Meet Columbia’s MBA Class of 2017

Laura Kornhauser

Columbia University 

Hometown: Princeton, NJ

Undergraduate School and Major: Princeton University; BSE in Operations Research and Financial Engineering

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation: J.P. Morgan Chase and Company – Started as an Analyst in Investment Banking and then moved to Institutional Derivative Sales, rising to an Executive Director.

Recalling your own experience, what advice do you have for applicants who are preparing for either the GMAT or the GRE? When I decided to take the GMAT, I didn’t have much time to study. I had a high level look over the exam topics and quickly identified areas that were going to be difficult. I studied the material related to those “trouble” sections and then began doing practice questions, lots of them. To get the focused help I needed, I sought out a private GMAT tutor. I found a great tutor through Beat The GMAT who was tremendously helpful.  For me, a few hours of specialized one-on-one time was much more worthwhile than hours spent in a group class.

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? There are a ton of wonderful MBA programs out there, many with their own specialties that are not well publicized. Like with anything, the more you research the better your outcome will be. Start the process with a good amount of self-reflection – Why are you applying to business school?  Why do you really want to go?  From there you can build a priority list of characteristics to use when evaluating potential schools.

Think long and hard about whether you want an urban environment or a more secluded campus experience.  Do you know geographically where you want to be long term and exactly what you want to do after your MBA? A school may have a great reputation locally that does not translate as well to other markets. Or the school may specialize in a particular industry but not have a breadth of offering. These could be opportunities or drawbacks depending on your situation. All of this information you gather will be very helpful as you brainstorm your essay topics.

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? The first thing I would say is start early, ideally about a year before you apply to give you ample time to prepare for the GMAT as you explore schools.  Visit campuses and go to information sessions to get a personal feel for each institution. Have candid conversations with your friends that went to business school, especially if it is one to which you are applying, and ask them the tough, probing questions that get beyond “It was amazing.” From these contacts you will get the best feel for what the school is really like and, again, this can help with content for your essays.

The most valuable piece of advice I received about essays was to make sure they sound like you. What this really means is make sure that what is special about you comes through in both the tone and the content of your essays.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? There are so many things to think about when choosing the best MBA program for you, but what ended up being most differentiating for me, leading to my choice of Columbia Business School, was culture and location. I have had several close friends attend CBS and their excitement for the school was contagious. When I visited campus and started meeting members of the administration and current students, I was drawn to the strong and diverse community – one that is vibrant and dynamic just like the city that surrounds it.

Columbia’s location ‘at the very center of business’ offers unparalleled access to potential employers and also enables students to obtain a variety of internships during the school year. This was a huge comparative advantage for Columbia’s program. As someone who is planning to switch careers, I hope to use these internship opportunities to explore different types of firms within my target industry before (and after) the all important summer internship. Columbia’s location also helps draw top business minds to the school as professors. Having the chance to learn from these professors, a large percentage of whom are successful practitioners in their fields, will make the coursework engaging and entrenched in real-world situations.  Having lived in New York since college, I also love this city. The culture, diversity of people and industries help create an unbelievable energy that drives you to push yourself outside your comfort zone, further than you thought you could go. This is the perfect kind of energy to help fuel a truly valuable business school experience.

What would you ultimately like to achieve before you graduate? There is no one thing I hope to achieve before graduating. Rather, I am seeking a type of experience that that I expect will lead to paths that I may not have even thought of yet. I plan to use the time in business school to expose myself to new careers, people, ideas and ways of thinking, immersing myself in an environment of learning and self-discovery. I will use my time in school to hone my technical skills while learning through practical coursework and entrepreneurs in residence how to validate, build and grow an idea or early stage business. The faculty at Columbia Business School are the best at what they do and I hope to be able to learn as much from them and their experiences as possible before I graduate.  I look forward to taking at least one of Columbia’s Masters Classes that bring some of the outstanding companies in New York City into the classroom in a very impactful way. I will also look to further build my global business perspective by taking full advantage of programs offered by Columbia’s Chazen Institute. Finally, I look forward to learning from my classmates and know I will make lasting friendships that will extend beyond just business.