Businessweek Guide to the Best Business Schools (Business Week Guide to the Best Business Schools, 7th ed) [Paperback]

Betsy Gruber (Author), Margaret Littman (Author), Jennifer Merritt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2001 | ISBN-10: 0071378243 | ISBN-13: 978-0071378246 | Edition: 7th

Scratching your head trying to figure out whether or not to get an MBA - and where to get one if the answer sounds like a yes? You've come to the right place. Here is the 7th and most comprehensive edition yet of a book that is considered the bible for all students and observers of graduate schools of business. Hundreds of thousands of applicants have relied on earlier versions of this book for its wealth of unvarnished, tell-it-like-it-is information and analysis of the top MBA programs. Deans and recruiters use this guide as a benchmark of how well they've put their ideas and strategies in place. This completely updated new edition ranks the 50 top business schools in the United States and another seven outstanding international programs. For this new edition, BW has increased the number of schools, students, and corporate recruiters surveyed, making its rankings stronger and more comprehensive than ever. BusinessWeek's survey methodology is both exhaustive and impeceable, resulting in a guide that is authoritative and highly reliable. To create it, BusinessWeek used thousands of surveys of graduates and corporate recruiters as its primary research material. BW sent surveys to 16,843 graduates of the Class of 2000 at 82 schools in the U.S., Canada and Europe, generating an astonishing 60% response. Another 419 surveys were sent to companies, which responded at the rate of 59%. Next, the BW team interviewed hundreds of students, alumni, corporate recruiters, administrators, faculty members, and deans to gain a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the top schools. The result is a guide that reveals important information about the graduate business programs, the school environment, the curriculum and programs of each school, and the inside scoop on B schools that can't be found anywhere else. Each of the 50 U.S. schools profiled in this book is ranked according to a broad variety of criteria. For the 7th edition, BW expanded its rankings in several key ways, giving the survey and the school profiles even more breadth and depth than in the previous six biennial rankings. One key new feature is a measurement of a school's influence and prominence in the wealth of ideas and quality of research, something BW calls "intellectual capital.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Take the guesswork out of the most important career decision you'll ever make!

Which MBA program is right for you? Which school's grads get the highest total pay packages? Which schools have the highest-rated programs in management, finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, international business? What are the up-and-coming schoolsthose that may be at the top of everyone's list in a few years? And just as important, what kind of educational experience will you have in terms of campus life, workload, and curriculum? A slick brochure won't tell you. This book will! The Business Week Guide to the Best Business Schools is the only guide that provides accurate rankings and profiles of the best graduate business schools rated by the people who know them best: recent graduates and corporate recruiters.

Find out how the top 50 schools stack up against one another and which international schools you might consider as well.

Compare the top 25 with the 25 runners upmaybe you don't need the top school to get what you want.

Discover the strengths and weaknesses of each school in:

*Quality of teachingincluding the most outstanding professors at each school as rated by the students
*Average starting pay for graduates, and success of placement offices in finding you your dream job
*Curriculum innovations and niche programs you won't hear about elsewhere
*Average GMATs and GPAs for admitted students
*Campus environment and what to expect when you arrive

Plus, get expert advice on how to:

*Increase your GMAT scores
*Earn big points with your applications and written essays
*Find today's bargains in a quality MBA education
*Get your school to foot part of your tuition
*And much more! --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 421 pages
• Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill; 7th edition (July 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071378243
• ISBN-13: 978-0071378246
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,312,406 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Detailed information that you really need, June 25, 2002

By 

bensmomma "bensmomma" (Ann Arbor, Michigan) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Businessweek Guide to the Best Business Schools (Business Week Guide to the Best Business Schools, 7th ed) (Paperback)

I confess to being a professor at one of the schools mentioned in this book as the "Best". Business schools have developed a love/hate relationship with this book because although it contains a lot of good, thoughtful information, some people use it for the wrong reasons.

Make a distinction between the RANKINGS and the extended essay-type descriptions contained on the top scools. The RANKINGS tell you (possibly) two things: they tell you (maybe, sometimes) about the quality of the results the graduates get, and they tell you....well they tell you whether you will get bragging rights to your friends. In other words, the rankings have developed their own prestige which is SEPARATE from the issue of whether they have anything to do with quality.

So consider the rankings with caution...do you need the reassurance of a very high ranking....or do you really care about quality of program? This book actually tells you a great deal about the quality of the program, including everything from details about the curriculum, what they are looking for in admissions, which teachers are held in highest esteem, and general comments from recent students. THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE NUMBER. It's related to the number, but it's not the same thing.

Remember, however, not to stop with this book: the information given in any edition will start to get inaccurate before it hits the bookstore. I can think of 5 or 6 top schools with new deans within the past year or two. Perusing through the book I see a good number of "top faculty" that either have already gone on to another institution, or are non-tenured faculty on short-term contracts, who may be gone by the time you get there. Even the curricula change pretty quickly. Back up your reading of this book with school's web sites, visits, talks with alumns, etc.

After all, the question you really want the answer to is not "do grads of School W make more money and have better careers than graduates of School Y?", it's "Will I MYSELF have a better career at School W than School Y." Rather than worry about the ranking of the school you get into, find the school that works for YOU. Finally, I see other reviewers saying "this book got me into the BigBucks school." I think that reviewer's intelligence, personality, and experience got him in. If he hadn't gotten in to BigBucks, he would still be smart and hardworking, and the school that got him would have been lucky. And (for the record), the number at our school is just great!

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very bad, avoid this one, March 3, 2001

By 

Antonio Blazquez (Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Business Week Guide to The Best Business Schools (Paperback)

I bought many books while applying to MBA. I felt that the Business Week's book could be helpful. Yet, I would suggest that you avoid this one since it has nothing except a collection of basic information that you can normally find on b-schools' website. Do not expect real insights on b-schools (it has been written by journalists who do not know much about the real stress of MBA application), no advice to craft powerful essays that will get you in, and no tip to ace interviews!!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for those beginning the application process, July 5, 2002

By 

David Petersam (Vienna, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Businessweek Guide to the Best Business Schools (Business Week Guide to the Best Business Schools, 7th ed) (Paperback)

This guide has been called "The bible for prospective students" by the London Times for good reason. If you are considering applying to the top programs, this guide will help you narrow your focus and apply to the schools that are the best fits for your profile. (Yes, your chances really are the greatest at the schools where you are best suited.)

BusinessWeek provides a good overview and some keen insight into the top 25 MBA programs as well as the 25 runner up programs. The guide also contains good information on its b-school ranking process. A word of caution though. This book does not contain highly detailed information on the profiled schools and if you do decide to apply to any of these schools, you will want to conduct some additional research for your "Why I want to attend your business school" essay.