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Summary: A book every MBA applicant must read thoroughly and follow.
Review: Richard Montauk will step you through every element of the application process and provide you with answers to the most difficult questions. Should I write the recommendations myself and hand them to my supervisors to sign? What themes should my essays focus on given my unique background? How should I choose a school? What interview questions will be asked of me? All of these challenges are addressed in a concise and methodical manner by Montauk. This book certainly assisted me! I applied to the top four business schools in the United States and was accepted by three. Considering my college grades and work experience, these results were phenomenal. Obtain this book at least a year before applications are due and apply all of Montauk's tenets. You will meet with success!
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Summary: This is an essential purchase for those serious about an MBA
Review: This book will see you down the long, tricky road of business school admissions. It is organized, well-written, and provides practical (though innovative) tips for marketing oneself to top MBA programs. The author addresses specific weaknesses/assets and how best to capitalize upon them in you applications. Best of all, he author takes the fear and uncertainty out of essay writing by providing keen insight into what B-schools are looking for. During the most crucial period of the MBA application process, I had to leave the US unexpectedly for 9 months for work. Fortunately, I took Richard Montauk's book along. It enabled me to plan out a strong (and ultimately successful) strategy and organize the submission of my applications despite being far from schools and recommenders. This book is truly different from the rest of the guides out there. Fabulous.
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Summary: "Must Have" Book
Review: This is the one "best" book you must have if you're serious about getting into the top business schools. Even if you're only applying to a regional business school, the book is still very helpful. I definitely used every advise the author shared to guide me in preparing my essay and approaching my 'recommenders'. The book guides you starting from your decision to pursue an MBA degree to preparation for your first day of graduate school. This book increased my chances of getting into my first choice of business school. When you're competing with hundreds of applicants, you need every bit of advise to help you stand out from the rest. Read the book and you'll find out how to do that!
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Summary: Must-have for applicants
Review: Applying to MBA programs makes sense after reading this book. Most people don't know what's expected or what to write but you won't be confused after reading this book. Most importantly it gives you confidence and a plan of attack. Plus it works- I know it helped me get into top ten programs.
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Summary: Buy it!
Review: I used the techniques and approach I learnt from reading this book in my application to business school. I was accepted at the best in Europe. I used the techniques and approach I learnt to apply for a new post within the company I work. I got a major promotion. Not onloy is the book well written and highly informative the suggestions really work. I recommend it without reservation.
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Summary: Finally! Honest help with the essays!
Review: Most authors of "how to get into B-school" books have the same old advice, but Montauk goes the extra step to illustrate how it's done with dozens upon dozens of real-world examples. Where this book shines above its competition is in how it handles the one thing applicants to top business schools can *really* do something about: Their essays.
GPA and GMAT speak for themselves and when it comes time to fill out the applications and write the essays, there are only so many ways to spin those numbers. They are cold hard numbers, and that's the point: You can't spin numbers without whining.
The single best piece of advice Montauk offers is to emphasize the strengths in your background that are not-so-obvious. After reading this book, an electrical engineer with a 99%ile score on the quantitative section of the GMAT would understand that he doesn't need to do a thing to convince the admissions committee at Columbia of his ability to handle the quantitative nature of the program. Instead, he would spend most of the essays emphasizing his experience with softer skills -- those things that are not readily noticed from a look at his education and work experience.
Many books in this class have a too-general perspective, but Montauk provides a method, especially with the essays, that helps the applicant through a thorough self-evaluation which can be translated into an intelligent, honest, and effective strategy.
This book has totally revamped my notion of what a great application should be. Look elsewhere for information on choosing the schools to which you apply, but get this book -- dare say it's essential -- to figure out how to get in!
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Summary: A very good book for getting your act together for MBA Apps
Review: "How to Get into the Top MBA Programs" is a very good resource on the business school application process. The book expounds upon three points very well: 1. Know yourself. Understand why you are considering a business school, determine what you expect to get out of it, and identify which programs are best for *your needs*. Be honest with yourself. Assuming you've determined an MBA program is the way you need to go, you have to determine which offering is most appropriate. Objectively evaluate schools, don't blindly go off of the numerous "rankings." These are purely quantitative and may not be the best fit. (For example, if you want to do marketing and not finance, Northwestern might be a better choice than Wharton.) Evaluate programs, interview alumni and current students, and VISIT campus. Pay attention to any "gut" feel. 2. Market your strengths and weaknesses. The ideal applicant will have a 4.0 undergraduate GPA, 800 GMAT, speak seventeen languages, served president of IBM, and have several gold medals in swimming. If this doesn't describe you, you're "just folks" (to borrow from Harry Bauld) and need to market yourself. Montauk has some interesting generalizations for backgrounds (e.g., engineer, sales) and their general strengths and weaknesses. One valuable suggestion is to choose and manage your recommenders. They should say what they want, and in their own words, but you can help guide the perspectives they emphasize on your candidacy so you come across as a multidimensional applicant. The essay writing suggestions are generally very good, especially the "angle" that some of the questions are taking. (This is very similar to the "Knock 'em Dead" by Martin Yate.) However, for actually writing your essay, I would strongly recommend reading "On Writing the College Application Essay" by Harry Bauld. 3. Stay on top of the admissions process. To a great extent, this is really "make sure everyone gets stuff when they should." Provide dossiers for your recommenders, make sure you have a completed application in on time, follow up with people. Because the application process is competitive, Montauk offers suggestions on reinforcing your candidacy be waitlisted or are called in for an interview. -- Throughout each chapter, Montauk includes comments from various directors of admissions. These basically reiterate what the text says and (especially for the US schools) are a regurgitation of things you'd read in the applications packet. For example, "The GMAT score is as important as any other single element in the admissions process." Duh, otherwise it wouldn't be required. Overall, this is a very good book, offering a lot of perspective on the self-evaluation and application processes.
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Summary: Excellent resource for the MBA applicant
Review: Excellent resource - a must have if you're serious about getting into a top business school.
The quotes from top school admissions directors are priceless and provide much better insight than the chat room mis-information out there.
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Summary: Solid as a Rock
Review: It is a very good resource, even though some of the information and essays are outdated - for example, many of the essays/letter of recs do not adhere to any kind of word limit! Has the most comprehensive list of essays and very useful strategy.
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.
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Summary: Gives you a real chance of getting admission in dream school
Review: I know that a professor from Ann Arbor, MI has already rated this book and provided a great review but I think applicants like me need a little more information about the book. Following review provides information that I wish I had access to, when I was looking for a guide to help me deal with the painful application process.
As the professor mentioned, this is really a great book. It covers all aspects of application process from preparing for GMAT to responding to schools once you have been invited to join the program.
However, there is something that professor mentioned about the book and that is incorrect. The book does tell an applicant to give herself enough time, an year or so, to apply.
Now on to more mundane task of describing the advantages of this book:
Montauk starts with the overview of the book, how to use it and how to get maximum benifit out of it. Do not miss this part. Think of it as a key to unlock the information presented in this book. Mantauk has clearly mentioned what is more important in each section of the book and what parts you can skip if you don't have enough time.
Once you are familiar with the structure of the book, proceed by reading just the executive summary of each chapter. This is a great way of getting the overview of the whole book and of the stages in application process! The book covers a lot of things, not all relevant to you. Reading the executive summary of each chapter can help you zero in on the section you need to focus right now without the fear of you missing any step! I found it very helpful and I gaurantee, so will you.
Some chapters like the one on writing your essays and getting recommendataion letters, are reasons enough for you to invest 16 bucks in this book. For weeks I was confused about how to ask for recommendations from my manager, how to approach him, what to say and how to convince him. Thanks to Mantauk, all that is taken care of and now I have great recommendation letters (perhaps the single most important requirement for admission).
Finally, Mantauk has included close to 150 examples of great essays that selected candidates wrote for vaious schools. This is the reason why I got interested in this book in the first place. Unlike many of you great writers, some of us do not have degrees in journalism. Infact, I confess that I scored a mere 5.0 in AWA and I have no clue what to say about myself or how to say it.
That is a big problem. Essays are the way for schools to find out about you, your background, your character, your values, your strengths and weakness. Essays are also an opportunity for you to convince school that you fit the program better than your competition. Any complacency here will mean a letter of rejection. I know this for sure because I talked to a GSB alumni who used to evaluate applicant essays.
Essay writing skills for us, non professional-writers, are not easy to acquire. However, they can be "learned" by reading this book. Don't get me wrong. I am not talking about copying the examples given in the book. Reading good essays will give you an idea of structure and organization. Once you have it, you can plug your information into that structure and voila! a decent essay created by you will be ready to be included in your application.
In the end I would only like to say that you are going to spend over $60,000 on your MBA in next few years. These 16 bucks can ensure that you spend all that money wisely, getting your degree from the school of your choice. That is the most important thing. Isn't it?
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