Meet Columbia Business School’s MBA Class Of 2022

P&Q: What is the two most unique or differentiating features of your full-time program? How do they enrich the MBA experience?

Carlson:

“Experiential Learning: At CBS, we pride ourselves on the richness of the experiential learning that is facilitated by our home in New York City. The nature of business school is changing, the types of professional roles our students seek are evolving, and likewise, our students’ skills need to continue to grow and develop. The CBS experiential learning model truly benefits our students to help them grow and evolve, by learning from faculty and practitioners who share their experiences real-time. This fall term alone, our students have heard from Henry Kravis ‘69, James Gorman ‘87, the CEO of Liberty Media, Debra Perelman ’00, on topics ranging from thought leadership to social justice to innovation. The experiential learning opportunities, both inside and outside of the academic classroom are unparalleled. Renowned figures share cutting-edge ideas, leadership styles, and personal philosophies with our students and faculty members in small group settings. These thoughtful exchanges truly provide a distinct competitive advantage for CBS because of the extent to which we are able to tap the intellectual capital in NYC.

Lifelong Learning: CBS has a strong commitment to the lifelong learning opportunities for members of our community. CBS Alumni Edge is a new platform that provides alumni a competitive advantage to achieve evolving career goals in a constantly changing business environment. Especially important for alumni who graduated before some of these innovative classes were taught, alumni can now benefit from the thought leadership of our faculty through the convenience of an online learning platform. A few of the offerings include: Python for Managers; Leadership: People, Teams, and Organizations; Value Investing: Making Intelligent Investment Decisions; and, Business Analytics.”

P&Q: How has COVID-19 impacted your business school?

Carlson: “If we try to find any silver lining of this pandemic, I might suggest that students are joining the CBS community at an unprecedented time – a challenging period in the world’s history and yet this is also a time of immense opportunity for change, innovation, and impact.  Dean Maglaras, Dean Rockoff, the Faculty, the IT team, Operations, the Student Affairs Team, the Career Management Center Team, really every member of the CBS community rallied to ensure that the Hy-Flex environment was conceived in a thoughtful manner. This Hy-Flex environment was a game changer for CBS in terms of having the opportunity to welcome students to campus, albeit in very small groups to keep everyone safe. This is no small feat when the School tries to create an inclusive and engaging academic community.”

P&Q: In 2022, you will be opening your new campus in Manhattanville. What are some unique features of the campus that will enhance the learning experience for future MBAs?

Carlson: “Our new Manhattanville campus is slated to open for classes in January 2021. Between the two new Kravis and the Perelman buildings, the magnificent space will be open and offer opportunity for collaboration among students, faculty and alumni. The Manhattanville campus is only five short blocks from our current Morningside campus, so there will certainly still be ample opportunity to collaborate outside of the Business School, with other programs such as Engineering, Law, Public Health and International and Public Affairs. Manhattanville is already home to the Jerome Green Science Center, the Lenfest Center for the Arts, and The Forum, an event space that can host conferences, meetings and symposium events. Manhattanville is a small campus in and of itself.”

P&Q: Your new dean, Costis Maglaras, took the reins last year. How have his approach and priorities differed from the previous dean, Glenn Hubbard? What can we expect from him next?

Carlson: “Dean Maglaras has a keen focus on disruption and change. Especially in light of COVID, the disruption and change we have experienced has amplified and accelerated the opportunity for businesses to create value. At CBS, Dean Maglaras is committed to ensuring that our students are trained in data analytics and technology, which are critical skills necessary for professional success across fields. The future of work is not simply a group of MBAs sitting around a table making decisions. Dean Maglaras has spoken about how successful business leaders are surrounded by professionals with technical skills such as talented engineers, medical doctors, or computer scientists, for example.  CBS MBAs need to be able to harness that talent, speak the language of a variety of fields, and be able to develop and lead diverse teams. I think his priorities will continue to be on the future of work and preparing CBS students to succeed in this new normal.”

P&Q: Large, urban schools like Columbia are often dubbed “commuter schools.” What are some ways that Columbia fosters a strong community among its MBAs?

Carlson: “We have an incredibly strong and bonded community. We have seen community take center stage this year, when people all over the world have struggled to connect. CBS students take time to support each other through a variety of organized and more ad-hoc virtual and smaller in-person events. Students and alumni have also taken the time to give back to our local community, and communities around the world, from manufacturing and donating PPE to front-line workers to advising small businesses struggling from the shutdown.

New York City IS our campus. New York City permeates absolutely every aspect of student life. I strongly encourage anyone considering CBS to join an online information session or perhaps a virtual chat with members of our Hermes Society, the student ambassadors who volunteer their time to speak with prospective students about their experiences at the School. Admissions hosts on our website an entire series of recorded events that cover topics that range from the ‘Inside the Classroom’ series to Career/Industry & Professional webinars to the student experience.

Reach out to Admissions, join an event, and learn for yourself what makes our community special.”

6 REASONS TO CONSIDER COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL

What makes Columbia Business School such a rare and significant educational experience? This is what students, past and present, had to say about the best parts of CBS.

1) New York City: “Access! Access to many different businesses, leaders, cultures and opportunities. Oh, and the food. The food scene in NYC can’t be beat!”
Genet Micael (’22)

“Perhaps the best part is that I will only be able to scratch the surface of this city as an MBA student. There will always be another area to explore and a new restaurant, institution, or business to discover. The pizza is pretty great too.”
Kenneth Burchfiel (’22)

2) Finance: “CBS has a strong reputation for finance and investing courses, and I knew I’d be able to learn from the best of the best in these areas, both in terms of my professors and my peers. I hope to begin a career in Venture Capital after earning my MBA, so I wanted to be sure I was choosing a school that would push me to build a really strong foundation in the fundamentals of my industry.”
Margaret Davidson (’22)

3) Immersions: “Some of Columbia Business School’s most popular electives are our Immersion Seminars which allow students to engage with industry practitioners through downtown site visits to multiple organizations each term. Many students also choose to participate in part-time, in-semester internships because of the school’s proximity to the offices of organizations across all industries. These part-time in-semester internships may be counted for course credit, if students are able to secure a faculty sponsor. Additionally, Columbia Business School has over 16,000 alumni in New York City and 47,000 alumni worldwide. Students can leverage this network for coffee chats, mentorship, and to carve their own paths for in-semester internship opportunities.”
Nicole Shay (Admissions)

4) Social Impact: “Columbia Business School’s focus on and commitment towards social impact has been one of the reasons I chose it as my first preference. Earlier in my career, I took an externship at Omidyar Network India, which is an impact investing firm. There, I was exposed to the basics of impact investing and decided to further develop my skills to make a full transition to impact investing through an MBA at Columbia. Towards this goal, CBS stood out as the ultimate choice. It was not just because of its focus on social responsibility, its collaborative and diverse student community and its proximity to the New York’s business environment. I was also because it is unique in its approach to leadership, helping us lead through our vulnerabilities. As someone who has found great strength in accepting his biggest vulnerability – his identity – I truly believe CBS will set me up for success.  But, it also helped that my boyfriend was at CBS as well.”
Aditya Shankarm (’22)

5) Unique Programming: “As an applicant who desired (and still desires) to pursue nonprofit work following my MBA, I wanted to attend a school that offers a wide range of nonprofit electives and had a reputation for training nonprofit leaders. Columbia not only meets both of those criteria, but also offers a wealth of information and expertise through the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise. The Loan Assistance Program that nonprofit MBA alumni can access also factored into my decision”
Kenneth Burchfiel (’22)

“Columbia’s MBA program has an Energy and Climate Change specialization and these are two areas I am passionate about and plan to dedicate my career to. The Executive-in-Residence program was also a big motivation because of the first-hand exposure to global leaders in energy and other sectors.”
Efosa Uwaifo (’22)

“The Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Management Program (HPM) has been tremendously valuable for us. I came to school with no professional experience in healthcare, so HPM’s rich curriculum allowed me to not only learn about the healthcare basics but also delve deeper into topics such as delivery models and healthcare IT. Mentorship programs, speaker events, and the student healthcare Club (HCIA) provided me with the people and advice to further advance [my startup’s] business model and go-to-market approach.”
Laurence Coman (’20)

6) Entrepreneurship: “The Eugene Lang Entrepreneurship Center’s staff, course offerings, advisor and alumni network, funding vehicle (the Lang Entrepreneurial Initiative Fund), and access to seats in the Columbia Startup Lab have been instrumental to avoMD’s growth and development. We’ve been genuinely lucky to be a part of the Lang Center family.”
Laurence Coman (’20)

ADMISSIONS ADVICE TO PROSPECTIVE APPLICANTS

Columbia Business School ranks among the most selective MBA programs in the world. What does it take to earn a seat? Here is some advice from people who got in – or make them admissions decisions themselves.

“My best advice to students is to apply early and make sure to attend a class before applying. Attending a CBS class will show how incredible the faculty is and illustrate the natural curiosity and collaboration of the CBS community.”
Zachary Lopez (’20)

“Really do your research on why CBS. Even though our slogan is “At the Very Center of Business”, there are core academic attributes such as the Private Equity Program or Value Investing Program that differentiate CBS from other schools. In addition, there is a large number of clubs from social enterprise minded Pangea to Follies that are uniquely CBS. Lastly, the international trips I’ve been able to go on, partially funded by CBS, include Ghana, Laos and Japan. I spoke with several alumni from Kearney before applying, attended an info session on campus, and really connected with several current students to understand student life before applying.”
Jenny My Le (’20)

“Be yourself when applying! There are no molds to fit or quotas to fill at Columbia Business School. We are looking for talented candidates from every walk of life, with diverse experiences to bring to the table, and who will succeed academically and professionally, while also contributing positively to the Columbia Business School community.”
Nicole Shay (Admissions)

MBA Student	Hometown	Undergrad Alma Mater	Last Employer
Kenneth Burchfiel	McLean, VA	Middlebury College	Catholic Charities of Evansville
Margaret Davidson	New York City, NY	Johns Hopkins University	Bokk Baby
Neimy Escobar	Las Vegas, NV	Harvard University	Lemann Foundation
Jennifer Golden	St. Louis, MO	University of Virginia	General Assembly
Madison Kaminski	Dallas, TX	Vanderbilt University	DRA
Kate Krasky	White Bear Lake, MN	Luther College	Goldman Sachs
Genet Micael	New Britain, CT	Columbia University	FCB Health
Aditya Shankar	Muzaffarpur, India	Indian Institute of Technology Bombay	Bain & Company India
Nicholas “Nick” Szuch	Morris Township, NJ	New York University	Clarion Partners
Efosa Uwaifo	Benin-City, Nigeria	University of Benin	Sahara Group
Christine Wilson	Yardley, PA	Bryn Mawr College	Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center