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Columbia Here I Come!

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I haven’t provided an update in a long time and I have A LOT to share!

Columbia Interview

My Columbia Interview went fantastic.  I really liked my interviewer and the conversation was very casual and I had a great time.  The best part of the interview was that I got to hear all about his experience before, during and after his MBA.  All in all, it lasted about an hour and a half and I never got nervous or tripped up on any of his questions.  He took a little while to submit the interview feedback, which made me super nervous, but that is okay.  I think Clear Admit’s section on Columbia interview questions ended up being all I needed to prepare.  I highly recommend checking it out if you have an upcoming Columbia interview.

Acceptance at Columbia!

Three long days after my interviewer submitted his feedback, I got the call welcoming me into CBS’s class of 2016!  As many of you know, I wrestled with whether to apply Early Decision or not and finally determined that Columbia was the place for me and that the ED route made sense.  I begrudgingly sent a note to Wharton’s admissions and let them know that I would be withdrawing my application and declining my invitation to interview.  This was such a tough email to send.  After months of working on the Wharton application, I was essentially rejecting them…and it felt really strange after all the hard work.  I also will have to withdraw my application to HBS as well, where my application is under “deferred consideration” (essentially wait listed).  All this being said, I am beyond happy and excited to be a part of CBS’s incoming class.  I even joined the Facebook group already and began reading some of my future classmate’s profiles (by the way…WOW, these people are impressive)!

Next Steps

Next steps are a little scary to think about…I have lots of time on my hands and will need to save much more aggressively for my MBA.  I have really put savings on the back-burner and will need to buckle down, save a lot and start applying to scholarships like a mad woman.  Also, I will have to come to terms with the fact that I will be MOVING TO NYC in LESS than a YEAR!  This is really huge for me as I have been living with my boyfriend for four years in the same place and have lived in the same city for over 10 years.  This will be a really, really big change for me and there are so many uncertainties – roommate/no roommate? On campus/near campus/not-so-near campus?  If anyone else has been accepted into CBS already and shares my fears, please let me know!

Columbia Here I come!

 

20 thoughts on “Columbia Here I Come!”

    • I am also excited that now I know where I will be going and can start planning. The feeling of not knowing where I will be in several months was so uncomfortable! Good luck on your apps-I know you will get into a great school:)

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  4. Congratulations! I have a few friends who have gone to CBS and they loved it. Good luck with applying for scholarship funds and saving. It can be quite a struggle, saving up if you haven’t already started saving well before your decision to apply!

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    • Thank you! I am so excited to have been accepted…but my mind went immediately to the cost and I have been freaking out ever since! Also, it is really difficult to get stats on the average school sponsored grants/scholarship funding…so I have no idea what to expect and I won’t know until after January (the fellowship deadline at CBS).

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  6. Congratulations. Everyone I know at CBS really loves the school (not to mention the location). Confession time, when I read your blog post the 2nd thing that came to mind was “one less person to compete with on HBS FC” haha. That being said, I genuinely hope you have a great 2 years, and congrats on getting through the waiting game. 🙂

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    • Thanks, I totally understand and would probably feel the same way! Being deferred or wait listed is tough, but I think there’s a pretty good shot for you. I think many will drop off the list for other schools and I think they end up taking something like 80 people total at HBS. Good luck and hang in there!!

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  7. I really sympathize with your feelings regarding the withdrawal letters. I was admitted to Fuqua in an early admission, and had to do the same. After months of hard and exhausting work, it wasn’t easy to simply “throw away” several other applications. I felt relieved and sad at the same time, yet I am super happy with my admission to Fuqua 🙂

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  9. Congrats on the acceptance and also not having to decide between schools! I’m a first year @ Johnson and business school is busy, but also completely awesome. Enjoy the ride!

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