Meet Columbia’s MBA Class of 2017

Paige Ford

Columbia Business School

Hometown: Charlotte, NC

Undergraduate School and Major: United States Military Academy at West Point – French, BS and Course of Study in Systems Engineering

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation: The United States Army – Graduate Assistant for the West Point women’s tennis team, Warrior Transition Unit Executive Officer, Assistant Operations Officer, Vertical Engineer Platoon Leader, and Human Resources Manager

Recalling your own experience, what advice do you have for applicants who are preparing for either the GMAT or the GRE? It is never too early to start preparing. Don’t be discouraged when you begin to hear stories about your peers who were capable of earning a 700+ score without so much as flipping a note card. The majority of applicants take the test more than once and spend weeks or even months preparing via online classes, private tutoring, and practice exams. I am the first to admit that only after 30 full days of regimented studying did I feel prepared to attain a respectable score.  This isn’t a race; respect the test, and prepare accordingly.

Based on your own selection process, what advice do you have for applicants who are trying to draw up a list of target schools to which to apply? Do your research. For some of you, this is the biggest decision that you have ever made in your life. Remember that your business school experience is an investment, and as with any investment, you owe it to yourself to dive into the cost vs. benefit analysis. Don’t waste your time applying to a school because of its recent ranking in Forbes magazine, and certainly don’t waste your time applying to a school because you think it will guarantee your success in the corporate arena. Business school is a chance for you to take what you know and utilize the available resources around you to transform into a well-balanced leader. Reach out to admissions, ask questions, take a tour of the campus, and (most importantly) network! So much of your B-school experience is dependent on the program’s culture. The best thing you can do is connect with current students and recent graduates who will provide honest feedback regarding their experiences and what sets their program apart from the others. Ask questions, trust your intuition, and know who you are and what you want out of business school before you click “submit application.”

Business School is a two-year experience designed to promote intellectual growth, develop leadership initiative, and inspire global perspective that in turn allows each graduate to accomplish individual goals with a systematic approach and clear vision.

What advice do you have for applicants in actually applying to a school, writing essays, doing admission interviews, and getting recommenders to write letters on your behalf? When writing the essays don’t get bogged down in answering specific questions. Tell your story and show some personality! Set yourself apart from the thousands of other applicants by opening up and embracing a past event that evokes some vulnerability or changed you as a person. Most importantly, be clear as to why that school is the best fit for you and why you are the best fit for that school. Chances are, applicants applying to one top business school will go on to apply to several.

As for interviews, remain professional and courteous at all times, but be yourself. Have questions prepared for your interviewer because at the end you will have a chance to gain insight from successful alumni. Showing genuine interest in their accomplishments and conveying an eagerness to gain mentorship during the application process will only help your cause – this mentorship is one of the reasons why I chose Columbia. Lastly, even if you don’t know what exactly you want to do with your MBA, have an idea of what industry you want to pursue. I have a close friend from West Point who is a quantitative genius. He was ranked at the top of our class and applied to only the top business schools. Everyone knew he was a shoo-in! During an interview with a partner at a top consulting firm, he was asked what he wanted to do with an MBA and he said, “I don’t know.” The interviewer appeared shocked and gave him another chance to respond appropriately at which time my friend knew that he had made a critical mistake. We will never know how much weight his interview held in the overall application decision, but he was denied.

Once you have chosen your recommenders, schedule a time to sit down with them one-on-one. Use this time to inform them of your aspirations and be prepared to answer the inevitable question, “Why business school?”  Provide background information and past achievements; this will allow them to gather necessary and relevant information to help determine whether or not they want to endorse your request.  Be sure to step back and gauge their feedback objectively. If you get a sense that someone does not support you or might not write positive remarks on your behalf, choose someone else to be your recommender. If however, the recommender agrees to write a letter on your behalf, provide them with a digital rough draft that will make their life a whole lot easier. Be sure to sell yourself, but remain humble and honest throughout the draft.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? Taking off my Army uniform for the first time in nine years was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. My uniform was my identity, and without it I feared I would lose sight of my path. The thought of entering a new career field – in a new environment – alongside individuals who might not be able to relate to what I’ve been through was terrifying. I chose Columbia Business School not because of its prestige, or its proximity to global markets, but because of the people affiliated with the program. Every alumni, current student, professor, and member of admissions I met left me feeling certain. Certain that I had found a new and improved sense of self, certain that I could shed my military layer and reemerge as a successful leader in any industry, and certain that for the rest of my life I would identify as a member of the Columbia family. That alone made the decision easy. What didn’t hurt was the fact that I was a small town, southern girl, who would finally get a chance to live in a booming metropolis, gain counsel from world-renowned professors and corporate moguls, and sip champagne with fellow Columbians.

What would you ultimately like to achieve before you graduate? It always baffles me when people are surprised to hear that I loved leading troops in Afghanistan. I guess I can understand to an extent why they might be confused; you’re away from your family, the food is terrible, you’re being shot at, and you’re responsible for 32 other lives. Roger. But tell me, what consulting gig, what hedge fund, what start-up will allow me to feel the adrenaline and the raw sense of worth that comes from successfully patrolling through the streets of Kandahar City wherein every decision I make is a matter of life or death? It’s not a question of if I’ll find that same sense of purpose, but where and when. Before I graduate, I will find that purpose. I will immerse myself in the Columbia Business School experience by developing life-long friendships, traveling the world, bettering myself as a member of society, and transforming into a chameleonic leader who can perform critical assessments and make accurate, on the spot, decisions in a business environment. While I may never again experience the feelings that accompany bringing 32 men home safely from war, I can surely use my skills to create a heck of a team and hit the corporate beast head on.