Customer Reviews

ABC of Getting the MBA Admissions Edge

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
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1 star:		(3)

 

 

... my recommendation is that you get this book. if you use it correctly, it should boost your chance of getting into a better b-school – it’s a small investment compared with the salary you can expect at the end of it! Beware: this is a huge book... (about 600 pages written in small characters) so it’s not the for the faint-hearted! Loads of useful information and insider tips. you can tell it was written by successful candidates – the writer of each chapter gives the tips he used to get admitted to his school. Their essay advice is good value, and it was way easier than getting in contact with alum for insider help.

I have bought about 6 books on MBA preparation, attended an intensive GMAT test prep. center, taken private tuition for my essays, asked friends who got into Harvard, Berkeley and Wharton for their advice... but the bottom line is, the most helpful advice has come from "Getting the MBA Admissions Edge". This book is worth every cent as it really gives you faith in yourself that you can make it. It helps you understand and play upon your strengths and weaknesses. One part in particular is just dynamite - for each school (Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, NYU...) they analyze typical essay questions (what the school wants to get out of the question, what the do's and the don't's are, sample essays from admitted candidates..). You've even got interviews with each of the Director of Admissions as well as insider views from successful candidates of each school reviewed. Basically it feels like you have access to the "mysterious black box" of the admissions process: it gives you the motivation (even if you have not scored 750+ at GMAT) and resolution you need to get you home and dry... and eventually you receive this letter that tells you that you have been admitted to your dream MBA!"

If you are hesitating about which schools to apply or if you have decided that you want to get into one MBA in particular (for me, it was Stanford and MIT), this book is a MUST buy. It will save you a lot of time since it will help you to make the right choices and will increase your chances of being admitted. This book has helped me throughout the entire process, from choosing the right school to getting admitted to the school of my choice. The essay section is really helpful since the authors make an in-depth analysis of about 100 essays from successful candidates. You should make sure that you are admitted to the best school possible since your salary upon graduation will be different according to the school. There is about $40,000 difference (salary upon graduation) between the upper-crust schools and schools which are just "good". Go for the best you can!

Amazon has dozens of books for applying to mba programs. I found the Kaplan and Princeton books a bit superficial, Montauk's is not bad but a little outdated, and this is the best one I've seen. It was published recently, so all the rankings, data and school essays are up-to-date. The essay advice section is particularly good. The book is twice the price of any other, but for such a competitive process it is well worth it.

I must admit I needed a helping hand with my application. The Essays, GMAT, letters of recommendation... sometimes seems like an endless process where you never know if youre wasting your time since you have no guarantee of being accepted (especially at schools where it's getting ridiculously competitive). this book has guided me through the whole process.

First, the book gives you the confidence you need to keep faith. It outlines loads of testimonials of successul candidates (harvard, MIT, Berkeley, Columbia, kellogg...). When you read their stories, you feel that they were like you: people who had accomplished some stuff but obviously had doubts and weaknesses. Then, the game is how you present yourself and how you write succesful essays.

The key is that you should adapt your essays to the various school profiles. The authors have done an outstanding work on the top schools. There are about 50 pages per school outlining the differences between all the schools. If you want to be admitted to Stanford, you obviously don't say the same thing in your essays as if you want to be admitted to Columbia. The great thing about this book is that you get insider information. The other books I bought are just too general, stuff like "smile on the day of your interview"....this is more specific.

You read this book, and the profiles of the schools you want to apply to, and you feel that the game is easier than you thought.

Getting the Edge is a very comprehensive book (there's almost too much information over 600+ pages). I have bought several MBA books, and I have to admit that Getting the Edge has been the best one in helping me to understand all the subtle differences between schools that sometimes look very similar at first sight. Understanding these differences is essential in order to help you to position your application dossier differently for each school you apply to. To my mind, this is what makes the difference between a successful candidate and someone who has good credentials but gets rejected. Getting the Edge has been written by a bunch of students who were admitted to top-tier MBAs... there are a few mistakes and typos (it's easy to tell that this book is not written by a professional publishing house) but this is the only book I've come across where the writers are in a position to share a lot of insider views and information about a whole range of schools.

I must admit I needed a helping hand with my application. The Essays, GMAT, letters of recommendation... sometimes seems like an endless process where you never know if youre wasting your time since you have no guarantee of being accepted (especially at schools where it's getting ridiculously competitive). this book has guided me through the whole process.

First, the book gives you the confidence you need to keep faith. It outlines loads of testimonials of successul candidates (harvard, MIT, Berkeley, Columbia, kellogg...). When you read their stories, you feel that they were like you: people who had accomplished some stuff but obviously had doubts and weaknesses. Then, the game is how you present yourself and how you write succesful essays.

The key is that you should adapt your essays to the various school profiles. The authors have done an outstanding work on the top schools. There are about 50 pages per school outlining the differences between all the schools. If you want to be admitted to Stanford, you obviously don't say the same thing in your essays as if you want to be admitted to Columbia. The great thing about this book is that you get insider information. The other books I bought are just too general, stuff like "smile on the day of your interview"....this is more specific.

You read this book, and the profiles of the schools you want to apply to, and you feel that the game is easier than you thought.

I was recommended Getting the MBA Admissions Edge by a friend who has just been admitted to Columbia, Chicago and Wharton. He had been working on his application for weeks, and swore by the advice that he got from this book. I can see why - it's very well presented, makes you ask yourself the right questions about your motivation, and what sets you apart from the other candidates, and dissects the essay questions with great strategies and insights. It's also right up to date, so you know that you're applying with the latest application dossiers in mind. Given the amount of advice you pick up, I regret not working from this book sooner. There's an explanation of the ideal timing for school, with an example from the Stanford rounds of admission, and you understand why it's best to apply in the first 2 rounds. Definitely worth it.

During the business school application process I read countless books on the topic. Of all the books that I read, this was by far the most helpful. I especially found the example essays from other students helpful in giving me ideas and structure for my own essays. If you are considering applying to one of the schools profiled in this book you will be pleased to see a very detailed overview of the program by a student who has attended the program. I had already taken the GMAT by the time I read this book so I didn't focus on that part of the book, but it seemed to be fairly complete.

My only complaint - and this complain is universal to all business school books that I've found - is that it emphasizes applying to the "top" business schools. There are a number of books that profile the "top" 10-15 business schools and do a good job of it, but very few that provide any detailed information on the other 200+ MBA programs. I was focused on applying to MBA programs that are considered by most ranking systems to be ranked 20-50.. There is very little information available beyond what the school provides on these programs. The vast majority of people will be attending schools that aren't considered "top 10".

I was admitted to Harvard, Columbia and Chicago and a lot of it is probably due to this book. Decided to write a quick review just in case it can help you in the MBA battlefield! This book is very comprehensive and takes a while to wade through all the info - good stuff though. (V good interviews with Admissions directors , a stack of example essays - but don't copy them - everyone seems to be using this book! also, a really good bit on the secrets of "how to market yourself to be the `one'". A lot of people on campus said they went with this one.