What role does the Hermes Society play in the admissions and
recruitment process?
A very, very active one. They are the student branch of the admissions
office. They answer e-mails, conduct some interviews, talk with visitors in
the admissions office, and host visitors for class or just a chat. If you
are visiting for the first time, utilizing the Hermes Society is a lovely
and formal way to be introduced to campus. But a nice thing about Columbia
students is that you can stop anyone in the hall to ask questions about the
program. The Hermes Society is a way of making students easily available to
people who are interested in our program.
Do you have any advice for applicants who may be deciding between the
regular two-year program (September) and the accelerated program (January)?
We have had the January program for 30 years -- but, interestingly, people
sometimes think it is new. Maybe it was the best-guarded MBA secret, and now
the word is out!
It was originally designed for companies who wanted employees to have the
benefit of a full MBA program and then return to the company. That is why it
was designed without an internship. But it has evolved over time, as more
and more people have become interested in entrepreneurship. So if you are
staying in the same career or industry and your network is strong, or if you
are starting your own business, January is a great fit.
It is the same [MBA] program, just without an internship. Students are
integrated with the two-year program through electives, but also go to
school in the summer. Many find this wonderful. It is very casual, and they
are the only people here. It is also appealing for international students.
The profile is even more international than for the September program, which
was 32% international this fall. (Last January’s class was 42% international.)
The [January] students are bit more focused and may have a little more work
experience. That is not necessarily what we are looking for, but it is
reflective of who applies.
It is a fabulous program if you’re in a hurry and don’t want an internship.
If you are looking for a career change, though, the September program is for
you.
Can you provide some insight into the timing of, and difference between,
the Early Decision deadline vs. the January deadline for the two-year
program?
Sure. The reason we have rolling admission instead of rounds is that we have
two dates of entry – September and January. I wanted to figure out a way to
read some September applications earlier, while still keeping the pool
relatively small. If we got flooded with early applications for September, I
could not keep up and also read applications for the January class. That is
why we implemented the binding Early Decision option. It keeps the pool
relatively small, because not everybody is ready to make a commitment to
coming.
So that is the strategy behind the deadline. I hear that people on websites
talk about how Early Decision is all about yield. This is not true. It has
nothing to do with yield. It has everything to do with managing our
application flow while ensuring responsiveness to applicants.
I wanted to get applications for September to come in earlier, but not to
get so many of them that we could not turn them around in 10 weeks. We are
on the road recruiting in the fall, and we are reading at the same time,
whereas our peers aren’t. Also, we start reading applications for January
entry in July to try to get a jump start on those, because processing visas
has become a time-sensitive issue.
We don’t want anyone to apply for Early Decision to try and hedge their
bets. Applying on the early side of Regular Decision accomplishes that just
as well. Early Decision is an ethical commitment to us. We reserve the right
to rescind offers if we find people are not living up to what we feel is
appropriate behavior.
What is the timeframe for Regular Decision applicants to receive
decisions?
In order for people to be realistic about when they will get decisions for
Regular Decision, we tell them when we will start reading. Decision releases
are guaranteed within 12 weeks of that date. But ‘within’ can also mean
sooner than 12 weeks -- even as soon as 4 weeks! But then people don’t think
we read their application carefully. Actually, it just means that we started
reading it earlier.
If we turn things around too quickly, people think we did not pay enough
attention, and if we take 12 weeks, people think their application was lost!
Please do not worry – we work very hard to try to make this work for
everybody.
If someone sends their application in before winter break, is there a chance
you might read it before January?
Depending on when they send it in, and on how many applications we receive,
it is more than likely we would start earlier. We read applications in the
order in which they are completed, so that completed applications that come
in as early as September or October can be reviewed earlier.
But we will not start releasing decisions that early! Decisions will still
not come out until after the published January reading date.
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