09年columbia MBA Interview面试精华汇总

stream

adcom面的，气氛很轻松，差不多就是闲聊
一上来先问这个周末准备做什么，瞎扯了一通
然后问我大学为什么要学这个专业，是否受家人的影响，我很详细地追根溯源了一番，正好和我的career goal是相关的
然后career goal
为什么要去美国念MBA，而不是中国（因为我短期plan是要回来的）
然后问了一份实习和现在的工作，为什么选这个公司，这个公司在peer中有何不同
why columbia
contribution to columbia
一段oversea的training和一个award
对成功的定义
ethical dilemma，如果再碰到类似场景会怎么做，会有何不同
喜欢的好莱坞明星
当中穿插了一些我对哥大的问题，不是放在最后问的，她介绍了挺多，聊了他们的dean,seminar,课程，招聘等等，她描绘了非常美好的场景，很attractive，更向往了
总的来说挺轻松的，不过由于太过轻松，我自己准备的很多东西忘了说了，我自己的achievement说得很少，更多像在讨论人生观价值观，不管是career goal、喜欢的明星还是对成功的定义，都是我真实的想法，是我的belief，所以还是聊得比较开心的

stream

二週前收到哥大regular round 的面試通知了，今天剛做完面試，都是基本問題，也沒問啥例子，比較特別的就是我喜歡目前工作的部分有那些，及討厭的部分是。我的專長及不足處。感覺好像是job的interview 呀。驚~~~

stream

Columbia: 面试官是Amanda Carlson,40分钟
第一个问题问得非常正式：这个周末过的怎么样？ 我以为我听错了。确认没有听错后，轻松了许多。接着就纯粹是聊天。问题大概有：
- 为什么要读MBA？
- 你平常有什么消遣？
- 你知道哪些西方的歌手？
- 你去看了什么奥运比赛？
- 告诉我一个teamwork的故事。
- 问我有什么问题

stream

Columbia J-term:
Submitted 10.10, invited for interview 10/29, interviewed 11.3 (alumni), offered 11.6. I have 4 years experience in top tier IB. So the no-internship J-term suits my background the best. One of my recommender (trader I support, executive director) also graduate from CBS. Guess it helps a lot. My boyfriend is also a Columbia almuni.
I chose an American male alumni who works at a start-up. We scheduled a Saturday afternoon interview due to his intensive travel plan. We met at a Starbucks and kind of just chatting all the way through the interview. Questions he asked: 1. Why MBA, 2. Why now 3. Leadership experience 4. Ethical dilemma 5. Career goal after MBA 6. Why Columbia 7. Why my current employer

stream

Columbia regular round alum interview
Submitted application on jan. 6. received interview invitation on feb. 21. interview was done on feb. 26. so far there's been no update of status from the web site (doesn't say interview completed and review submitted yet).
interview was done by a senior md from a 1st-tier ib. quite informal, about 30 minutes or so. asked the usual questions, tell me about urself, why mba, why columbia, what other schools, ethical dilemma, leadership, etc. there was also time to ask him questions about his experiences at columbia.
i was hesitant about coming up here and sharing this until i got a final word from them but it's kinda selfish for me to be learning all ur experiences without sharing mine. hope this is useful to those of u waiting to hear from the school. good luck to u all.

stream

Columbia：
校友面试，BLIND INTERVIEW，但感觉校友很专业，很有经验。我的面试官问的都是标准问题，请参见前人面经，总结的很全面，我就不浪费笔墨了。Just be yourself。除了面试外，面试官很仔细的解答了我的问题，还聊了聊他的背景和职业发展的经验。面试后让我对COLUMBIA印象非常好，觉得真的是很有人文精神的学校。过了不久收到了OFFER，没有tuition waiver。顺便说，info session上招生官告诉我哥大奖学金都是merit-based。但是哥大的风格我真的非常喜欢，感觉是一所尊重并且重视每个学生的学校。我的面试官后来还来信询问了我是否有进展，让我非常感动。收到OFFER后，又接到了其他校友的邮件，如果有任何问题都可以问他。这两位都是很成功的专业人士，能够这样认真地履行面试职责并且这么热心的promote自己的学校，真的令人感动，并且让我感受到了哥大的文化。（可能其他学校也是如此，不过我没有经验）
最大的申请体会：如果可能的话，尽量早一点申请，进展会比较快。

stream

先汇报一下我的情况：10.9提交的early round,12.7收到面试通知，12.10发出预约mail,12.12校友面试，12.14被拒。
收到invitation后我给7位校友发了email预约，三位校友给了回复，其中一位on business trip，一位citi的姐姐很nice，不过在上海，最后一位立刻就给了回信，定在了12号。
12号那天我早早出门，提早半小时到达，等啊等啊，差不多35分钟后，校友大人匆匆赶来，看来是刚忙完手头的事，原本想寒喧感谢一下，校友大人已经直接进入正题：
tell me about yourself
what do you want to gain in Columbia
If you are not admitted by Columbia, what will you do
Do you apply other schools,why?
ethics example：这个问题校友大人好像最重视，害我连说了三个例子，到后来我自己都不知道自己在说什么了。
这个问题答完后，看见校友大人在我的简历上写了些什么。
说实话，一开始真有点不习惯校友大人略带低沉的英语，虽说很有磁性，害我pardon了几次。我还在眼巴巴的等着career goal和leadership之类的话题，结果校友大人好像对我的经历不太感兴趣了，直接问我还有什么问题要问。我看看时间，才过了半个钟头，我想，这次面试肯定是歇了。问就问吧，这时候我的感觉来了，开始大问一气，校友大人答着答着，开始有了笑容，之后的问答在轻松热烈的气氛中结束。唉，要是一开始能像最后这样，估计offer就有希望了。
校友大人和adcom都挺有效率的，14号就早上我就收到了拒信。
说实话，其实我挺喜欢这位校友大人的，他很无私地和我分享他在哥大的学习和生活经历，在我被拒后还鼓励我明年继续申请哥大。
这就是我第一次面试和被拒的经历，希望对待试的有所帮助。

stream

Just to clarify some doubts you may have. RD applications started to be seen on 15th Jan, not before. ED applications were reviewed till that date, so if you applied after 15th October, your application was put into a "hold" till 15 Jan. After that date, they started reviewing RD applications, and they started in the application order, thus those who submitted on 16th October are going to be reviewed first. If you applied in January, you will have to wait for all applicants who submitted before you to be reviewed, and that takes time. Do not worry about how much is your application in the same status (received, in process, etc).

The status order is first received, then in process, then invited to interview (not always, as you may be invited to interview or not), then thank you for interviewing, last acceptance (if you are lucky).

After interviewing you can wait for 2 weeks or 1 day. In my case I was accepted 2 days after interviewing, but I know others who had to wait for 2 weeks or more.

Most of the times you will receive a mail saying that your status has changed, but it is not true in every status change, so check you on line status page once in a while. In my particular case, I received the first mail when In process, and after when admitted. Interview invitations are announced by email. You will receive a letter from admissions congratulating you and giving you the possibility to interview (it is not mandatory, but suggested). You will be given 3 possible interviewers (you will be given names, email address and phone numbers). You can schedule an interview with any of the suggested interviewers (you will have to contact them). After the interview is arranged you will have to write in the application (you will find a link at the status page) who the interviewer is and the time appointed.

Interviews are held by alumni or actual students, no admission staff. The interview is blind, and in a very relaxed format. There are no standard questions but the usual (why columbia, career goals, etc). Be prepared to answer about yourself (past career, what do you enjoy doing, etc).

After all the suffering, if you are lucky, you will get an acceptance letter.

Hope this helps, any other doubt please ask

stream

COLUMBIA，一个很资深的校友，在一个五星宾馆的咖啡厅面的。校友很好，认识我原来公司和现在公司好些人，说我可能会被几个学校录取，如果我同时被COLUMBIA和别的学校录取，他可以很中立的给我一些建议。 昨天给我信息说已经提交了结果了。估计校友是正面意见，录取概率70%。

stream

Columbia Interview Experience
Finished my Columbia interview yesterday afternoon with a very nice alumni. It was a very enjoyable process, as we had a really pleasant talk. I was pretty relaxed, and even joked a little bit. Guess I am being myself. Only that I was a little bit too relaxed to mention some strong points I have. Anyway, I have done my part, and wish my experience would be helpful for others.
He asked quite a few standard questions, some of them I didn't prepare for.
1. Why MBA?
2. If not MBA what else would you do to achieve your goal?
3. Why now?
4. What other schools?
5. Team work.
6. Leadership.
7. What is the most challenging thing you have faced in work?
8. If you were to start a business now, what kind of business would you do? (I never mentioned that I want to be an entrepreneur, wondering why he asked me this question)
9. If you didn't get in this year, what would you do, will you apply next year?
10. Since you have two years working experience, why would columiba choose you over the other applicants who have 5+ years working experience?
We also talked about my current job, and he asked some specific quesitons about my work.
He shared with me his experience with CBS, and really sold the school with passion!
All the CBS Alums I met in BJ are nice and proud of their schools. I do like the CBS people!
Good luck to Cders who will do their interview soon!