Meet Columbia Business School’s MBA Class Of 2024

BIG MISSIONS AHEAD

What brought the Class of 2024 to Manhattanville? Long-term, Chris Scanzoni is weighing whether to pursue public service with the Environmental Protection Agency or work in the Fortune 500 as a chief sustainability officer. Then again, maybe he’ll run for mayor too. Scarzoni’s classmate, M.A. Miller shares her passion for environmental action – just more geared to the funding side.

“Having spent my career in international development, I have a deep understanding of the ESG and sustainability challenges faced by the private sector, as well as the finance gap faced by climate-smart businesses,” Miller writes. “I am pursuing an MBA so that I can identify promising green enterprises and make investments in those businesses capable of moving the needle on mitigating climate change. After graduation I would like to work for a fund that focuses on investing in these kinds of businesses: carbon developers or sustainable agriculture companies. Long term, I would like to see my work contribute to the mainstreaming of these kinds of investments so that they become business as usual, and eventually establish my own impact investing firm.”

For Hayley Mason, business school acts as a fail-safe. Three years ago, she launched a media firm focused on “strategy, content development, and talent consulting.” An MBA degree, in her estimation, enables her to hone her managerial skills in areas like development and partnerships – skills that will also come in handy for her post-graduation goal of becoming a broadcast media executive. Jordan DeTar also found her calling during COVID, as she saw the struggles of working mothers first-hand.

“I realized I wanted to shift my focus to helping the women who need it most: working moms,” DeTar writes. “I saw a critical need to build solutions that better support moms at home so they can rise as leaders at work. Intending to become an entrepreneur in the Parent Tech space, I decided to pursue an MBA to round out my business knowledge and fill my gaps in areas like finance and business analytics. Further, I aim to sharpen my leadership skills and spend time ideating and testing business ideas. After graduation, I plan to pursue entrepreneurship full-time by building and running a company that supports moms – be it through tackling postpartum care, childcare, or another high-impact area.”

ALUMNI TO THE RESCUE

One reason why Mason and DeTar can be hopeful in achieving these ends? Think alumni. Thus far, Chris Scanzoni has found CBS graduates are “doing everything within [their] power to prop open the door of opportunity for those who follow behind [them].” Ruby Wang, who comes from industrial sales and leasing, has witnessed that same collegiality among her classmates.

“Thanks to our non-grade disclosure policy, there is always a great sense of camaraderie instead of rivalry,” Wang writes. “It’s a very collaborative and supportive environment where everyone is committed to facilitating each other’s success, whether it be academic or professional. In addition, I have been overwhelmed by how supportive and generous second year students and alumni have been with their time and mentorship. The CBS alumni community has a strong culture of paying it forward and is always willing to help in any way they can.”

In Wang’s case, the hope is that the school – and its champions – can help her transition into real estate. “With 15 real estate electives to choose from, CBS offers the most robust set of real estate course offerings amongst top MBA programs. Within the business school, the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate (PMC) supports the real estate program by conducting industry conferences, connecting students with alumni, and supporting Real Estate Association initiatives. The PMC regularly invites seasoned practitioners for class speeches, lunches, and happy hours. Industry tycoons including Jon Gray, Sam Zell, Dean Adler, Paul Pariser, Andrea Olshan, Wendy Silverstein, and Jeffrey Barclay have served as guest speakers and lecturers.”

A CLASS PROFILE

Historically, Columbia Business School holds two intakes. In January, you’ll find 215 students arrive on campus. This year, the August class attracted 629 students for a yearly total of 844 students during the 2021-2022 applications cycle. As a whole, CBS accepted 22.1% of applications during this period.

In terms of test scores, the Class of 2024 maintained its 729 GMAT average from the previous year, while improving its undergraduate GPA average from 3.5 to 3.6. Overall, average GMATs ranged from 550-780. Demographically, 51% of CBS first-years hail from outside the United States, the highest percentage among M7 schools. Women account for a 45% class share, a 3% improvement. Minority students also make up 42% of the class.

As undergraduates, the largest segment – 22% – majored in Business. That was down four points from the previous year. Economics (20%), Engineering (16%), and Social Sciences (11%) also cracked double digits, follow by the Sciences (8%), Humanities (7%), and Technology (2%). Professionally, 29% of the class last worked in Financial Services, beating out Consulting at 22%. The rest of the class includes segments such as Marketing and Media (11%), Technology (9%), Healthcare (5%), Military and Government (5%), Real Estate (5%) and Nonprofits (4%).

This year’s big news? Think big paychecks! The Class of 2022 set a record for first year compensation, pulling in $203,252 in total compensation. That’s up nearly $25K from last year’s $178,380. Not surprisingly, Financial Services again generated the most interest among CBS graduates. The industry snagged 36.9% of the class, edging out Consulting at 33.6%. Media and Technology again attracted the third-most CBS graduates, luring a 16% share of the class. Among the class one grad reported a $400K base, while another landed a $335,000 sign-on bonus.

To read in-depth profiles of Class of 2024 members, click on the link below. 

Next Page: An interview with Clare Norton, Senior Associate Dean of Enrollment Management

MBA Student	Hometown	Undergraduate Alma Mater	Last Employer
Zoya Agarwal	Delhi, India	St. Stephens College	Air India Limited
Hamid Baraywal	Kandahar, Afghanistan	American University of Afghanistan	NELSON Worldwide
Alana Blaylock	South Orange, NJ	Georgetown University	Apple
Jordan DeTar	Easton, MD	Vanderbilt University	Sharecare
Katherine (Kat) Elliott-Moskwa	Princeton, NJ	Brown University	Sotheby’s
Michael Fagan	Glendale Heights, IL	Northwestern University	New York City Department of Education
Laura Hyland	Southport, United Kingdom	University of Connecticut	IMG
Hayley Mason	Lithonia, GA	Howard University	CBS46 News (WGCL-TV)
M.A. Miller	Austin, TX	George Washington University	Pact, Inc.
Chris Scanzoni	Asheville, NC	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	U.S. Navy
Aashka Shah	Ahmedabad, India	University of California, Davis	Aashka Hospitals Ltd.
Ruby Wang	Taipei, Taiwan	National Taiwan University	NAI Commercial