Tech careers post-CBS

There was a comment made on my last post and I thought I would devote a post to the comment. (Thanks for reading and for asking the question, mystery commenter! :)

Here is the comment:


Hi John,

How are you doing Big Daddy? I have few questions about CBS. I am a technology professional working in West Coast. I want to apply to CBS for fall 09. I am looking to move into business development in Technology firms. I am fascinated by CBS for its New York location. Any inputs on "how often do you see CBS students pursuing career in technology? even if they write technology in essays, does adcom suspect that applicant is seeking an admit through back door and finally wants to go to IB because we are in NY?"


And here is my response:

Big Daddy is doing great, thanks for asking :) We're at 32 weeks and counting.

CBS does have a strong, core group of folks who are pursuing careers in new media and technology. Admittedly, that group's size does not rival the number of future i-bankers and management consultants, but it is a pretty vibrant group and one that in my experience is very passionate about the sector.

I can't really comment on what the adcom is thinking related to your admissions essays, but I would recommend to just be yourself and be truthful about what you want to do once at CBS, and afterwards. If you're able to tell a logical account of "why CBS, why now, and why the future career path given your past experiences" I think you will be fine.

What you end up seeing the 1st year is that many people decide that what they came to school to do (i.e. in their app they said they wanted to become a management consultant) was not as exciting as something else they were exposed to early in the 1st year (i.e. they change their mind and decide they want to work at a hedge fund). I think that potential for change is somewhat expected and understood, although you definitely want to go in with a fairly defined vision and plan of what you want to do at CBS in your application.

There are a variety of classes that are tech and new media focused as well as activities (like the Silicon Valley Trek) that cater to applicants and students who are interested in taking that kind of career path.

Does this help? Feel free to post some follow up questions in the comments and I'll try to answer them as best I can.

Open House report

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I spent Friday afternoon at Open House helping out on behalf of Hermes Society.

The first event I attended was the E Awards. E meaning entrepreneurship. Cliff Schorer, a great guy and great teacher of entrepreneurship at CBS, led an awards show of sorts, where he gave big E trophies to CBS alums who had started businesses. Recyclebank received an award, as well as Blow, and Tabula Digital. It was a great little event and the prospective students that I spoke with really enjoyed it.

The second event was the club fair, where all the clubs set up tables in Low Library, and prospective students can talk to the club officers about their clubs. For me, it meant chatting with a couple of prospectives, but mostly talking to my friends who were working the tables :)

Open House for Admitted Students

This Thursday and Friday CBS is hosting several hundred admitted students for Open House.

There is a full schedule of events and I'm going to be at a couple of them, so if you're going to be there as an admitted student, come up and say hello. I'll be wearing my nametag and a Hermes Society vest.

The events are both on Friday :

Entrepreneurship Open House: 2p @ Lerner Hall
Club Fair and Coffee Break: 3p @ Low Library Rotunda

Hope to meet a couple of you in person. If not, there is another Open House in April - so maybe our paths will cross there. Drop me a message here if you think you'll be there so I can keep an eye out.

GMAT Class Scholarship Contest

Manhattan GMAT sent this to me today. Might be a way to get yourself into their prep classes for free.


Dear John,

The team at ManhattanGMAT would like to tell you about an exciting scholarship opportunity that may be a great fit for you!

ManhattanGMAT is now accepting applications for our 2008 Social Venture Scholars program. Developed last year, this program provides full tuition scholarships for up to 25 individuals in the New York metro area. Selected scholars will receive free admission into one of ManhattanGMAT’s intensive 9-session GMAT prep courses (a $1440 value).

These competitive scholarships are open to individuals who:
(1) currently work full-time in an organization that promotes positive social change
(2) plan to use their MBA to work in a public, not-for-profit, or other venture with a social-change oriented mission, and
(3) demonstrate clear financial need

The Social Venture Scholars will all enroll in a special course beginning on Monday, January 28, 2008, and will be taught by ManhattanGMAT’s founder, Zeke Vanderhoek, at our New York City center. View Zeke’s biography by clicking here: http://manhattangmat.com/staff-vanderhoek.cfm

To learn more about this program, and for details on how to apply, please visit the following web site: http://www.manhattangmat.com/svs.cfm. Applications must be submitted by January 17.

If you fit the criteria above, we encourage you to apply today and get one step closer to an MBA! Or if you have a friend or associate that might be interested in this opportunity, we hope you will pass along this information.

Feel free to contact us with any questions at 800-576-4628 or via email at svs@manhattangmat.com.

Warm Regards,

The Team at ManhattanGMAT

two tips

1) If you are sick of food at Uris Deli, there is a good hot/cold buffet at the Fu Foundation building (the engineering school, behind Uris). It's not a price break from what you'd find elsewhere near campus, but the food is decent, and you can always get a seat.

2) If you visit a school, take it easy and don't be pushy with the admissions staff, especially when asking to see specific members of their team. There was a guy in the admissions office the other day who was emphatic that he wanted to see Linda Meehan (dean of admissions) because he met her at an event, and continued to press even after he was told that she was really busy. As a bystander, it didn't look good, and I imagine that if the people in admissions remembered anything about that candidate, it was that he was obnoxious. You never get a second chance to make a good first impression. Cliche, yes, true, yes.

Checking in from Boston

I'm in Boston -- got here last night and am going back to NYC tommorrow. I had the in-person interviews at the VC firm I've been talking about and now there is just one more interview left. So, it's looking pretty good. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Monday should be kind of a nutty day at Columbia. The Iranian president is going to be giving a speech on campus and there are bound to be a ton of protests. In fact, the school just sent out an email saying this in not so many words...

On a more business school related topic, it looks like CBS has an open house coming up. I got this email from admissions a few days ago:

The Hermes Society and Columbia Business School's MBA Office of Admissions
cordially invite you to an on-campus event.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007 at 6:30pm

Uris Hall, 117th street (between Broadway and Amsterdam)New York, NY 10027

Professors and students from the following academic areas of concentration will give you highlights of each program: Social Enterprise, Healthcare, and Finance.

To RSVP for this event, please visit our website at http://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/mba/admissions/infosessions