Columbia EMBA?

Was curious if anyone could speak about this program? Applicants appear to have ~10 years experience.

Especially curious about:

  1. Benefits of the program (placements, promotions, etc.)
  2. Importance of GMAT
  3. General advice for admission & level of difficulty (who/what are they looking for?)
  4. Cost (how common is company sponsorships or financial aid from the school?)
 

CBS grad (MBA not EMBA though). There was a lot of respect for EMBA grads since they had a lot more experience (almost double your typical MBA student). I graduated a few years ago so things might have changed, but IB & PE recruiting was really strong (I think it’s shifted to tech & consulting now).

CBS typically wants a well rounded student and I don’t believe they report their median gmat so I don’t think it’s as well (especially with 10 years experience though I can’t say this for certain).

Sponsorships are highly firm dependent but generally banks don’t sponsor people as much as they used to.

General advice would be to have a high gpa and interesting person. Hard to say what they really look for.

Would also add I had acceptances from Chicago & Kellogg and ultimately chose CBS because I knew I wanted to be in NYC, strong alumni network in NYC, networking events are easier and more abundant and overall prestige. Would’ve only taken H/W and possibly Stanford over it. Hope this helps.

 
Most Helpful

Adding to the comment by Whatever007:

  1. There is decent placement, and overall you would have similar opportunities for recruiting as full time MBA's. One major exception would be formal "OCR" where major banks and consulting firms do 99% of their MBA hiring. If that is important to you, consider instead the full time or J-term programs. Otherwise, you have access to the same job boards, clubs (where many job notification go before they hit the job boards), and alumni network. The EMBA's I've taken courses with and worked on projects together were a mix between hopeful career switchers (with the backup option of leveraging the MBA to advance in the current role), and those looking to do something tangential to their current roles with a bit more prestige/pay (transitioning closer to front office).

  2. No special insight here, but echo CBS preference for well-rounded applications and an emphasis on the essay app.

  3. The best advice I've heard was to approach the app in the following way: figure out what you want your career to look like in near term and medium term, figure out if/how CBS is the right place with the right resources to help get you there; if you think CBS is the right place, write how and why it will help you reach your goals, or open up additional doors. The school assesses how serious and genuine you are in part through how much research you've done, which includes speaking with alumni and students, and visiting the campus.

  4. Anecdotally, EMBA's pay more than full time students. They do get some extra perks, like a dedicated space and catered meals (I think daily). Most recent alumni I spoke with who mentioned sponsorships were somewhat common during his studies graduated pre 2010. You know your firm dynamics a lot better than we do. If you are considering leveraging EMBA to switch firms, this wouldn't apply to you. If you intend to stay with your employer, you can also bring this up with CBS admissions before submitting your application and they can help you prepare for the conversation with your manager.

2020 Update: recounting my experiences in PE and sharing thoughts on recent deals at https://leverup.substack.com
 

Would you mind elaborating on what your essays were about? Also, did you work in finance before applying? If so, do you think that helped or hurt your app?

 

To be clear, I was not part of the EMBA program so I'm not sure my essays are portable to the EMBA app (they really should be specific to your situation, goals and ways the specific program (full term, j-term, EMBA) would benefit you). But overall, my essays followed the format I mentioned above.

I just looked at the CBS EMBA app website, and Essay 1 question was the same for me. That's where you can hit most of the points - career goals, dream job, how your past experience laid the foundation, and how CBS will help you get there.

Yes, I worked in finance, but I don't think it had an impact in the way you are asking (e.g. binary help/hurt). I had (evidentally) a compelling enough story about my career progression, which tied that to what I want professionally, what CBS has to offer, and what I had to offer to the school community.

2020 Update: recounting my experiences in PE and sharing thoughts on recent deals at https://leverup.substack.com
 

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