Bookshelves

Joann reads all the literature she can on getting into business school so that she can pass the best of the advice on to you. Below you’ll find a list of the important books currently on the market, ranked in what Joann feels to be the order of their helpfulness to business school applicants. These books can be found in the career development center libraries of most colleges and universities, or you can buy them in bookstores or online. The Amazon Marketplace has lightly used copies of these books for just a few dollars.

1. MBA Admissions Strategy: From Profile Building to Essay Writing. A. V. Gordon. (Open University Press, 2005). (For our money, this is the best book out there on B-school personal essays. There is a 2010 second edition.)

2. How To Get Into the Top MBA Programs, 4th Edition. Richard Montauk. (Prentice Hall Press, 2007). (Montauk has an MBA and a JD. He also writes on how to get into law school. He is a strong writer. This is a more general guide and has less about personal statements than some of the other books here.)

3. Business School Essays that Made a Difference, 3rd Edition (Graduate School Admissions Guides). Princeton Review. (Princeton Review, 2008). (There is a 2010 4th edition.)

4. 65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays, Second Edition: With Analysis by the Staff of The Harbus, the Harvard Business School Newspaper. The Harbus, and Lauren Sullivan. (St. Martin's Griffin, 2009).

5. Accepted! 50 Successful Business School Admission Essays, 3rd Edition. Gen Tanabe, and Kelly Tanabe. (Supercollege, LLC, 2008). (The 2007 2nd edition is substantially different.)

6. The MBA Application Roadmap: The Essential Guide to Getting into a Top Business School. Stacy Blackman, and Daniel J. Brookings. (Firstbooks.com, 2008). (Also sold as an audio edition. Stacy Blackman is a savvy writer and marketer.)

7. The Best Business Schools' Admissions Secrets: A Former Harvard Business School Admissions Board Member Reveals the Insider Keys to Getting In. Chioma Isiadinso. (Sourcebooks, Inc., 2008).

8. Your MBA Game Plan: Proven Strategies for Getting into the Top Business Schools. Omari Bouknight, and Scott Shrum. (Career Press, 2007).

9. Great Application Essays for Business School. Paul Bodine. (McGraw-Hill, 2005).

10. Perfect Phrases for Business School Acceptance (Perfect Phrases Series). Paul Bodine. (McGraw-Hill, 2008).

11. Essays That Will Get You into Business School. Chris Dowhan, Adrienne Dowhan, and Dan Kaufman. (Barron's Educational Series, 2009). (This is almost exactly like the 2003 edition.)

12. Essays That Worked for Business Schools: 40 Essays from Successful Applications to the Nation's Top Business Schools. Boykin Curry, Emily Angel Baer, and Brian Kasbar. (Ballantine Books, 2003). (Stars: 2/5 You’ll zoom through this book, and it’s not terribly helpful. The two best essays, if you find a copy in a library, are pp. 77 and 88. This book will point you ahead but not up. It divides all b-school essays into the following categories: Strengths and Weaknesses, Ethics, Work Experience, Goals, Accomplishments, Personal Stories, Offbeat Topics.)

13. Game Plan for Getting Into Business School. Michele Kornegay. (Peterson’s, 2000).

14. Finding the Best Business School for You: Looking Past the Rankings. Everette E. Dennis, and Sharon P. Smith. (Praeger, 2006).

15. How to Get an MBA. Morgen Witzel. (Routledge, 2001).

16. Marketing Yourself to the Top Business Schools. Phil Carpenter, and Carol Carpenter. (Wiley, 1995).