Best MBA Books - overview, recommendations, and comments
One of the members asked me to update this old discussion with new books and to my surprised very little has been done in the last 3 years in terms of publishing new books and new guides. I am thrilled to see
Admissionado releasing a new
Essay Guide in 2019! This list does recommend some recent and some older (and very economical) books but be assured - they still work.
MBA Admissions Strategy: From profile building to essay writingPublished May 1, 2017 | 232 PagesPros: - excellent overview of all speps of the admission process
- it's important Avi starts with description of tools and techniques to extract your own stories, goals, value, failures etc - all the valuable material needed for high-quality essays. Follow these steps and don't skip them. 1 hour of data mining = 5 hours saved in essay writing.
- great breakdown of typical essay questions, their true meaning and traps
Cons: - too few practical examples! Sometimes it's hard to understand what Avi means or how to implement his ideas in practice
- the book is all about profile building and essays. There is not that much info about recommendations, interviews etc.
Value for money: 4.5/5
The Admissionado Guide to Elite MBA Admission Updated: July 2019 | 92 PagesPros: - very practical. There are no filling words in the guide, all text is there for a reason
- live and funny language, yet intelligent and smart. I truly enjoyed reading it!
- precise, actionable advices (step 1-2...5 instead of vague 'get to know your goals' you can find in many other sources)
- fresh material. There are no references to topics that were popular in Clinton's times.
- authors' advices closely follow examples they included into the book, there is no mismatch.
Cons: - the books feels too thin..
- Chapter 5 - Major essay types - contains too few examples
Grading: 4.5/5
Great value for little money. Adding extra examples (into Chapter 5) would make the book one of the best essay guides on the market.
Preview of the 92 Page GuideAttachment:
50 Essays That Worked - 4th Volume Published Feb 2019 | 304 PagesPros: - You get to see the first draft and the final draft, understanding what was improved
- The guide also provides the tips and feedback that the applicant received for the follow up draft
- Then you see their final draft (this is fast forward as I don't think it is draft #2). There are some tips and notes about what goal the essay attempted to achieve.
- Schools & Essays Covered: - Stanford
- HBS
- Career Essays
- Why This School Essays
- Personal Essays
- Achievement Essays
- Teamwork Essays
- Optional Essays
- Fancy Essays
- EMBA Essays
- Waitlist Essays
P.S. This is what it is - it is an essay collection so don't expect a whole lot of strategy, etc
ApplicantLab - "Robo Admissions Consulting" Pros: - Step-by-step guidance through the application process
- 100's of videos sharing admissions consulting advice and tips, mimicking a live consultant
- Single place to store all brainstorming notes, essays, applications, resumes, etc
- School-specific tailored help for each program
- $269 for 1-year access and unlimited schools. Very affordable compared to traditional admissions consulting
82 Reviews: ranking 5/5 by verified GMAT Club members & moderators including
Souvik (at Ross) and
Rohit6 (at Kellogg)
SPECIALTY BOOKS |
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Great book for veterans transitioning to the civilian life and looking to enter one of the Top MBA programs. This guide breaks the transition into three phases teaching you how to: Convince Yourself; Assess your strengths to highlight the transferable skills you have that matter for your next career and Select Programs. | A great guide (done very much in a style of a comic book, and takes on more of a European flair, such as the Valerian. It is definitely a different book; not a typical guide... | This is probably the longest-running and most popular MBA Admissions book - 3rd edition was released in 2011 and it's long overdue for an update but that has not happened yet. Nevertheless, still I'd like to recommend this oldie to anyone interested in a self-admissions consulting strategy. |
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