Customer Reviews

How To Get Into the Top MBA Programs, 4th Edition

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Needless to say, this book is now the Bible of MBA applications.

What works:

1. Lots of advice, starting from the basics.
2. Tons of feedback from Admissions Committee Members
3. Essay samples

What doesnt:

1. Essay samples are limited to people who were leaders, consultants, etc etc. I dont believe these form the majority, Instead, I think the majority applicants are engineers, investment bankers and people from Asia. So the examples should have been chosen to fit that demographic too. I am more interested to see how an engineer represented himself well to get into a B-school, rather than read an essay of someone who was in the Army asa Lieutenant. It doesnt help much by publishing essays of people who're inherently different because of a very rare background.

2. Nothing much has really changed over the 2002 edition of the book. So, if you have the old one, I dont think this is worth buying. You could just use the library.

Written in a complete primer style, good to clear your concepts of MBA admissions. Since almost every applicant has this book, be careful while reading its essays and make sure that yours do NOT have anything remotely similar. Adcom people have read hundreds of essays over the years and are too sharp to identify the patterns and similarities.

Otherwise, the book is good to know the importance of different elements of an application. Good bedtime reading, if you start your planning an year ahead from the app deadlines. Otherwise, depending on your schedule and deadlines, you can use the book per author's guidelines.

Essays: There are a lot of essays in it from different B-Schools and different type of candidates. I found some of them to be too long and sort of boring sometimes. Word-limit is a biggest constraint for some schools and they are strict on it.

Recos: The chapters on Recos was really very useful with Do's and Dont's, how to approach your recommender, sample recos, and their pros and cons.

General App guidelines: generally useful in organizing yourself and your tasks for this process.

MBA: General information on different type of MBAs and how to choose the right one for you. This is very subjective topic though and depends on the individual's career planning and objectives.

Comments from Adcom members: There are lot of comments from adcom members, Deans of different schools in each chapter on almost every topic. Very helpful in customizing your app and essays for those schools

I used the previous edition of the book in 2006 (green cover) and it helped me get into a top 5 business school. In fact I got into both the top 5 schools that I had applied to.

My advice to applicants is to pay special attention to essays and recommendation letters. If the writers are too busy, write one up for them (call it a template) and let them edit it. That way you can get them to say what you want them to say more or less.

Spend a LOT of time on the essays, they can make or break you more than the GMAT. Read them over and over again, read them aloud, have someone read them to you and have them reviewed by someone who got into the school you want to get into. The sample essays in the book were great to know what kind of information the admissions committee would look for. I took as much as 30 days of every day work to get my essays in the form that I was happy with.

Montauk's book guides you through this process and that was the only book I used.

The big secret this book doesn't reveal is that many MBA program applicants get their admission essays professionally edited.

That gives them a huge edge.

Take a look at Craigslist someday in the write/ed/tr8 category under services. You will find dozens of professional editors offering their services to college applicants.

For as little as $50, students can hire a professional to polish their essays to perfection.

Non-native English speakers, particularly, benefit from this kind of editing. Almost all graduate school students now hire pros to edit their essays.

No book is going to teach a student how to craft a compelling, clever and concise essay. Students should be warned how competitive college admission essay writing has become.

This book is the bible for getting into the top MBA schools. I am currently in the process of applying to some of the top schools and have talked to a lot of current and recent grads, all of whom swear by this book. It walks you through all the steps required and the right way to approach the situation. I had my first round interview last week and knowing how the different schools differ in their approach helped tremendously.

STILL TBD on if I'm successful in my bid for the top schools but so far, I feel I'm getting all the right insider tips from this book.

I purchased a bunch of different MBA application books, but I would say this one was the best. It has so much info, that anyone should be able to get something out of it. Overall, I think this book helped me strategically position myself into B school. This book really helped me focus on ensuring that my weaknesses would not deter me from having a very competitive application. With the help of this book (along with some others), I got into my first choice program. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone applying to b-school.

I read an earlier edition and this one has been updated considerably - especially the sample essays. This book includes tons of sample essays to get your juices flowing. I recommend this to anyone serious about getting into a top program.

Having had the opportunity to speak to many admissions officers/directors and get their advice about the application process, I found that a lot of what they told me was captured in this book in greater detail. It's a great guide for anyone trying to maneuver this difficult and competitive process but as with everything in life, you must take it with a grain of salt.

This is a huge book, worthwhile and seems complete. I also have the Your MBA Game Plan: Proven Strategies for Getting into the Top Business Schools, and this book is ten times the size. I have yet to read the whole thing and probably will never; however it is easy to find the data I need for my search. I also like the discussions about why and where to go, not just the how like in other books.

Insightful information and good examples of essays and recommendations. I also liked the directors of admission's quotes. It is pretty much the same advices you hear when you go to the School's info sessions but on the book the advices are clearly linked to how you write each part of your application.