Entrepreneurship at Columbia

Even though I continue to wait to hear back from the Admissions Committee regarding my application (applied ED around deadline), I read more about the school everyday. Last evening, I attended my third on-campus event in 2 months and had a great time as usual. This time they had multiple sessions, organized by focus areas which really gave applicants the opportunity to look closely at their intended specialization at Columbia. There were faculty members, current students and admissions members.

I promptly entered the lecture hall hosting the entrepreneurship talk. Dean Hubbard has categorically stated "Entrepreneurship is in everything we do." One really gets this feeling by talking to current students as they talk about 'how they saw an opportunity and captured it." The 'Incubator' (an office space in the meat packing district for budding entrepreneurs) was discussed in some detail last evening and this is a perfect example of the true entrepreneurial spirit that Columbia talks about.

I continue to learn new things about the program, even though my application is done and gone and I guess there are just too many facets of this powerful program that one can possibly know about in a mere two months of research. Its funny that even though I am preparing my next application (yes I know I am an ED applicant but one never knows), I continue to spend more time reading up on Columbia.

A three week break ...

After submitting my previous (and only) application to Columbia, I had decided to take a short break. First because I am going to Columbia if accepted (so the need to work on other applications wouldnt arise) and hence the ED submission despite a very tight timeframe. Second, this process has been so intense (as it is for everybody I am sure) that I desperately needed to keep my mind off applications for a few days.

The initially planned 3-4 day break has now extended to its 3rd week and needs to end asap now. I need to do research on the other schools and get cracking on their essays. I have also been worrying about a few things on my Columbia application that now seem could have been better. This has been further escalated by the fact that other applicants who have applied around the same time as me have already received interview invites and some even admits. Hindsight is always 20/20 and the best way to get out of this 'worry mode' is to get cracking on the next app and forget about what has happened.

Then I also see many applicants who have applied way before me and are still waiting to hear, so I am hopeful. Its easy to get carried away but I am sure the CBS Adcom is doing its job as best as they can with the thousands of applications they must have received. It was great to not think about apps for the past 3 weeks but I guess its time to get started.