Columbia MBA Essays 2011 - 2012 - Tips and Guidance

This year, we were lucky to add a Columbia Business School alum to our contributors.  Here are his tips on the school's essays: 

Considering your post-MBA and long term professional goals, why you are pursuing an MBA at this point in your career? Additionally, why is Columbia Business School a good fit for you? (750 words)

• When an essay is more than 600 words (this one is 750), the biggest challenge is keeping the reader engaged and wrapped up in your story - transitions, grammar, and a tight storyline are even more important in longer essays than others
• For the why CBS part, be sure to tie in CBS's offerings with your own background - this part should be very specific to CBS culture and community, not just any business school in general.  

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. (Maximum 500 words)

• First, a life experience that has shaped you could be a happy experience, a tough challenge, a big change, a move, or a tragic or traumatic situation - anything that had a meaningful impact on you and your personality
• Please do not include any professional experiences or details in this question - bring out your personality, your character, and tell your story!

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

• What is an outrageous idea?  Founding the next "social startup" or "renewable energy company" or the ultimate "micro-finance solution" will probably NOT excite your reader.   There are many outrageous ideas that are over-done too - "free wireless internet for the world", "education for everyone in the world", etc. - it's okay to use these, but your elevator pitch in these cases has to be especially meaningful. 
• Remember, the key is that the outrageous idea must be supported (unfortunately in a few sentences) by a real pragmatic sounding business plan that might work

You are running for either Cluster Chair or a club leadership position of your choosing. Compose your campaign speech. (Maximum 250 words)

• Choose this option with caution -- the challenge in this question is finding the balance between speaking about your accomplishments and your strengths in a political-campaign-like style, without sounding arrogant - some candidates can do this extremely well, but others end up sounding brash

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. (Maximum 250 words)

• Great way to bolster your case for your career vision, but remember to clearly describe how you will spend your time, rather than simply why you admire this person or general platitudes about the program.