MBA Admissions Strategy: From Profile Building to Essay Writing

By A.V. Gordon

"I would definitely buy this book if I were applying again."--Rodney Bryant, Macquarie Bank, Australia, formerly of Morgan Stanley, New York Learn all about MBA admissions techniques and skills from... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0335218903
• ISBN13: 9780335218905
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional - Open University Press
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.6" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

This book helped me get into INSEAD

If you buy only one book about how to apply to a top 20 MBA, make it this book! Easy to read, straight to the point, very practical, it makes you take the customer's (MBA admissions committee) viewpoint on your application with lots of insights into what happens with your application after you send it in. Also has some very direct words about MBA rankings (it says not to t worry about your target school moving up and down a few ranks as the top 20 schools rarely change). By luck I stumbled across this book and I would say it helped me tremendously to get into INSEAD (ranked No. 5 worldwide in latest FT ranking). The author's method of mapping your strengths to different essays from different schools will be especially powerful if you apply to more than one school (I just applied to one school and it was still very useful). I didn't miss sample essays as you can easily get those from other books.

Best book on the subject

MUST HAVE BOOK. By far the best book on the subject. Even if you have already purchased Richard Montauk book or any other MBA consulting book, I still advise that you buy and read this book. If you have not purchased any book yet, I strongly recommend you to start with this book. If you are targeting top 15 MBA programs, reading this book will be the best thing you could do to improve your chances. Pros - 1) Very structured approach. It begins with helping you profile yourself. 2) No nonsense material. Very brief, succinct and to the point. 3) It leaves the obvious clutter out. Author does not repeat himself. I think this is the biggest plus of this book. There are many top sellers (no names), which are too thick at the expense of being repetitive. 3) Comprehensive. 4) Refined. Polished. Cons - 1) Addition of some sample essays would be a very useful. 2) Schools specific research and advise will be useful too. I notice that most of the MBA admissions book in the market lack this type of material. 3) Part time program specific advise.

He knows what the adcom wants!

This is not my first try at knocking on the doors of the top MBA programs. Fortunately I found this wonderful book before I started my campaign this year. The book helped me to identify several mistakes that I've made in my previous application, and of course much more things that I can improve, especially in the essay writing part. Amazingly, the insights to the application process that the author shared in this books matches perfectly with the feedback that I got from the schools that I applied before. On top of that, the book also gives out hands-on instructions to address each aspect with a lot of details. Also it teaches so many smart techniques on how to positioning and marketing yourself. To me, it is an extremely practical guide to help me through the process.

Excellent practical workbook

I found this guide to be very helpful in preparing my MBA admission essays. In particular, Gordon's step-by-step explanation of the 10 essay archetypes, and advice on developing an overall theme for my application will hopefully pay dividends. My essays are now much more clearly focussed and address the real concerns of AdCom. I previewed several other guides before purchasing this one and am happy that I made a good decision.

Excellent Resource for Essays

I applied to Darden using another reference and online resources before I found "MBA Admissions Strategy". I was blown away by the insight that permeates each chapter, and I corrected many mistakes on my HBS app. I do not know what Gordon's background is, but he clearly knows exactly what goes on behind the scenes at adcom. He even explains what kind of people end up on the adcom and how to tailor your message to them. So, I was waitlisted at Darden and now I have an interview at Harvard. Wow! Can't argue with results like that. It was a lot of work but this book was my sole guide in transforming my essays. I am not an excellent writer but I am very pleased with the results. I would never try to apply to an MBA program without this book.