Book

MBA Studio’s book, MBA Admissions Strategy: From Profile Building to Essay Writing, by Avi Gordon (McGraw Hill Professional / Open University Press, 2005) has been widely acclaimed by independent media and critics, and amazingly well-received by MBA admissions applicants. See reviews and comments on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Business Week, About.com, MidWest Book Review, and GMAT Club.

MBA Admissions Strategy, kindly photographed at Magrudy's Bookstore by an MBA Studio client in Dubai.

INSIDE:

Section 1: Competitive Strategy analyses the behind-the-scenes culture and practices of admissions and how to promote yourself in this context. It discusses the attributes schools look for, and how to negotiate the filters Adcom uses in screening applicants.

Section 2: Profile Development outlines a system to identify the competitive value in your background, how to construct your value profile from this, and turn it into a compelling message.

Section 3: Essay Management is about essay questions and how to fit your profile to them: how to know what to write, which essay to write it in, and how to write it well.

Section 4: Writing Technique is about writing better. It provides templates for organizing specific essays, gives solutions for improving expression and avoiding essay pitfalls, and a checklist of do’s and don’ts.

Here’s what reviewer Jay Maven of “Deal Maven” said (italics original): “What separates this book from others I’ve read is that it recognizes the application process for what it is: a potential business transaction. Adcom is the customer, and the product, of course, is you. Making a sale requires that you do more than produce a laundry list of the benefits of the product, it requires that you truly understand your customer’s motivations, needs and desires. Knowing this, you can frame your product in a way that makes sense to the customer.

“Frankly, I’ve never seen a resource come close to this one in terms of its analysis of Adcom’s needs and motivations. When I was going through the MBA Admissions process, I heard plenty of things about the importance of communicating leadership ability, quantitative ability, etc. etc. But why? Why do Adcoms need to see these things? What is it about these characteristics that get them so excited? I can honestly say I would’ve made a somewhat different ‘pitch’ in my essays had I read this book beforehand.” http://www.dealmaven.com/community/blogs/student/archive/2007/11/04/
review-mba-admissions-strategy-b y-av-gordon2.aspx [now factset.com]

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Here’s a review from a current Wharton student: “The nice people at MBA Admissions Strategy sent me a copy of their book a long time ago, but I haven’t had any time to post a review. In my opinion, this book is really great. I wish that I had it when I was applying. It has some really great insight into the strategies that you should use when creating your applications. It goes into everything from identifying your themes to approaching the most common types of essay questions. Other books are great for tactical advice (what to do when, how to go about it, etc), but this book mirrors my own personal philosophy about how you need to think about each step in order to create the best application for yourself. Highly recommended. In fact, I gave this book to a special someone that is applying this year. Check it out (link below to Amazon where you can see the 5 star rating!) Tinydancer’s MBA Blog.
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CONTENTS
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SECTION ONE: STRATEGY FOR THE ADMISSIONS PROCESS

1. Marketing to Adcom Getting elected. Seeing the world through Adcom’s eyes. “People people.” The reward system for admission officers. Business schools compete too.

2. What Satisfies the Admissions Committee?
The key attributes. Summary: A CEO in waiting. It’s your future not your past that counts. The four attribute dimensions. A four-part interlocking profile. Class balance. Highlighting diversity contribution. A two-way fit. Understanding the school’s market positioning. Start with your needs.

3. Strategy Fundamentals
Researching and choosing schools. Dig behind the websites and glossy brochures.
Visiting the campus. How many schools? GMAT strategy. Managing references and referees. Priming referees. Referee fatigue. Interview strategy. Understanding behavioral questioning. International applicants. Foreigners for US schools. Americans for foreign programs.

4. What Goes On After You Hand In Your Application
The committee meeting. Application timing issues. A basic timeline. The role of the essays. Fine-tuning selection. Rewarding strengths outside the classroom. Communication skills. Meeting the essay requirements.

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SECTION TWO: PROFILE-BUILDING TECHNIQUES

5. The Profiling Project
Profiling: Why do it? Creating an alternative basis for essay responses. Preparing for behavioral questioning . Brainstorming methodology. Shadowing the essay process. Finding and developing stories. Subjective realities and formative events.

6. Personal Profile Analysis
Personal features and attributes. Activities. Accomplishments and achievements. Skills and strengths. Difficulties, failures, and weaknesses. Leadership. Major influences: people. Major influences: culture and environment. Life-changing events and experiences. Diversity and contribution. Values and philosophy. Personal goals.

7. Professional Profile Analysis
Characteristics and qualities. Activities. Accomplishments and achievements. Skills and Strengths. Difficulties and failures. Weaknesses and inexperience. Leadership. Influences. Change and growth experiences. Difference and diversity. Values and philosophy. Professional goals.

8. Positioning, Messaging, and Mapping
Reducing complexity. Selecting and grouping. Extracting themes. Which themes to choose? Theme example. The application message. Applying marketing principles. Message techniques. Mapping your message to the essay questions. Towards the question archetypes.

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SECTION THREE: ESSAY MANAGEMENT

9. The MBA Question Archetypes Message Mapping. “Why an MBA?” Strengths,success, and achievement. Weaknesses and failure. Leadership. Contribution. Ethics and values. Teamwork. Key influences, mentors and role models. Direct personal inquiry. Creativity and innovation. Community service, self review, and the optional essay. Multiple archetypes in one essay.

10. Mapping Approaches
Balancing the essay set as a whole. Category approach. Theme approach. Plugging the holes. Mapping Essay Set One. Archetype analysis and mapping. Assessing gaps and openings. Revised mapping.

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SECTION FOUR: WRITING TOOLS & METHODS

11. Principles of Better Writing
Relevance and importance. Passing the “so what” test. Perils of “the written word”. Deleting the bits that readers skip. Choosing and managing human-interest stories. Show, don’t tell. Specific, detailed and concrete prose. The 13 essay pitfalls to avoid.

12. Idea Discipline: Outline and Structure
Persuasive writing. Classic structures. Outlining. Signposting. Thesis statement.

13. Writing the First Draft
The introduction, body & conclusion. Summary: the “take-home” message
The first draft and essay revisions. Where do I start? The cooling period
Further drafts: revising and re-rewriting. Reusing material for other applications.

14: Improving expression: Word and Sentence Strategies
Techniques of writing clarity and simplicity. Brevity. Everyday language. The active voice. Using more and better verbs. Handling conjunctions and pronouns.

Conclusion

Appendix: Essay Revision Checklist
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Responses

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"MBA Admissions Strategy," by Avi Gordon, is widely acclaimed as the best insight resource for MBA applicants. See reviews. The book is currently $11.97 on McGraw Hill's Web site offer: enter "BusSchool" in the Promo Box, and search for "MBA Admissions Strategy."
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The MBA Admissions Studio has hundreds of verifiable, satisfied clients. Below are samples of applicant report-backs. Information may be verified by contacting The MBA Admissions Studio.
Applicant: "I'm in Wharton, but hey it's not finished yet. I still need to write two essays to apply for scholarships. Can you believe that?? Another two essays! I'm dying :P Will keep you updated.... btw yesterday I received the offer from NYU Stern - perhaps the last offer. Just cannot thank you enough for your great work!" — Accepted to Wharton, Chicago GSB, Columbia, and NYU Stern
Applicant: "I wanted to share this great news with you. I've been accepted to IESE Business school!! I just got the acceptance mail today. I wanted to thank you for all the help and support that you gave me during the application process. I can definitely say that without your expert guidance in the application, I could not have achieved this. So thank you so much. Please give me a call if you are in the NYC area as i definitely owe you a drink!!" — Accepted to IESE
Applicant: "Avi, I am admitted to NYU Stern! I am absolutely thrilled!! Finally, I am going somewhere after two years of trying. Thank you very much for your profiling/editing service and advice on my reapplication. I know I could not have done it without your help. Once again thanks very much and I will keep you posted on other results."— accepted to NYU Stern
Applicant: Avi, I wanted to let you know that I recieved an offer for LBS's EMBA call of Sep 2011. Thank you for all your help and advice on the Essay's as well as the Resume, it help me polish my application, focus my essays and taylor my resume towards business school and LBS. I also appreciated the flexibility in MBA Studio's services which allowed me to target specifically the areas where I needed advice. — accepted to LBS EMBA.
Applicant: "I actually received my acceptance letter to the master’s program at the Cornell School last Wednesday! I am thrilled to have been accepted. I actually started my online pre-courses this afternoon. I have never been more excited to start school! I just wanted to thank you again for all of your help during this stressful experience. Your insight and guidance were invaluable and I attribute my acceptance to your help." — accepted to Cornell.
Applicant: "Looking back, what made the difference is I didn’t waste time spinning my wheels. After we defined each [essay] the rest was like filling in the blanks!" — accepted to Harvard Business School.
Applicant: "You are splendid, magnificent, excellent! I cannot find the proper word to express how much I appreciate your valuable help to me. You are so good! I have updated based on ALL your suggestions... Hey, you can really make a difference. Very strong leadership ;) ...Your advice is my MBA bible! I think you really have the sharp eye for MBA applications. I really appreciate your valuable points. You are a really great mentor on my MBA applications.... Thank you once again for your great help! Thank you thank you thank you!." — (amalgam of emails from one client) accepted to Wharton.
Applicant: "I am glad that I chose the right service to guide me through the application process. With [your] help, I completed my applications with confidence and enthusiasm. It has been a challenging, yet rewarding experience!" — accepted to Kellogg.
Applicant: "I just wanted to thank you for your help. You might not remember me in your sea of clients, but I sure do remember and appreciate your help. I got admitted into Haas and class actually starts tomorrow. I couldn't have done it without you. After listening to the speeches during orientation, I'm almost positive that the profile you chose to emphasize was what got me in. You completely hit the jackpot. I can't thank you enough, especially considering I couldn't have gotten it all done in 8 days without your help."— accepted to Haas, Berkeley.
Applicant: "Hello Avi, I wanted to update you ... I was admitted at Oxford! Thank you very much for your help, I wouldn't have made it without you! I am very satisfied, the school will open me a lot of opportunities :) Thanks again for your key contribution." — Accepted to Said, Oxford
Applicant: "I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know that I've been accepted at ESSEC's MBA in Luxury Brand Management! I got the call from Paris last week, after flying there for my interview last month. It was quite an experience, but I got through it and they have given me a place. Term starts in Sept, so I will be off to Paris end August. I'm ecstatic with the news and have lots of planning to do. But I just wanted to thank you for your help in my application. It was great working with you." — accepted to ESSEC.
Applicant: "I just wanted to let you know that I was offered admission to Cornell and [my husband] to Columbia so we are both very happy that we got in and of course that we'll be starting school in the fall. Thanks again for helping us."— Accepted to Cornell.
Applicant: "I have got some great news. I have been admitted at IESE! You were a great help on this. Really, you and and your book were of huge help! So, thanks again." — accepted to IESE.
Applicant: "How's it going? I've been meaning to update you on my application. I was accepted without an interview for the January term at Columbia. I am now finishing most of my medical requirements and will begin the business school in January. Thanks for helping me with the essays. They must have been big b/c I was accepted about 3 weeks after submitting." — accepted to Columbia.
Applicant: "Hi, Sorry for the delay in the response, I took some time off my essays. Actually, I hired [competitor service - name withheld by MBA Studio] and I thought they were really bad. So I tried your free trial offer to help me benefit from a basis to establish my judgment towards them. Your feedback was so appreciated that I negotiated with them to get reimbursed, which I did in part. My Harvard and INSEAD packages are with them (could not be reimbursed) but let's get started with my other essays." — Montreal, Canada.

Welcome to the MBA Admissions Studio, an elite business school admission support service for MBA applicants. Having done this since 2002, let's simply say there are NO tricks, short cuts, or secret handshakes for getting into a good b-school. Only one thing works: a compelling statement of your worth as a candidate. Here are the tools to develop and present your competitive value.
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