Although it official started at 6:30pm last night, I arrived shortly after 6. Good thing too because after signing in and entering the room it was held in, Linda Meehan, the Dean of Admissions was holding am impromptu Q&A – sort of a pre-game before the night’s event. That was pretty cool of her – she really tried to be helpful and answered as many questions as possible. I couldn’t help overhearing that she has been traveling a lot to promote Columbia given the start of admissions season. I wonder if they expect this year’s applications to be up or down from last year’s. Of course I had to ask about the time between the interview and the final decision. She confirmed that generally, Columbia gives its alumni 7 to 10 days to submit their feedback. After that, admissions will be on their case. So counting down…
Around 6:30, the room filled out quickly. Linda welcomed and introduced the three panelists who would be talking that night. They consisted of one professor and two 2nd year students. I recognize the professor from when I sat in on his debt market class during my visit through the host program. The two students were one girl and guy, both going to be working for banks after graduation. Each person gave his/her 10-minute pitch about Columbia. The professor talked about the distinguished faculty and wealth of classes and resources at the school. The two students talked about their experiences so far. The guy student was pretty funny when he talked about his time at Columbia, especially when the subject of his wife and balancing bschool life came up. To sum up, they basically said that Columbia is THE school for finance, given its location and access to a great affluent network.
I thought all three sold Columbia pretty well. Half an hour later, it was all Q&A from there on, which was nice because it threw it up to the audience. We asked questions until 8. When it ended, I introduced myself to the professor since most likely than not (knock on wood), I’ll be taking his debt markets class come next year. It doesn’t hurt to score some brownie points early on. I’m actually glad that I went – it wasn’t as boring as I thought it’ll be.
I timed how long the subway ride would take on the 1 train – 20 minutes. So all in, including the walk to the station, it’ll take me about 30 minutes to get to campus. The best thing about the commute? I get on at the same stop as the Fashion Institute of Technology girls ie. FIT girls – bonus! But I must have been more tired than I thought because on the way back, I actually fell asleep for a good 15 minutes : ).
Read the full article: Columbia Finance and Economics Panel