[.ca] Marketing Yourself to the Top Business Schools (ISBN 0471118176)

Somewhat outdated, not particularly robust:
This book covers many of the same ideas that Richard Montauk's book does: how to position yourself to business schools, the importance of knowing the school, etc. However, the advice is outdated with much of the advice written in reference to the early 1990s when the authors attended HBS. Further, most of the advice is given in the form of critiquing the essays of others, which is a somewhat tedious way to get the message. I think that the Montauk book does a better job of addressing the positioning/marketing issues, and Montauk has is a more robust treatment of the rest of the application process. Save your money and skip this book.

Out of date, but the basics stay the same:
If you skip over the parts where they tell you things like set aside time to call the school and request materials, this book is great. A new edition that recognizes the advent of that thing called a computer and its friend the internet, and this book would be five stars. Very valuable information.

Good but outdated:
THis book is useful but it is somehow outdated. I wish that the authors would write a new version that would be more up-to-date. I have the impression that the rules of the game have a bit changed.

Differentiate, Differentiate, Differentiate:
The title offers the key to the MBA application process: Marketing. 1) Treat your application as a whole with each part adding a new piece to the jigsaw puzzle. Naturally, you must know the product (you) and the customer (school/admissions committee). 2) Know yourself. Determine your positioning statement first. What is the major theme that will pervade your application? What makes you different from the other 10,000+ Harvard applicants? 3) Know the school. Learn as much as you can about the schools. Each of them has a different market position and culture. You have to get past the information on the website or else you will bore the admissions committee to sleep. Visit the schools and talk to alumni. 4) Good tips on writing: keep it simple, write colorfully, edit mercilessly. (chapter 7) 5) 42 pages of essays, but if you want to see a lot of essays, read Richard Montauk's HOW TO GET INTO THE TOP MBA PROGRAMS (over 90 essays from 30 different people). As other reviewers mentioned, this book is not a bad place to start, but it is terribly outdated - no mention of the internet.

A useful tool:
My only warning is : don't think that with this kind of books you will get a seat in a top business school. This book is a useful tool to organize your postulation, the other "recipes" are not valuable. As a agenda, it is a good book.