for their in advancing Columbia's global approach both inside and outside of the school. The Chazen Institute also runs an exchange program the gives students the opportunity to study abroad at one of 22 partner schools, as well as participate in international study tours. Keep this in mind as you craft your story for why you will fit in at Columbia.
Although they acknowledge that their peers are competitive, students and grads emphasize that Columbia is not cutthroat environment. Most consider Columbia to be a competitive but respectful and helpful community. Students spend their entire first year in the same cluster of 6 0students, taking their core classes together. Like other schools, Columbia encourages cooperation and trust within these clusters. As such, you will need to demonstrate the ability to get along with your peers. Also, like other schools in big cities, Columbia sometimes has to battle the reputation that its students spend less time on campus with each other. Demonstrating your enthusiasm for the program and a willingness to get involved in extracurricular activities will help show that you don't fit this stereotype.
Columbia's other departments aren't as well known as its finance department, and some grads have commented that these other departments take a backseat to finance. However, the school's administration has a reputation for going out of its way to respond to students' concerns. If you are interested in an area outside of finance, particularly something as far as removed such as organizational behavior or nonprofit management, Columbia may be worth a look. Your interest outside of finance alone will help you stand out, provided that you can prove that you have the quantitative skills and business acumen to learn alongside the finance crowd.
