Customer Reviews

The Best 301 Business Schools, 2010 Edition (Graduate School Admissions Guides)

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If you are considering an MBA, it is somewhat challenging to find much information on business schools below the top tier. Sure, there are U.S. News and Businessweek rankings. But, those are just compiled metrics regarding the top notch schools that educate only a very small fraction of all MBAs.

This book fills this informational gap beautifully. The 301 schools it includes probably captures all the American schools worth considering. It includes schools with a broad range of selectivity from Harvard to third tier State schools.

As the author states within this guide, "there is no one best MBA school, but there is one best MBA school for you." Just like college it is all about the fit and the match. Match up with a school that reflects your profile and skill level (so you can actually get in) and that fits your objectives so you get the job opportunities you were looking for.

My favorite part of the guide was Part I: All About Business Schools. This section gives you an up to date take on all the current trends, what it takes to be admitted and succeed, what such schools are really like.

The profiles on every schools are pretty thorough. It allows you to quickly develop a list of potential schools and compare them. In turn, refining your list using an Excel spreadsheet will allow you to sort them and benchmark them in many different ways focusing on the metrics that are most important for you. The information allows you to readily assess the match (your chances of getting in) and the fit (the ensuing opportunities).

This guide will save you a lot of time and will provide an excellent foundation on researching this subject.

I am the founder of GMAT Club, a massive online MBA community, representing 10% of the incoming class at top business schools this year. Here are my thoughts about the book: My main challenge with this book is that I can't understand who would really read it. Nobody (who is sane that is) will apply to more than 6 programs max (most apply to fewer) and it is not that hard to research your schools. The information in this guide is readily availble on school's websites such as average GMAT, tuition, deadlines, essays, etc. It does have a few valuable pieces about average salary (starting salary for 2008 grads - a bit behind). The only person I can think who could find this book useful is one who has no clue where to apply or is too lazy to research the basic stats about their 5 schools - neither should really belong in a business school... also I found a lack of an expert opinion to be lacking. The school profiles are made up of student quotes, which are valuable, but few students will criticize the school they attended, at least not publically in a book, so it lacks any criticism.

PROS:
+ Covers many schools
+ One page-view
+ Relevant facts
+ Includes Top 10 lists for toughest to get into, Best professors, most competitive students, etc.
+ Packed with student comments, some are interesting
+ Has a list "Applicants also look at..." for the confused

Areas for Improvement:
- Info is Common; would be great to add more unique info
- Very little space is devoted to each school; prep companies such as veritas and clear admit have 20+ page guides on top 10 schools
- Needs to add rankings
- Needs to have real criticism
- Needs to have an expert opinion


Let me know if any questions about this book, I respond to comments and own/reviewed most of other MBA Admissions/GMAT books
Best Regards,
BB, MBA, GMAT 750
Founder of GMAT Club

This is a good book about B-schools, and it has a lot of useful information but there are many typo's. For the University of Utah it said that instate tuition was over $1,000,000. Also, there is no rankings for the schools. Overall a good book if you want all the information for every business school in the country, but be sure to check the facts from a different source.