Columbia MFE Columbia MFE Admission Discussion

[Raghunath]

Hi

I applied to Columbia MSFE 08 program back in December. I recd an acknowledgement in early Jan saying that I would get a decision in 3-4 weeks. I emailed them back in late Feb and was told decisions are still being made. Its late Mar now and still haven't received anything.

Is anyone facing or know of such an issue?

Thanks.

 

[Feng]

I have received the decision letter yesterday, Mar 28. I see on the letter head that it was printed on Feb 18! I know that an ordinary mail from NY to Beijing should take 2~3 weeks, so god knows what happened. During the period, I have emailed and telephoned their admission office several times, but I did not find the coordinator there nice.

 

[Jamie]

Hi, I applied Columbia MFE program and got an confirmation email on 12/14 saying that decision process would take 3-5 weeks. It's been 7 weeks since my application was delivered to the admission committee. I sent the email to school about it and it seems that the decision hasn't come out yet. Has anyone received the decision yet? Does anyone know that it was also delayed last year?
Thank you.

 

[ramnik]

Check the Application Tracker. It seems a lot of people await Columbia results (and while you are there, add your own case, if not already done so).

 

[Jamie]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I have added my case and have been checking the Application Tracker. I was wondering if it's usual to expect the decision to be delayed. Anyways, I'll update my case asap.

 

[Vixus]

Just got an email from the admissions office regarding my application to mfe. They want me to call them to further discuss my candidacy and interest in Columbia. Has anyone else gotten this?

Is this new? I've never heard of this. Does this mean I am at the bottom of the admissions list and this is some sort of final filtering process?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

There are several people reported the same thing on our Tracker. New procedure they do this year. More or less to gauge your interest in joining the program so they can estimate the number of people they admit. They did this the same thing last year to MSOR applicants.

Please add your timelines on our Tracker

 

[roni]

Any idea of what type of questions they might ask ?
technical or general ?

Good luck with the interview.


Roni.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Anyone interested in knowing the interview questions, take a look at this
Columbia MSOR interviews

The same group of admission people will interview you. It's in the IOER dept after all. That said, whoever gave them a call tomorrow, please share with us your experience.

 

[roni]

Anyone interested in knowing the interview questions, take a look at this
Columbia MSOR interview

The same group of admission people will interview you. It's in the IOER dept after all. That said, whoever gave them a call tomorrow, please share with us your experience.

Thanks very much, Andy.

For those who are too lazy to look for the questions that IOER students were asked last year:

1. Are you interested in being considered for admission to the OR program?
2. Have you applied elsewhere.If accepted to Columbia, what will be your priority with respect to accepting the place at Columbia?
3.Source of funding for your course at Columbia?

 

[banbuzz]

any idea whether they will be interviewing all the final candidates ?
and have they sent out the emails already ?

roni .. congrats and do let us know how it goes and what is the interview format.

 

[coolharvard]

Does this mean that their application pool is smaller this year? Are they going to extend application deadlind like last year?

 

[letangke]

As expected, the three questions were 1) Why Columbia? 2) What other schools did you apply to? 3) How will you fund it?

Good luck to everyone making the phone call today!

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Please leave a note on your Tracker about the interview questions so applicants of future years don't have to ask the same question. Tks.

 

[jerrycc]

Yes, three same questions.

1) Why Columbia
2) Other programs you applied for. If yes, how do you rank them
3) Funding

Thanks for everyone's contribution on Quantnet!

 

[Vixus]

Got the same questions. They said we should get our answers before March 1st.

 

[Biswas Garg]

Is this a bad sign for applicants who didn't receive any call from Columbia? Good luck to everyone!

 

[banbuzz]

thanks for the replies ..
any idea on the number of students/class size they are looking for this yr ?

and does this mean tht people who haven't received the email have been rejected ?

 

[roni]

thanks for the replies ..
any idea on the number of students/class size they are looking for this yr ?

and does this mean tht people who haven't received the email have been rejected ?

In the last two years, they accepted 110 students and only approx 60 registered.
I guess they want to increase their class size and want to make sure more people register ( only 55% registered).

Also, I didn't get an invitation and I hope it doesn't mean that my application was denied. Perhaps, if you are located in the US or even in NYC, they think that the chances that you choose Columbia are very high. So, they don't really want to spend time interviewing you ( I hope ).

Another reason why they might be interviewing is to see that the applicants can really communicate in English. So, if you are from an English speaking country, I wouldn't really worry.

Anyway, good luck to all of us.

 

[iniesta]

did I shoot myself in the foot by telling them that they were not my #1 choice?