DEP Application Requirements

Application Checklist

Online Application
Transcripts
Resume
GPA
GMAT, Executive Assessment, or GRE Score
Recommendation
Essays
  • Columbia Business School requires that the work contained in your application (including essays) is completely accurate and exclusively your own. Columbia University permits the use of generative AI tools for idea generation and/or to edit a candidate’s work; however, using these tools to generate complete responses violates the Honor Code.  
  • Applicants should not participate in the drafting of letter(s) of recommendation.
  • To be considered in the 2026 application cycle, your application must be completed by 12:00pm Eastern Time (ET) on April 15th, 2026. Your letter of recommendation must be submitted by the deadline for your application to be considered complete. If your application is not completed by the deadline, it will not be considered. 
  • All application content is subject to verification and adherence to the above requirements.
  • OFFERS OF ADMISSION WILL BE RESCINDED SHOULD ANY MISREPRESENTATION AND/OR OMISSION OCCUR. 

Transcripts

A bachelor’s degree or its equivalent from an accredited institution is required for admission to Columbia Business School. Applicants should scan and submit PDF versions of transcripts from each undergraduate and graduate institution which they have attended.

If offered admission, you will be required to provide encrypted digital copies of your transcripts from each of the colleges or universities submitted on your application. Offers of admission are not binding until academic records have been verified.

Resume

Applicants should upload their current professional resume or CV to the online application. Your professional resume or CV should ideally be one-page in length, but one-to-two pages is also acceptable.

GPA

Applicants should report their grade point average as it appears on their transcript.

GMAT, Executive Assessment, or GRE Score

All applicants must submit a self-reported valid GMAT*, Executive Assessment, or GRE score when submitting an application. Columbia Business School considers scores to be valid for five years after your test date. Please be sure to send your score report and submit your application at least one week before the scores expire. Please note that additional test scores cannot be added to an application after that application has been submitted.

If admitted, you must submit an official GMAT, Executive Assessment, or GRE score. Columbia Business School’s GMAT and Executive Assessment code is QF8-N6-52, and its GRE code is 6442. The Admissions Committee will consider only your highest score when reviewing your application and will not combine subscores from multiple exams into a single composite score.

*We accept both GMAT Exam (10th Edition) and GMAT Exam (Focus Edition) scores.

Recommendation

One letter of recommendation from a professor, mentor, internship supervisor or employer is required. We ask recommenders to consider the following when writing their recommendation (recommended limit - 1000 words):

  • Please share how you feel the applicant will contribute to the Columbia Business School classroom and community.

Please note that Columbia Business School and several of our peer institutions use similar, if not identical, recommendation questions. This is an effort on our part to make the process easier for your recommender. We expect that you, the applicant, will not participate in the drafting of your recommendation. When entering contact information for recommenders, please use their institutional or professional email address. We ask that the recommender upload their recommendation on letterhead, whenever possible. References submitted from personal or anonymous email accounts (e.g. Gmail, Yahoo, 123.com, 163.com, qq.com etc.) will be subject to your admission being rescinded if significant discrepancies are found. Applications are not considered complete until all required information is submitted; this includes your recommendation.

Essays

Applicants must complete one short answer question and two essays. Please click on the entry term you are applying for to see the essays for that application.

Short answer question:

What are your professional plans after you complete your undergraduate or current master's degree? (50 characters maximum)

Essay questions:

Applying to a deferred enrollment program suggests that your aspirations in the next 2-5 years will include an MBA. Why do you feel you need an MBA to achieve your long-term career goals and why would you like to pursue your MBA at Columbia Business School? (300 words) 

Contributing to the community is an important part of the CBS experience. Discuss one experience or situation in your undergraduate or graduate career where you feel you contributed to your community and what you learned from the experience. (250 words)

Optional Essay

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. (Maximum 500 Words)

The global COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 presented institutions of higher education with challenges in teaching and learning, as well as in the assessment of academic performance. As a consequence of these challenges, Columbia University affirms the following principle:

The University’s graduate and professional schools, as well as their respective Admissions committees, will take into account the important disruptions caused by the COVID-19 outbreak when reviewing student transcripts and other Admissions materials as part of their customary practice of performing holistic reviews of individual applications or dossiers. Specifically, we will respect decisions made by institutions or individuals regarding the adoption of Pass/Fail or similar grading options during the period in question.

The Provost and University Deans adopted this principle to ensure that no applicants are disadvantaged by policy decisions made by their colleges/universities as a result of this unprecedented public health event.