Experience during the program

Columbia does not just teach business; it immerses you in it. The professors here are not just academics; they're real-world professionals who bring their firsthand experiences into the classroom. This approach made the lessons much more relatable and practical. They were always available for advice and genuinely cared about our success, which made a huge difference in my education.

What stands out most to me, though, is the community at Columbia. My classmates came from all over the world, each bringing unique perspectives that enriched our discussions and widened my understanding of global business. These relationships turned into a powerful network that has supported me professionally and personally beyond graduation.

The curriculum is challenging but incredibly rewarding, blending traditional business education with the latest trends and ethical considerations. It prepared me not just to enter the business world but to lead in it with integrity and vision.

Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
Schools contribution (5.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)

Strengths of the program:

Student body, diversity
Alumni Network
Career opportunities provided by school
Culture & Student Support

Best fit at this program:

Consulting
Investment Banking

Can be improved:

Facilities

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Experience during the program

I had a choice between HBS, Columbia and MIT. I chose Columbia for two reasons : one I wanted to be in Manhattan, the financial capital of the world and two HBS was going way over my budget. I had attended some programs at HBS earlier and I knew that while case method is very interactive and interesting but at the same time it leaves you yearning for some basic concepts and learning. Columbia was the right choice, it combined best of learning with humdrum of NYC. Location gives it solid advantage in terms of best of visitors who give you real insights in business and then you can really learn.
Another great thing at Columbia is the research that is being carried out. You will learn a lot!

About professors, classes and curriculum

Professors are solid and you will really love some the classes particularly on negotiations and operations.

About job placement process

All major banks and corporations are at the campus

Overall BSchool experience (4.0)
Schools contribution (4.0)
Classmates rating (4.0)

Strengths of the program:

Alumni Network
Location
Brand/Ranking

Best fit at this program:

Consulting
Finance
Investment Banking
Entrepreneurship

Can be improved:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Career opportunities provided by school
Admissions Team

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Experience during the program

I went to Columbia to get hired at an MBB consulting firm, and that's ultimately what happened, so I can certainly say the school met my expectations and goals. A few random thoughts about the school from a recent graduate:

FACILITIES
They suck. However, a brand new campus will be completed soon(ish), and that should solve that problem. One thing I didn't appreciate about CBS is since the school is located literally in Manhattan, it's much more difficult (and orders of magnitude more expensive) to construct new buildings, so this issue ultimately gets a pass from me.

COMMUNITY
Kellogg and Fuqua seem to have a lock on the community rep, but I think that CBS should be included in that conversation. Even with the myriad distractions in NYC (more on that below), CBS students have an incredibly strong connection to each other and the school. If I wanted to fill up every night of the week with club and social events purely with CBSers, it'd be very easy to do. The generally held viewpoint that CBS is internally extremely competitive and cutthroat is completely false.

CHOICE
This is something that I've always emphasized to prospective students: more than anything, CBS is about choice. Between academics, clubs, social events, networking, coffee chats, internships (in school and summer), mentoring, and the general distractions of NYC, there's always something to pull you in a different direction. Some of my classmates held essentially full-time jobs in Connecticut, others had three kids in Long Island, and others could always be counted on to be in Watson (the library) when not in class. Some were club kids who were constantly jet-setting, and others were at every single on campus event. The really nice aspect of this is that you could be part of one of these groups one week and another the next - the fluidity and frequency of events were strengths. After the core curriculum, academics is literally a choose-your-own-adventure, with no majors or departmental requirements to fulfill. A caveat here: if you're the type of person who needs more hand-holding and structure to your MBA experience, you may feel more lost at CBS. Those with a strong sense of self-direction and motivation tend to be more successful.

About job placement process

Of the big three placements (consulting, finance, tech), CBS excels in two of them and performs reasonably well in tech - all the big firms are on campus and seems like half my friends are going to Amazon. If you're not going into one of the bigger industries, your career search will have to be much more self-driven.

From a consulting perspective, CBS is amazing. I'm speaking from a biased perspective, as I was on the board of the Management Consulting Association and gave 100+ cases to first years, but the MCA is well-recognized as one of the best MBA consulting clubs for a reason. I was exposed to easily over a dozen top consulting firms with minimal effort on my own part, and formed solid relationships with recruiters and alumni at virtually all of them. Second year students actively help prep and recruit first years, and the recruiting atmosphere is collegiate and encouraging without being overly competitive.

Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
Schools contribution (4.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)

Strengths of the program:

Student body, diversity
Location
Culture & Student Support

Best fit at this program:

Consulting
Finance
Marketing
Investment Banking

Can be improved:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Facilities
Admissions Team

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Experience during the program

I was happily impressed by the close-knit, collaborative, and supportive culture at Columbia Business School. The school's unparalleled location and opportunities across all industries makes it an obvious choice for those looking for and a fun and rewarding experience along with brand recognition and location. The alumni network is top-notch, and I never would have encountered the number of post-MBA opportunities I have without it. Columbia helped me achieve all of my post-MBA goals and I would not have been as happy or as satisfied at any other business school. Columbia Business School really is the best of all worlds!

Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
Schools contribution (5.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)

Strengths of the program:

Student body, diversity
Location
Brand/Ranking

Best fit at this program:

Consulting
Finance
Investment Banking

Can be improved:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Facilities

Read More

Experience during the program

Columbia Business School is an excellent choice, especially for those pursuing finance jobs in New York. There is a huge alumni network and the school places well at all the top investment banks and other finance roles. When it comes to finding other opportunities, though, people can have a very different experience. For example, in my year it seemed as if most of the people recruiting for consulting did not land jobs in that industry. People recruiting for other, less standard, career paths also had a more difficult time than they might have expected.

Academic experiences can vary greatly by class. I had a couple that I thought were a little useful but most were a waste of time. Overall, I think CBS does a good job of teaching the basics of accounting and corporate finance but don't expect to get much more than that.

CBS is good if you want to go to B school in NY and stay in the city after. Two years after graduation, most of my friends are still in the city. This is helpful to keep professional and personal relationships.

Overall BSchool experience (4.0)
Schools contribution (4.0)
Classmates rating (4.0)

Strengths of the program:

Alumni Network
Location
Brand/Ranking

Best fit at this program:

Consulting
Finance
Investment Banking

Can be improved:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Facilities

Read More

Experience during the program

Columbia offers the most dynamic global business, finance, and media and technology curricula. Columbia’s core curriculum could help you build a strong foundation in all areas of business, while the 200+ electives and 4,000+ graduate-level courses across Columbia University will allow you depth of understanding in your targeted areas.

You will have the opportunity to engage with NYC-based industries to learn how they function. Columbia's Master Classes and Immersion Seminars will help you experience your desired industry in the NYC ecosystem. Only Columbia will offer you the opportunity to learn from the stalwarts of your industry. Columbia does offer a microcosm of diversity like no other program.

Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
Schools contribution (5.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)

Strengths of the program:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Location
Admissions Team

Best fit at this program:

Consulting
Finance
Investment Banking
Tech
Entrepreneurship
Management

Can be improved:

Brand/Ranking

Read More

Experience during the program

Till this day, I'm still amazed to learn the diverse background of my classmates and I really like the "CBS Matters" sessions, which gives everyone the opportunity to learn more about you and what leads to who you are today. Also the career support is tremendous. We have the best executives in residence here, who are all retired industry leaders such as the former CEO of Deloitte.
Also we get support from second years who have gone through the entire process. CBS has a career fellow program where selected second years from various industries can meet and help the students in person. It's particularly helpful for those who would like to get hand-on experience in terms of interview process, internship experience, etc.

About job placement process

Almost every company I know recruit from CBS... lots of job opportunities posted on school career website everyday and strong alumni network to support the enterprise search students as well.

Overall BSchool experience (5.0)
Schools contribution (5.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)

Strengths of the program:

Alumni Network
Career opportunities provided by school
Location

Best fit at this program:

Consulting
Finance
Investment Banking
Tech
Entrepreneurship

Can be improved:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Facilities

Read More

Experience during the program

Columbia Business School has a great MBA program if you want to either (i) leverage your career in finance, especially portfolio management; or (ii) want to land a job in NYC, in several industries, ranging from consulting to investment banking to start-ups.
It may seem a little bit cliche, but the school does a tremendous job to create a network of professionals in NYC. Also, being in NYC makes it super easy for speakers to go to class. And since most of the professors are not just academic professors but also practitioners, the content of classes are very up to date of what is in the marketplace.
On the negative side, I can mention the lack of classes in other areas other than finance, especially leadership. In later years the dean is increasing the focus on this particular area, but my feeling is that it is behind other schools such as HBS, Wharton, etc.
The facilities (Uris Hall, the MCA building) are kind of old but, hopefully, by 2018 the new campus would be ready and we will see major improvements on that front.

Overall BSchool experience (4.0)
Schools contribution (4.0)
Classmates rating (3.0)

Strengths of the program:

Career opportunities provided by school
Location
Specialization in a particular area (e.g. Finance, Consulting, Healthcare, etc)

Best fit at this program:

Finance
Investment Banking
Entrepreneurship

Can be improved:

Alumni Network
Brand/Ranking
Facilities

Read More

Experience during the program

Columbia still primarily feels like a finance school, in terms of where the best professors and speakers are from. The school is trying to move away from that image, but could do a better job. It has the reputation of being a very competitive school, but I have found that to be largely untrue in my experience. My expectations of a diverse student body have been largely met. While New York is probably the school's biggest strength, at times it can be a distraction as well, for you and your classmates. The facilities are also due an upgrade. I would suggest that future applicants visit the school, at least if they live in the USA, to get a better sense of the culture.

Overall BSchool experience (4.0)
Schools contribution (4.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)

Strengths of the program:

Student body, diversity
Location
Specialization in a particular area (e.g. Finance, Consulting, Healthcare, etc)

Best fit at this program:

Finance
Investment Banking

Can be improved:

Brand/Ranking
Facilities

Read More

Experience during the program

Anyone that is considering Columbia is also likely considering a bunch of great schools that have many of the same positives; namely access to a great network, excellent professors, smart classmates, professional opportunities, and (everyone's favorite) Grade Non-Disclosure. From what I can tell there are 2 things that make Columbia stand out: New York City and finance classes/opportunities. I chose Columbia because it was a top 10 school (I didn't think anything less was really worth the investment) and I wanted to live in NY (mainly for personal reasons).

However, after going I can say that I think there are a few other things that make Columbia awesome:
- A surprising level of community, especially for a "city school." Orientation is definitely weighted towards the community side of things with a dash of academic and professional things scattered throughout, I think this is to make sure we have that community despite nobody really living on campus (not a lot of on campus housing, usually only goes to international students and a small set of west coasters). Throughout the year there are weekly happy hours on campus that are typically preceded by CBS Matters where 1-2 people from your cluster (~70 students you have all your core classes with) present about their life and what is important to them. CBS Matters is definitely my favorite thing about Columbia. In addition to on campus happy hour on Thursdays there is Rugby Happy Hour on Wednesdays at a bar a few subway stops away. It is open to the whole school, not just the rugby team (although I would highly recommend joining the rugby team because it's awesome), and usually has equal or better attendance than school-sponsored happy hour.
- A ton of travelling. This is something I haven't done as much as many of my classmates, mainly because it can get really expensive/often eats into time I could be spending with my husband. However, there are TONS of opportunities to travel. In the summer before school starts a huge chunk of the school takes part in the "pre-MBA World Tour" which includes student-organized trips pretty much all over the world (I got to take part in the final leg in the Hamptons with about 200 classmates). Then over fall break every cluster organizes a trip, we went to the Dominican Republic (one of my clustermates is from there so he planned most of it) and during winter and spring break the school offers “Global Immersion” classes and study tours to a ton of different places (Israel, Japan, South Korea, India, and Argentina are usually offered) to tour companies and sights. I took a Global Immersion class in Madrid about the European Financial Crisis which included full days of speakers who experienced the crisis first hand and evenings seeing the city, eating a lot of great food, going out to clubs, and touring the soccer stadium.
- NYC. I really only thought about this from a personal perspective coming in but it is a helpful resource since every industry and almost every big company has offices in NY you can find time to meet with people from any industry or company you might be interested in without having to plan your whole day or week around it. I took an immersion seminar last year where every Friday we visited a different consulting firm (BCG, Deloitte, PwC/Strategy&, and 10eqs) and there were a bunch of others offered too (big data, luxury goods, innovation). There are also conferences hosted on or near campus almost every week (I went to the media, marketing and women in business conferences). I just don't see those kind of things being possible outside of NY.

There definitely are some downsides to Columbia as well...
- Business school is expensive and NYC is expensive, put them together and you end up paying a painful amount of money. You pay a premium for being in NY for sure, so if you aren't getting value out of that location then you can probably get a lot of the positives of Columbia somewhere cheaper.
- It is generally understood that our marketing professors aren’t very good. My core marketing class was painful and electives were generally taught by mediocre visiting professors – pretty disappointing when you see the industry legends teaching the finance courses.
- The facilities are...for lack of a better word...bad. They are working on a new campus that should be opening around 2018 and so they aren't putting much work into the current one. It is small and below the standards I would expect from such a great school. Very few dining options and the library is pretty consistently overrun by undergrads.
Tough answering whether it is worth it right out of school (especially for me since I am still on the job hunt). I would say that if you have a good sense of what you want to get out of it and you focus on that it will be worth it (but since priorities vary so much person to person it is also very easy to get distracted).

Overall BSchool experience (3.0)
Schools contribution (3.0)
Classmates rating (3.0)

Strengths of the program:

Alumni Network
Location
Brand/Ranking

Best fit at this program:

Finance
Investment Banking
Entrepreneurship

Can be improved:

Facilities

Read More