Your MBA Game Plan: Proven Strategies for Getting Into the Top Business Schools [Paperback]

Omari Bouknight (Author), Scott Shrum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2003

Getting into graduate business school has become an increasingly competitive and complicated process. Each year approximately 100,000 applications are sent to top schools. Written by two current MBA students who successfully gained admission into multiple schools, Your MBA Game Plan provides a strategic framework for putting together winning applications.

Your MBA Game Plan helps you navigate the application process by providing detailed analyses of every application component including:
--GMAT
--TOEFL
--Essays
--Recommendations
--Interview
--Data sheets
--Transcript
--Resume

Essays and other application samples are provided to highlight strategies that successful applicants have employed to get into top schools. Your MBA Game Plan also demonstrates how to assemble a document that crystallizes your application strategy. Finally, this book shows you how to apply application strategy to 30 top schools.

With Your MBA Game Plan in hand you will be well positioned to gain admission to the top business schools.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Career Press; 1st edition (August 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564146839
• ISBN-13: 978-1564146830
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 6.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #947,690 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #50 in Books > Business & Investing > Job Hunting & Careers > Business School Guides

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly Helpful and Informative, August 29, 2003

By 

Maryann Ford (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your MBA Game Plan: Proven Strategies for Getting Into the Top Business Schools (Paperback)

I am applying to business school this fall, and just
got this book a week ago after hearing about it. I
have already read it most of the way through, and I
can say that it is DEFINITELY worth it. I have also
read How to Get Into the Top MBA Programs and
I can say that this book helps you at least
as much as that one, in less than half the length. I
actually consider that one to be good, but this one to
be even better.

I really like how the authors describe a framework for
getting your story together. I wonder if everyone will
follow their advice to the letter, but I think they
would benefit by doing so. The authors start by
describing their framework, and then step through each
part of it throughout the rest of the book. Like I
mentioned, I have read nearly the whole thing (which I
couldn't do with the other books I bought).

My favorite aspects of this book:

1) Advice on specific schools - Not everything that
they tell you about a school is earth-shattering, but
it's all good info. This is important info to consider
when you apply to any school. A friend of mine at a
Top 10 school read what they wrote about her school
and agreed with what they said.

2) Interview prep - All of my target schools require interviews,
and I really like the framework that they use in this section to help you
prepare for the kinds of questions you will probably be asked.

3) Advice for applicants based on their backrounds -
This section is fairly short, but still contains good
advice to think about as you write your essays, etc.

4) Essay analysis and advice - Other books also do
this, but this book does a good job of breaking down
essays by type and letting you know what schools tend
to look for.

They also give good general advice like making sure
that you and your recommenders are on the same page in
terms of what to emphasize, etc. And the GMAT section
looks like it has good advice, although that's the one
section that I sort of skipped, since I already took
the test.

My only suggestions for improvement would be to expand
the section that gives advice by type of applicant.
And, they give advice for the top 30 schools, but not
everyone is targeting those schools. So, maybe
covering the top 50 would be better, although that of
course would make it a lot longer.

All in all, definitely worth picking up, especially if
you want a smaller book that gives you the same advice
that the bigger, more expensive ones give. These guys
seem to know their stuff.

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Pleasant Surprise!, January 11, 2005

By 

CalGrad "JC" (Diamond Bar, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your MBA Game Plan: Proven Strategies for Getting Into the Top Business Schools (Paperback)

Wasn't sure what to expect from this book when I bought it, but it turned out to be a great overall resource! Has information about Top-30 Schools and general information about App Strategy, GMAT, Essays, and Letter of Recs.

Others to look at:
1. ABC of Getting the MBA Admissions Edge: My personal favorite. It covers Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg, MIT, Chicago, Columbia, Berkeley, NYU, and INSEAD, but the strategies can be generalized to all schools.
2. Your MBA Game Plan: Great overall resource! Has information about Top-30 Schools and general information about App Strategy, GMAT, Essays, and Letter of Recs.
3. How to Get Into the Top MBA Programs: Very good Resource. The most comprehensive list of old essays.
4. Business Week Best Business Schools: In-Depth info on Top-30 Schools. Good reference to get the 411 on each school.
5. WSJ Top Business School: Good reference to what recruiters think of each school.
6. USNew's America's Best Graduate Schools: In my opinion the most comprehensive/accurate rankings (BW, WSJ, FT, Forbes) on the market.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Book on the Subject (... and I read a lot), September 2, 2006

By 

MBA '08 (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your MBA Game Plan: Proven Strategies for Getting Into the Top Business Schools (Paperback)

I read a lot of books about MBA admissions. Your MBA Game Plan was the shortest, simplest ... and by far, the best!

The book taught me about the admissions process - what schools are looking for in students, how I can demonstrate those qualities, and how to avoid the most common pitfalls of applying. More importantly, it helped me develop a clear, organized, and easy-to-execute gameplan that kept me on track throughout the (grueling!) journey that is MBA admissions.

Thanks in large part to this game plan, I was accepted at Harvard Business School and Stanford's Graduate School of Business.