The Best 75 Business Schools, 1999 Edition (Annual) Review

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(More customer reviews)Seventy-five schools are covered, each with a two-page overview highlighting basic statistics, comments by students, and informal 'rankings' of the three best and worst things about a particular school. Schools are *not* ranked against each other. There is a bunch of supplemental material describing the application process and some sample 'good' essays. The information is a little dated, but the book does provide a basic starting point.
The overviews tend to follow a basic form and are generally favorable in their description of each school -- these are the 'top 75 business schools,' after all. After reading (and re-reading) the overviews, it became difficult to differentiate between specific schools. This is a problem. A fictional example might be in this form:
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Business University's business program established {many years ago} by {insane monk, prominent business person, benevolentmegacorporation}. The students describe the curriculum as 'rigorous, but fair.' The school receives high marks for its {campus, location, diversity, team spirit, student friendliness}, but students feel {MIS, parking, career placement, professors in core classes} could use improvement.
Several students remarked 'the faculty is excellent and professors canwalk and chew gum at the same time.' However, some disagree, 'not all of the professors are great gum chewers.'
The first year students take core classes in accounting, finance,marketing, and gum chewing. Second year students can select from{a lot of really cool} electives.
The admissions committee considers {GPA, GMAT, essays, recommendations, prior work experience, credit worthiness, and quality of penmanship}all equally. 'We want a student with strong {academics, leadershippotential, likelihood of donating, well-roundedness} [...]
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Because the format has anonymous comments and does not provide any sense of the scale or number of people with a particular opinion about the school, the two-page summaries ultimately come across as wishy-washy.
The student surveys add some color, but they, too, have flaws. For example, Dartmouth appears at the top of almost all of the 'good' attributes for each school (e.g., 'great professors' 'strong marketing' 'strong teamwork'). I'm sure there are a lot of happy people there, but I couldn't help but wonder if proud students were sandbagging the surveys to pump up their school.
Finally, any book like this is only a snapshot of the school. What ultimately should guide your decision is whether the program and the environment meet your needs. You should definitely sit in on classes and visit campus. s and visit campus.

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What makes The Best 75 business Schools the leading business school guide?THE LARGEST ANNUAL STUDENT SURVEYIf you want to know what life is really like at the country's leading business schools, then listen to the students who attend them. This book contains the results of the largest annual business school student survey. More than 18,000 students told us what they think, and we've included their comments here in the most comprehensive and definitive guide ever produced.ALL THE INFORMATION YOU NEED TO MAKE A CRUCIAL DECISIONThe school you choose determines how you'll spend the next two years of your life and greatly influences how well you will do in the job market when you graduate. The updated 1999 Edition of The Best 75 Business Schools advises you of the positive attributes and possible drawbacks of the top 75 business programs. Each profile includes information on the curriculum, faculty, workload, admissions, financial aid, and job placement statistics, as well as the addresses and telephone numbers you'll need to apply. We even tell you how to research business schools online.Putting Together a Winning ApplicationSample essays critiqued by admissions officersAdmissions case studies that show you what it takes to get inHow admissions criteria are weighted (GPA, GMAT, recommendations, etc.)Fifteen application blunders that can hurt your chancesEXCLUSIVE RANKINGS IN FIFTY-SIX CATEGORIESWe rank the top (and bottom) schools according to student opinion on topics including academics, pressure, social life, campus facilities, and job placement and recruiting.MORE THAN JUST FACT AND FIGURESThe Best 75 Business Schools is an all-inclusive review of business education. This book explores recent b-school trends, tells you what to expect from the curriculum, and gives you the lowdown on a day in the life of a student, including a complete glossary of insider lingo.

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