Columbia Business School

New York, NY · Private · 2-year full-time (August entry; also accelerated January entry)

Average GMAT Focus: 690
Average GPA: 3.60
Class size: 982 (Class of 2027)
Median base salary: $175,000 (Class of 2025)
Program tuition: $187,816 (≈ 2 × first-year tuition)

Deadlines

August 2027 Entry - Round 1: Sept. 9, 2026
August 2027 Entry - Round 2: Jan. 5, 2027
August 2027 Entry - Round 3: March 29, 2027
January 2027 Entry - Round 1: June 17, 2026
January 2027 Entry - Round 2: Aug. 13, 2026
January 2027 Entry - Round 2 Extended: Sept. 1, 2026
Deferred Enrollment Program: April 15, 2027

Essays

Short answer 1 (50 characters)

What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal?

Short answer 2 (August entry) (50 characters)

How do you plan to spend the summer after the first year of the MBA? If in an internship, please include target industry (industries) and/or function (functions). If you plan to work on your own venture, please indicate a focus of business.

Short answer 2 (January entry) (50 characters)

Why do you prefer the January-entry term?

Essay 1 (500 words)

Through your resume and recommendation, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next three to five years and what is your long-term dream job?

Essay 2 (250 words)

Please share a specific example of how you made a team more collaborative, more inclusive or fostered a greater sense of community within an organization.

Essay 3 (250 words)

We believe Columbia Business School is a special place with a collaborative learning environment in which students feel a sense of belonging, agency, and partnership--academically, culturally, and professionally. How would you co-create your optimal MBA experience at CBS? Please be specific.

Optional essay (500 words)

If you wish to provide further information or additional context around your application to the Admissions Committee, please upload a brief explanation of any areas of concern in your academic record or personal history. This does not need to be a formal essay. You may submit bullet points.

Reapplicant essay (reapplicants only) (500 words)

How have you enhanced your candidacy since your previous application? Please detail your progress since you last applied and reiterate how you plan to achieve your immediate and long term post-MBA professional goals.

Editor's notes

Round 2 closes at noon Eastern on Jan. 5, 2027. Not midnight. You apply once per term, and Columbia doesn't defer, so pick August or January deliberately.
Columbia's AI rule is more specific than most: AI for brainstorming and editing is allowed, full AI-written responses violate the Honor Code. Every essay has to be your own work, and an offer can be rescinded for misrepresentation. Write the drafts yourself.
Your three essays answer three different questions: where you're going (Essay 1), what you've done for a team (Essay 2) and what you'd do at Columbia (Essay 3). Keep the goals in the short answers, Essay 1 and Essay 3 identical. A mismatch between a 50-character answer and a 500-word essay undercuts both.
Merit fellowships are automatic, from $25,000 a year up to full tuition for August entry, so the application itself is your scholarship application. If you need need-based aid, watch for the option that opens only once you're invited to interview.