IHateTheGMAT, I might have some good news for you.
I went to an information session with the Assistant Director of Admissions at CBS today, and she said this year there were going to be 3 essays instead of the 4 in earlier years. The ones she specifically mentioned were:
-edit posting the actual essay topics below-Essay 1: What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will Columbia Business School help you achieve these goals? (Recommended 750 word limit)
Essay 2: Master Classes are the epitome of bridging the gap between theory and practice at Columbia Business School. View link below. Please provide an example from your own life in which practical experience taught you more than theory alone. (Recommended 500 word limit)
RealVideo:
https://merlin.gsb.columbia.edu:8080/ramgen/video1/faculty/MasterClass-promo.rmEssay 3: Please provide an example of a team failure of which you’ve been a part. If given a second chance, what would you do differently? (Recommended 500 word limit)
The optional essay remains, well, optional.
It looks like the essays are going to be the same as the J-term essays, except that there's not going to be an Essay 4 about your "passions" etc.
She said the ED application was going to go live by the end of next week.
A couple of other interesting things said during the session, "no difference in selectivity between ED and RD"
, and that CBS expects applications to be up 20% in the coming cycle (unless I misheard her and she was talking about 2007 applications being up 20%).
So, happy writing folks! Will be visiting a class at CBS tomorrow morning.