Application Requirements

A bachelor’s degree or its equivalent from an accredited institution is required for admission to Columbia Business School. Applicants should scan and submit PDF versions of unnofficial transcripts from each college and university they have attended as a registered student.

Do not send paper transcripts via mail when first applying. If offered admission, you will be required to provide official transcripts from each of the colleges or universities you have attended. Offers of admission are not binding until academic records have been verified.

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Applicants are required to report their grade point averages (GPA) on a 4.0 scale. The reported GPA should include all courses for which you received credit or that were recognized for credit by your degree-granting institution.

If your undergraduate institution provides you with a cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale, enter your GPA (rounded to the nearest tenth) in the appropriate box.

If your school does not use the 4.0 scale, you will need to convert your school’s grading system to the 4.0 scale. Use the below table to calculate your grade-point average from each school you attended. For example, if your institution grades on an HH, H, P, LP, F scale (four passing grades), HH=4.0, H=3.3, P=2.3, LP=1.3, F=0. If your school does not use any of the scales listed here, please make a reasonable and conservative approximation of what your GPA would be on a 4.0 scale.

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Applicants must take the GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) before applying to Columbia Business School.

GMAT scores are valid for five years. Your GMAT score must be valid up through the start of your MBA studies at Columbia Business School. For example, for January 2013 entry, GMAT scores must be dated January 13, 2008, or more recently. For August 2013 entry, GMAT scores must be dated August 19, 2008, or more recently.

Be sure to self-report your GMAT score when completing your application. If admitted, you must submit an official score report via www.mba.com. The Admissions Committee will consider only your highest score when reviewing your application, but will not combine subscores from multiple exams into a single composite score. Columbia Business School’s GMAC code is QF8-N6-36.

In place of the GMAT, the Admissions Committee will accept GRE (Graduate Record Examination) test scores for applicants who do not have a valid GMAT score. If you have taken the GMAT and GRE and your GMAT scores are valid based on the above specifications, only your GMAT scores will be considered. Columbia Business School’s GRE code is 6442.

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Applicants who were educated in a country where original transcripts are not in English must send the Admissions Committee both an official transcript in the original language and a certified English translation along with proof of graduation. If admitted, you must submit an official copy of your transcripts as well as an official certified translation. Columbia Business School does not endorse or recommend any individual provider of translation services.

International students who do not have a degree from an institution in which all instruction is conducted in English must take either the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or the PTE Pearson Test of English. You may be exempted from the TOEFL or the PTE only if you have earned a degree from an institution in which English is the language of instruction. We will not accept requests for exceptions to this policy.

The TOEFL and PTE scores are valid for two years. Your TOEFL or PTE score must be valid up through the start of your MBA studies at Columbia Business School. For example, for August 2013 entry, TOEFL scores must be dated August 19, 2011, or more recently.

Be sure to self-report your TOEFL or PTE score when completing your application. If admitted, you must submit an official score report via www.toefl.org (Columbia’s ETS code is 2174, MBA department code 02). For the PTE be sure to select "Columbia Business School" from the list of schools provided by Pearson. The Admissions Committee will consider only your highest score when reviewing your application.

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Applicants must complete one short answer question and three essays.

Short Answer Question

What is your post-MBA professional goal? (200 characters maximum)

Essay Questions

1. Considering your post-MBA and long term professional goals, why are you pursuing an MBA at this point in your career? Additionally, why is Columbia Business School a good fit for you? (750 words maximum)
2. Describe a life experience that has shaped you. The goal of this essay is to get a sense of who you are, rather than what you have achieved professionally. (500 words maximum)
3. For the third essay, please choose one of the following three options:

Please note: This essay is not a way to measure the level of research you have done about the School, but rather an opportunity for the Admissions Committee to learn more about your entrepreneurial spirit (A), leadership interests (B), or planned professional growth (C). Therefore, please do not contact current students, faculty or staff asking for assistance or ideas.

Option A

The annual A. Lorne Weil Outrageous Business Plan Competition is a student initiative managed and run by the Columbia Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO). The competition encourages Columbia MBA students to explore creative, entrepreneurial ideas that are sufficiently ambitious in scope and scale to be considered “outrageous.” Students explore these ideas while learning firsthand what goes into the development and presentation of a solid business proposal.

Develop your own outrageous business idea. In essay form, compose your elevator pitch. (250 words maximum)

Close Option A

Option B

Columbia deeply values its vibrant student community, the building of which begins at orientation when admitted students are assigned to clusters of 65 to 70 fellow students who take most of the first-year core classes together. During the first weeks of school, each cluster selects a cluster chair. Further strengthening the student community are the more than 100 active student organizations at Columbia Business School, ranging from cultural to professional to community service–oriented. Leadership positions within clusters and clubs offer hands-on management and networking opportunities for students as they interact with fellow students, administrators, faculty members, alumni, and practitioners.

You are running for either cluster chair or a club leadership position of your choosing. Compose your campaign speech. (250 words maximum)

Close Option B

Option C

Founded nearly three decades ago, the Executives in Residence Program at Columbia Business School integrates senior executives into the life of the School. Current executives in residence include more than a dozen experts in areas ranging from media and investment banking to private equity and management. A hallmark of the program is one-on-one counseling sessions in which executives advise students about their prospective career choices.

Select one of the current executives in residence with whom you would like to meet during your time at Columbia. Explain your selection and tell us how you would best utilize your half hour one-on-one session. (250 words maximum)

Close Option C

Optional Essay

An optional fourth essay will allow you to discuss any issues that do not fall within the purview of the required essays.

Knight-Bagehot Fellows

Rather than answer the first essay question above, current Knight-Bagehot Fellows applying to Columbia Business School should use the space allocated to the first essay to complete the Wiegers Fellowship application essay.

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All applications require two recommendations. If you have been working full-time for at least six months, one recommendation should be from your current supervisor. The second recommendation should be from either a former direct supervisor or from another professional associate, senior to you, who can add personal insight into your candidacy.

If you are a college senior or have worked full-time for less than six months, at least one, but preferably both, of your recommendations should be from a person who can comment on your managerial abilities. You may ask a summer employer or another person who you feel can objectively assess your professional promise. The second recommendation may be from a college professor.

Recommendation questions include:

1. What is your relationship to, and how long have you known the applicant? Is this person still employed by your organization? If not, when did he/she depart?
2. Please provide a short list of adjectives describing the applicant’s strengths.
3. Please compare the applicant’s performance to that of his/her peers. Does the applicant have the potential to become a senior manager?
4. How effective are the applicant’s interpersonal skills in working with peers, supervisors, and subordinates?
5. How does the applicant accept constructive criticism?
6. Comment on your observations of the applicant’s ethical behavior.
7. What do you think motivates the candidate’s application to Columbia Business School?
8. In what ways could the applicant improve professionally?
9. If you could change one thing about the applicant, what would it be?
10. Are there any other matters which you feel we should know about the applicant?

Please be aware, the Admissions Committee does require all application materials be submitted online, including recommendations.

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Interviews are not required for admission to Columbia Business School. However, applicants may be invited to participate in evaluative interviews conducted by alumni or current students. In most cases, interviews are offered in the applicant’s geographic area, and invitations to interview can be sent at any time after a completed application has been received by the Admissions Office. Interviews are by invitation only and cannot be requested.

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The nonrefundable application fee for the Columbia Business School MBA Program is US$250. Applicants are strongly encouraged to pay this fee via credit card (Visa or MasterCard only) within the online application system in order to expedite the processing of their application.

Applicants unable to pay by credit card may mail a check or money order, drawn on a US bank in US dollars and made payable to Columbia University. Please include a brief cover note with the application fee and allow up to three weeks for an update to your online status confirming that your fee has been processed.

Fee waivers are available to full-time students, active duty military personnel, and to members of the Peace Corps and Teach for America who are currently in service. Applicants requesting a fee waiver should select the “Check or Money Order” payment option when submitting the online application. Applicants who qualify for a fee waiver should fax a fee waiver request letter to 212-662-6754 and explain their need for a fee waiver in the optional essay. Please allow up to three weeks for an update to your online status confirming that your fee waiver has been approved.

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