For the 2024 Entering Class, Columbia Business School has continued with the goals essay but made a couple of adjustments. Last year, the admissions team clubbed the Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership (PPIL) with the Executives-in-Residence program as one narrative. Although the prospect of getting mentorship is unique, the school did the right thing by separating the two questions.
Honestly, when I was writing Sample Essays for F1GMAT’s Columbia MBA Essay Guide for 2022-23, combining the EIR with PPIL felt a bit of a stretch. When I analyzed the team in EIR, there wasn’t sufficient diversity, and I saw that many executives were retired. Such mentorships are valuable for Strategy consultants and C-Suites, but for anyone transitioning into a dynamic FinTech or Technology or a Tech-enabled media landscape, the experience of the mentors might not be as valuable.
Still, I wrote one narrative about a Women candidate transitioning from the Oil & Gas finding value from the mentorship from EIR’s women mentors in leadership positions.
Use EIR if you want to gain hands-on leadership lessons (going back to family business or starting a venture)
This year, the school has combined clusters and learning teams, co-curricular and student life, and career mentorship from EIR as the value proposition for the third Columbia MBA Essay question – “We believe Columbia Business School is a special place. CBS proudly fosters a collaborative learning environment through curricular experiences like our clusters and learning teams, an extremely active co-curricular and student life environment, and career mentorship opportunities like our Executives-in-Residence program”
In my 15 years of writing Sample Essays for F1GMAT’s Essay Guides and guiding 100s of applicants directly and thousands indirectly with F1GMAT’s Essay Tips, I found one thread to be unique and still relevant despite the changes in essay questions and themes – peer to peer learning.
To realize this value, let us use a thought exercise: Try building connections with high-caliber, accomplished professionals from 30+ countries in 12 months. Try to build a global perspective by following 30+ thought leaders from 30 countries and see how long you can sustain it.
Business School offers that access. The value of the network is the biggest selling point.
For Columbia, it is about the unique learning clusters and vibrant NYC-affiliated networking that attracts most to the class.
Even if it sounds cliché or obvious, use at least 50-100 words to reiterate the value of learning from a diverse peer group.
That has been and will always be the value of a global MBA program.