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New York, NY · M7 · Deadlines, verbatim essay prompts, class profile, employment outcomes, AI policy, and cost, in one place. Every figure below links to CBS's own page and carries the date we checked it.
R1 deadline
Sep 9, 2026
in 43 days
GMAT (Focus)
690
average
Class size
982
MBA Class Entering 2025 (Aug + Jan entries combined)
Annual budget
$143,030
2026-27
| Round | Deadline | Countdown |
|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | Sep 9, 2026 | in 43 days |
| Round 2 | Jan 5, 2027 | in 161 days |
Deadline times of day (and any later rounds) live on the official page; confirm there before you plan a submission day.
CBS's official deadlines page · Checked Jul 18, 2026
Our plain-English summary of CBS's own admissions materials, not the school's verbatim words. Read the source before you rely on it.
CBS reads for clear goals tied to New York's resources, community-mindedness (belonging, agency, partnership), and evidence that you engage rather than attend.
CBS's official admissions criteria · Checked Jul 18, 2026
Through your resume and recommendation, we have a clear sense of your professional path to date. What are your career goals over the next three to five years and what is your long-term dream job?
Please share a specific example of how you made a team more collaborative, more inclusive or fostered a greater sense of community within an organization.
We believe Columbia Business School is a special place with a collaborative learning environment in which students feel a sense of belonging, agency, and partnership: academically, culturally, and professionally. How would you co-create your optimal MBA experience at CBS? Please be specific.
Two required answers, 50 characters maximum each. (1) What is your immediate post-MBA professional goal? (2) August-entry applicants: How do you plan to spend the summer after the first year of the MBA? If in an internship, include target industry and/or function; if starting your own venture, indicate its focus. (January-entry applicants instead answer: Why do you prefer the January-entry term?)
Why do you want to study in the United States? (50 characters; required if you are not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident)
If you wish to provide further information or additional context around your application to the Admissions Committee, please upload a brief explanation of any areas of concern in your academic record or personal history. This does not need to be a formal essay; you may submit bullet points.
How have you enhanced your candidacy since your previous application? (Replaces the standard essays for reapplicants applying within the reapplication window.)
Wording is reproduced verbatim from CBS's official page or, where a component lives inside the login-gated application, from consistent reputable secondary sources. Prompts can shift mid-cycle; the source link is the record.
CBS's official essay page · Checked Jul 18, 2026
Cross-school view: every top program's prompts, side by side, on the prompt tracker.
Figures are the school's published statistics, labeled median or average exactly as the school reports them, never converted between tests.
| GPA | 3.6 (average) |
| GMAT (Focus Edition, 205-805) | 690 (average, 615-805) |
| GMAT (classic, 200-800) | 734 (average, 610-780) |
| GRE Verbal | 163 (average, 150-170) |
| GRE Quant | 163 (average, 150-170) |
| Test policy | GMAT (either edition), GRE, or EA accepted; no test waiver; highest score considered |
CBS's official class profile · Checked Jul 26, 2026
Tables blend August and January entries; no per-entry breakdowns published
CBS's official class profile · Checked Jul 26, 2026
CBS's official employment data · Checked Jul 26, 2026
Permits generative AI for idea generation and to edit your own work; using it to generate complete responses violates the Honor Code, with offers rescinded for misrepresentation.
Columbia lets you use AI to generate ideas and to edit writing that is already yours, but using it to produce complete responses violates the Honor Code. In practice, brainstorming and polishing are fine; letting a tool write the answer is not, and misrepresentation can get an offer rescinded.
CBS's official policy · Checked Jul 18, 2026 · Full sourced reading
CBS's official 2026-27 cost of attendance is $143,030 for a single student, one academic year (tuition, fees, insurance, and living budget as published).
Federal Grad PLUS loans are gone and graduate borrowing is capped, so the two-year math matters more than it used to. Our free financing-gap calculator shows what federal loans still cover at CBS and the gap that is now yours to plan.
CBS's official cost page · Checked Jul 26, 2026
CBS's Round 1 deadline is Sep 9, 2026, and Round 2 is Jan 5, 2027. Confirm the exact time of day and any additional rounds on CBS's official deadlines page; we last checked these dates on Jul 18, 2026.
CBS publishes a average GMAT of 690 (615-805) for its MBA Class Entering 2025 (Aug + Jan entries combined). GMAT (either edition), GRE, or EA accepted; no test waiver; highest score considered. A published average is a snapshot of one admitted class, not a cutoff.
CBS's official published budget is $143,030 for the 2026-27 academic year (single student, one year). Most students should plan for two years plus year-two inflation; our free financing-gap calculator does that math with federal loan caps applied.
Permits generative AI for idea generation and to edit your own work; using it to generate complete responses violates the Honor Code, with offers rescinded for misrepresentation. Our full sourced reading of CBS's AI policy, with the official link, is on the CBS AI-policy page.
The free diagnostic reads your profile against each target school's published evidence (the same sourced data on this page) and tells you honestly where you stand, including your biggest red flag. Two minutes, no login.
AdmitForge is not affiliated with Columbia Business School. Facts on this page are copied from the school's official pages (or, where noted, reputable transcriptions of the school's own reports) on the dates shown, and each section links its source so you can verify. Schools change details mid-cycle; the official page always wins.