问：请教一个关于ESSAY的问题. COLUMBIA ESSAY的第四题 "
Please tell us about what you feel most passionate in life (Recommended 250 word limit).", 是不是要写个人爱好啊?
答：我个人觉得这篇想询问的还是看你究竟是一个甚么样的人, 会为甚么样的事情而奋斗, 究竟你是一个为事业而狂热的人呢, 还是一个为家庭或者别的什么而热衷的人. 所以我觉得这篇写起来不需要拘泥于某一个框架之内, 你个人觉得甚么事情你真的很有Passion, 就写上去好了, 这样的发自心底所想的文章, 反而更有说服力 当然这是我自己的个人理解, 也未必正确,大家还是按照自己的实际情况和理解来写吧。
具体参考如下： 1. It doesn't have to be about your hobbies. It can be everything: career ambition, hobby/interests (e.g., math, sports, history, etc.), a certain type of lifestyle (contributing to the society, travelling around the world, etc.), a certain place (how about New York City ! ;) , a certain issue/topic (e.g., proverty, world peace, early-childhood eduation, etc.) 2. Please keep in mind that it is NOT about the topic/issue that you choose to cover, it is ALL about why you choose this topic/issue, because the latter one will decide whether this essay will be a great essay (yes, you NEED to write good and even great essays to boost your chance to get admitted) Furthermore, WHY you choose this topic/issue is ALL about what kind of person you are (most of the time, what we are passionate about helps DEFINE who we are, our style, and what we will become later) 3. Relax and be true to yourself. ONLY WHEN you are relaxed and be true to yourself, you won't find it neccearry to ask around "what is this essay about?". You will have your own judgement and choice. 4. DO NOT over think about how Columbia will judge you, the more you overthink about it, the less Columbia will care about you. Because everything we overthink about something, we do not act naturally
问：cloumbia对GT有没有下限要求？尤其是Toefl.实在是没空准备，再报就更难了
答：I do not know your Toefl score therefore only a "general answer" can be provided. 1. I believe every school has a "bottom line" (e.g. a minimum score that they expect from an applicant), just that some school (like Havard and other) OFFICIALLY required such a minimum score (you can refer to the requirement of Havard as an example), other schools (like Columbia and so on) do not "officially" require it. 2. I suggest you take the Havard (or other top tier school) requirement as a "measurement", if your Toefl is 10 or more scores below the "required" (officially or unoffically) one, then I personally believe that the probability of the school (esp. if you are applying a top tier one) is concerned about your English skill would be rather "high". 3. But I do not think the school will "cut you off" immediately if your score fall into the "more than 10 score below the required one" area. If they like the other parts of your application (essays, backgrounds, achievements, education excellence, etc.) very much, they will still offer you an interview and try to evaluate your English skills more during the interview.
问：我想问问，一般材料出去之后，大概需要多久才能得到回音？
答：这个问题我记得在网站上有说明，10－12周内会作出录取决定。不要着急，去年的申请者数量全球增加25％，adcom也很辛苦的。
问：请问哥大对本科的GPA有没有底线呢？2.6-2.7还有没有希望申请？研究生的成绩对申请有多大作用呢？
答：其中一个录取人的undergraduate gpa 2.8, master gpa 2.5。放心了吧？
问：What is the rough length for recommendation letters? 答：Any tips regarding recommendation letters? 1. I think for Columbia specifically, the school provides a question list to the recommendor. I personally believe that it would be IDEAL if your recommendor can answer this question one by one, offering concrete examples to justify his/her evaluation on one of your strengths. 2. In case your recommendor is too busy to answer the question one by one, do not panic, a recommendation letter will do too. I guess it would be good if the length is 500 to 800 words. Of course, it is even better if your recommendor wants to write more than 800 words. Make sure that he/she doesn't ONLY write some very generic "Tommy is great great great" type of recommendation. 3. Please do not focus on length, but the CONTENT. Is it a.) insightful? b.) specific (instead of generic?) and c.) provides concrete example(s) to justify his/her recommendation/evaluation? Do not dwell too much on recommendation letter. Few recommendors could do the above three, which is definately very helpful. Most recommendors write "good one but not great one", which won't add too much score for you but won't hurt your candidacy either. Just make sure that your recommendor doesn't not write something bad about you - belive it or not, it HAPPENS every year. 问：columbia的background check都查那些啊？我一共有4份工作，最开始的两份是小公司，真担心里面的人早就不认识我了了，这么多年了。。。 答：一般是查两个工作吧似乎，我当时交了两份资料，但是只查了最近的一个。
这个问题暂时不用担心吧，等到拿到offer之后再着急也不迟，反正很多学校都要check background，都一样要deal with it 问：columbia每年的essay题目是不是都不一样？我很想知道去年的essay题目是什么(也就是说class of 2009的各位校友当初申请时遇到的essay问题。不是early decision那轮的，是normal的那种)，以便和今年做比较。但是搜了很久也没有找到。能给个链接吗？
答：
Columbia
1. What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will Columbia
Business
School help you achieve these goals? (Recommended 750 word limit) o For January-entering Applicants: please also address how the accelerated MBA at Columbia best fits your needs. o For Dual Degree Applicants: Please indicate the Dual Degree programs and schools to which you applied or intend to apply. Please discuss how the Dual Degree will enhance your short-term or long-term goals, and at which school you intend to begin your studies. 2. Leading in the global economy requires enabling high performance from a diverse set of employees, colleagues and partners. Tell us about a manager you’ve observed who enabled or inspired others to do their best work and analyze how this manager did it. (Recommended 500 word limit)
3. In discussing Columbia
Business
School, Dean R. Glenn Hubbard remarked, "We have established the mind-set that entrepreneurship is about everything you do." Please discuss a time in your own life when you have identified and captured an opportunity. (Recommended 500 word limit)
4. Please select and answer one of the following essay questions: (Recommended 250 word limit) Please tell us what you feel most passionate about in life. If you were given a free day and could spend it anywhere, in any way you choose, what would you do? 1. (Optional) Is there any further information that you wish to provide to the Admissions Committee? Please use this space to provide an explanation of any areas of concern in your academic record or your personal history.
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