Essays That Worked for Business School: 35 Essays from Successful Applications to the Nation's Top Business Schools [Paperback]

Boykin Curry (Editor), Brian Kasbar (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0449905160 | ISBN-13: 978-0449905166 | Publication Date: September 3, 1991

With thousands applying every year to business schools, sometimes the only thing that can make an applicant stand out, is the application essay. Here are 35 essays that were considered some of the best by admssions officer at the natino's top business schools. They are bold, brief, sincere, or off-the-wall. But they are unique and they worked!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Unlike most graduate programs, business schools prefer that their students have previous work experience. This does not mean that your goose is cooked if you haven't put in two years on Wall Street. In fact, according to the editors of Essays That Worked for Business Schools, B-school admissions officers are growing weary of investment banking. "Given comparable work experience and success," says one, "I'd much rather take someone who has run a farm in Iowa than an investment banker."

Boykin Curry and Brian Kasbar have arranged these application essays by subject matter, and their introductions to each section are as helpful as the essays themselves. When writing about your strengths and weaknesses, they warn, don't choose weaknesses that are actually strengths in disguise (e.g., "I work too hard," "I'm too much of a leader"). "Such 'weaknesses,'" they say, "can tag a writer as insincere and sly." On the subject of the MBA itself, they advise, "If you can provide examples of previous accomplishments and show that you need more business education for continued success, your application will be hard to ignore." Like most red-blooded Americans, B-school admissions officers admire a bold, entrepreneurial spirit, so when you're relating your finest accomplishment, say the editors, "try to look for an instance when you solved a tough problem with an unconventional insight." And one last thing. Don't fret too much about your writing skills. "We aren't looking for future authors or even scholars, necessarily," say the admissions folks. "We're looking for future business leaders." --Jane Steinberg

From the Inside Flap

With thousands applying every year to business schools, sometimes the only thing that can make an applicant stand out, is the application essay. Here are 35 essays that were considered some of the best by admssions officer at the natino's top business schools. They are bold, brief, sincere, or off-the-wall. But they are unique and they worked!

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (September 3, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449905160
• ISBN-13: 978-0449905166
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,926,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Skip this one - not worth it, June 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Essays That Worked for Business School: 35 Essays from Successful Applications to the Nation's Top Business Schools (Paperback)

The essays in this book are painful to read. They lack any sort of creativity and imagination. Reading them almost convinced me not to go to business school because it would mean sitting in classes with these unimaginative writers. Curry and Kasbar put together a terrific book for getting in to college but this one falls short. Buy The Princeton Review Guide to MBA programs instead. The sample essays in that book are much better.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A semi-useful application aid, April 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Essays That Worked for Business School: 35 Essays from Successful Applications to the Nation's Top Business Schools (Paperback)

This book is good in that it gives you a nice array of examples in the different categories of questions. However, it doesn't review any of them or give guidelines on what worked and what didn't about each particular essay. Some are extremely long which doesn't coincide with 300-500 word maximum that all the schools I applied to have. Basically, a this is a cheap way to go if you need help breaking out of terminal brain-lock when it comes to writing your essays. Otherwise, I'd shop around. There are much better aids out there.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good dollar value, but lacks content, July 27, 1998

By 

Krista St. Amant (Zephyrhills, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essays That Worked for Business School: 35 Essays from Successful Applications to the Nation's Top Business Schools (Paperback)

Samples given are not representative of business students today. Desperately needs to be updated with a new edition. Comments from the admissions officers were off color.