Columbia MBA Essay Questions & Analysis 2025-2026

The following analysis examines the admissions essays for Columbia Business School. The Columbia MBA essay questions below are for the 2025-2026 admissions season. You can also review essay topic analyses for other leading MBA programs as well as general Essay Tips to further aid you in developing your admissions essays.

Columbia MBA Essay Questions & Analysis 2025-2026

Let’s take a closer look at the Columbia MBA essay questions:

Short Answer Questions

What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (50 characters)
This question asks applicants to speak directly about the job they wish to have upon graduating from business school. Given a short and strict limit of 50 characters, you’ll want to clearly and concisely describe your short-term goal, making sure that it aligns with what you write in Essay 1.

How do you plan to spend the summer after the first year of the MBA? If in an internship, please include target industry(ies) and/or function(s). If you plan to work on your own venture, please indicate a focus of business. (50 characters maximum)
For those choosing an internship, this will need to have a clear connection to your short-term goal. In other words, stay on theme–for example, if you plan to become a consulting associate focused on the healthcare sector, it would not make sense to express interest in a role in fintech. Keep in mind that this is not a binding answer–you just want to show the adcom that you have thought through how to best prepare for your post-MBA plans. It could help to review offerings through the Career Management Center to make sure your summer plans are feasible, but the CMC maintains healthy and extensive corporate relationships, so it’s likely your target industry and function will be attainable as an intern. If you are planning your own venture, simply account for the business need you plan to address.

Columbia MBA Essay Question 1

Through your résumé and recommendations, 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? (500 words)
Appearing for an eighth year in a row on the CBS application, this first essay prompts applicants to focus almost exclusively on their career goals. We say “almost” here because a bit of context will be important. For example, applicants might remark on how their professional experiences to date have informed their interest in their post-MBA path, and might also comment on transferable skills they’ve gained on the job that will apply to their future posts. In short, make sure that your comments build on rather than repeat material that the adcom can find in your recommendations or résumé. Also, the reference to a “dream job” stands out here. In light of this language, your long-term plans should be aspirational, as top programs want to admit folks who will make an impact in the world. That said, they should be realistic, based on your short-term aspirations, an MBA and career to-date.

Columbia MBA Essay Question 2

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. (250 words)
The door is wide open for examples, but the key is to ensure you show how you are a collaborative and inclusive leader. Given the short word limit, the following structure can help you convey key details in limited space:

• Situation – Set the stage, identify the organization and related team challenge. Was someone not pulling their weight? Was there a breakdown in communication? Who comprises the “team?” What is your role on the “team?”
• Action – Describe the actions you took related to collaboration/inclusivity/community. How did you build camaraderie? How did you adapt your communication or leadership? What did you do to motivate others? What about this process challenged you and why?
• Outcome – Summarize the (positive) result. What did success look like? Did you complete a project ahead of time? Did a team member’s work improve?

This can be a lot of ground to cover in 250 words, but if you have room, concluding with a brief example of how you applied what you learned would further show that you learned from the challenge.

Columbia MBA Essay Question 3

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. (250 words)
The adcom is seeking to understand how you see yourself contributing to the community and enhancing the experience of other students. If you have a longstanding passion or interest, or relevant accomplishment, you may briefly cite your experience in connection to how it would translate to action at CBS. The key is to have the details about life at CBS so the adcom can more easily visualize you as a student there.

Painting a clear picture of impact within a 250-word essay is no easy task, so zeroing in on how you hope to add to the CBS MBA program academically, culturally and professionally will be important to developing an effective response. Taking the time to learn about the school’s curriculum, special programs and extracurricular activities—whether by seeking out alumni or current students to engage, or connecting with resources through the CBS website—will pay dividends here. For instance, consider the community and collaboration found in the clusters and learning teams or co-curricular and student life environment. Also keep in mind that CBS sees New York City as an extension of their campus, so don’t be afraid to expand the environment for your potential impact on your classmates.

Optional Essay

If you wish to provide the Admissions Committee with further information or additional context about your application, please include it here. You may write an essay or submit bullet points. (Maximum 500 Words)
The admissions committee offers a rather direct prompt to address liabilities in one’s application, e.g. gaps in employment, a weak quantitative record, etc. In such cases, applicants should keep their responses brief and to-the-point, offering explanations without making excuses and humbly bringing mitigating factors to the reader’s attention. That said, it’s possible that there are other elements of one’s background that would be appropriate and not covered elsewhere in one’s application, for example an anticipated promotion or an element of one’s identity not covered in the program’s data forms. While applicants should make an effort to fully represent their candidacies within the required elements of the application, this leaves a bit of room for short exceptions.

Reapplicant Essay

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. (Maximum 500 words)
The framing of this CBS MBA essay question suggests that the adcom is more interested in proactive steps toward material improvement of your candidacy. You should therefore focus on the specific ways you’ve worked to strengthen your candidacy over the past year (e.g. assuming more responsibility at work, attending conferences in line with your long-term professional goals, retaking the GMAT, or bolstering community involvement), and the reasons that you believe you’re a better applicant to CBS this time around. They are also specifically looking for details about your career plans, which means you can connect to new skills you’ve honed, connections you’ve made, or research you’ve done to more concretely develop and pursue your goals.

Clear Admit Resources

Thanks for reading our analysis of this year’s Columbia MBA essay questions. As you work on your Columbia MBA essay questions and application, we encourage you to consider all of Clear Admit’s Columbia offerings:

• Columbia School of Business Profile on the Clear Admit website: up-to-date advice and admissions information
• Clear Admit LiveWire: admissions updates submitted in real time by applicants to CBS
• Clear Admit DecisionWire: school selections in real-time by admits to CBS