Businessweek Guide to the Best Business Schools

by Jennifer Merritt and Businessweek

Scratching your head trying to figure out whether or not to get an MBA - and where to get one if the answer sounds like a yes? You've come to the right place. Here is the 8th and most comprehensive... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071415211
• ISBN13: 9780071415217
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
• Length: 437 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 7.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Almost replaces the Campus Visits!

Business Week provides a lot of insider information that you would normally find out at Information Sessions or Campus Visits. It doesn't completely replace the Campus Visit, but it definitely supplements it very well with its in-depth info on the Top-30 Schools. 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.

The best b-school guide out there

Nothing even comes close, people. First of all, the descriptions in this guide are more extensive and accurate than those found in other guides (with, perhaps, a few "niche" exceptions, such as guides focusing on a very small number of schools, i.e. top 10). Arguably, Business Week is "the guide" to use for accurate rankings. Their methodology relies upon ratings of the "consumers" of b-schools, students and recruiters. While no ranking methodology is perfect, I feel most comfortable with the one that includes opinon of the consumers of the particular "product."Here's what you'll find between the covers:The book starts with a fairly extensive section on why you would want an MBA and how to get into the best schools. If you don't know anything about the process of applying to b-school, this is a good start, but it is just that--a start. Rankings and the description of BW methodology (including questions asked and a list of schools with top and bottom scores on each question) complete the introductory section.Most of the book, however, is focused on descriptions of programs that made top 30, the runners-up, and non-us schools. These descriptions include basic quantitative measures like fees, student body composition, and admissions numbers. I found the statistics on teaching methods employed by different schools particularly useful (and this is something important that most other guides/rankings pay very little attention to). The actual descriptions are very extensive. They cover virtually all aspects of a program, including academics, clubs/activities, social life, placement, and alumni networks. The well written text is supplemented by quotes from faculty and students, which is a nice touch. At the end of each school's section, you'll find detailed information on placement, top recruiters, outstanding faculty, student testimonials, as well as some useful tips straight from the admissions office.If you're looking to get a b-school guide that includes rankings, exhaustive descriptions, and some good advice, look no further. There might be other books out there that will provide more detailed program descriptions for a smaller number of programs, or books that will give more substantial advice about the application process, but there is no one book that does as many things as well as this one. Buy it!