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Summary: MUST-READ FOR ANYONE GOING TO BUSINESS SCHOOL!!!
Review: "Snapshots From Hell" provides an inside look at Stanford, in the heart of Silicon Valley, which along with Harvard is one of the two or three top business schools in the world. Since the author's background was words, not numbers--Robinson was a White House speechwriter--he struggled with the course work, and he makes you both laugh and feel for him as he sweats his way through the work. At the same time, Robinson reports on classmates who found the workload easier than he did, providing a balanced look at what business school is like and giving you a feeling for the range of characters you'll meet there. Informative--and always entertaining (I read it in one day). The book to read before going to B-school!
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Summary: A great one day read! A must for those considering B school
Review: A great look through one man's eyes of the trials and tribulations of B school education. The author clearly shows how 90% of learning is done outside the classroom!
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Summary: An insightful and humorous account of Stanford's GSB.
Review: An insightful and humorous account of Stanford's GSB
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Summary: SO SO TRUE!
Review: Being a first year full-time MBA student is tough, demanding, and rigorous. This little gem summarizes the fact you'll have little left of your life when you start the program. Words of advice to MBA wannabes: 1. READ THIS! It's funny and too true. You'll see that he (like me) was unprepared for what was unleashed upon him. 2. Take an accounting and statistics class before you go! You'll save yourself some major headaches! 3. It's as tough as he describes but we're supposed to get through it...I hope! Go Maryland!
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Summary: Don't waste your money--lesson about famous-name schools
Review: Don't buy this book--it seems to be out of print and that's a good thing. It's a wonder that Stanford admitted this guy, considering the difficulties he describes with understanding supply-demand curves. I guess it must have something to do with his connections to the White House that he describes in the Prologue. Unfortunately that's what drives some college admissions. He admits that he wanted to go to b-school for the money he would earn, so that gives you an idea of where this guy is based. Certainly, everyone likes to make good money but the author of this book is over the top. At one point in the book he actually wonders, about some items he wrote in his application, if "the admissions committee fell for any of that." At another point in the book he agrees with someone's description of him that he has a background of not really doing anything. It has been said that one benefit of b-school is the connections to your classmates that you make. That's probably about the only thing that the author of this book got from the experience (other than the advance for this book) because he doesn't seem to be too bright and I'm not sure that he understood a lot of what he was taught. He knows how to bs people and he is friendly, skills valuable in the business world but skills that he possessed without going to Stanford. I assume that he got the deal to write the book solely as a result of the "names" in his background-- combine the White House background with the fame of the Stanford name and the fact that the publisher didn't already have a book about b-school from the student's point of view and it was an easy decision for them to give him the deal. Reading the book is another story. Sure, it's an entertaining little story and if you have some time to kill while you're waiting to go into the OR to have your appendix removed, then you can read it. That doesn't mean you should spend any MONEY on it, though. If you see it discarded on the sidewalk, or if you find it for ten cents at a church used-book sale, then go ahead. (Just so you know where I'm coming from, I have a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA in Finance, and have attended Stanford University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, so I've been through the whole process.) I had to check out this book because the idea of a book about b-school being a "snapshot from Hell" was just so ludicrous. One other reviewer mentions that law school is more difficult; that may be true and probably is. Certainly, b-school is not as challenging as engineering school. I made many friends while earning my undergrad degree in engineering, some of whom went on to b-school, law school or medical school. Each of us who went to b-school learned a lot, but found it nowhere as near to "Hell" as the engineering education was. Now here's my advice about getting an MBA, aimed toward those of you still in college or high school: When you get your college degree, get it in something real. DON'T major in business at the undergraduate level. Get a degree that teaches you something so that you are qualified to actually do something. If you can do it, get a technical degree, because that's what the economy values (computer science, engineering, chemistry, biology). That way, you can get some experience in a pharmaceutical company, a consumer-products company, or virtually anywhere else. If you're not so technically adept, get some other degree but don't waste your time learning "business" at the undergraduate level. After you have some years of work experience you can learn whatever "business" topics you need when you get your MBA.
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Summary: FUN and USEFUL
Review: Easy to read, lots of fun, and packed with useful information. If you're thinking about going to business school, you ought to pick up Snapshots from Hell.
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Summary: A must read for management students or aspirants.
Review: Excellent descriptions, which management students in other countries (this review is from India) can identify with. The "poets" are able to identify even more.
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Summary: Excellent!
Review: Having only stumbled upon this book at my local library, my expectations were rather low. However, I was more than pleasantly surprised. It's not often that I finish a book wishing for a bit more, but in this case, I did. Mr. Robinson's portrayal of his "descent" into business school "hell" is very well written and heart felt. I especially appreciated his self deprecating sense of humor and laughed along with him as he described the numerous occasions where he found himself completely lost in classes and study groups. I can only imagine the reaction, however, of some of his fellow classmates and professors who he spoke of at times in rather colorful terms. This book is an honest and sincere reflection of his experiences, and I found it to be both entertaining and thought provoking. For anyone contemplating the trip to graduate school, I would recommend this book. His story of having to discuss his study group's conclusions concerning a dillema that a particular airline found themselves in (when the CEO of that airline has been asked to join the class by his professor as a suprise to everyone in the room) is well worth the price admission itself. Highly recommended!
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Summary: A fun read
Review: I am applying to MBA programs now and found the book to be a fun read. I think you have to keep the time frame in perspective and realize that Mr. Robinson did not want to be in the school in the first place. I would say that if you are a poet and planning to go to business school please take some math course before hand.
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Summary: Informative, whiney, could be better
Review: I bought this book along with Year One about Harvard with the goal of learning more about MBA life. Unfortunately, I read first Year One from a far superior writer that kept me engaged. Snapshots is not bad, informative, but very boring and uninspiring. You get the impression that the account was biased because the author struggled himself. Despite his hardship, I think he could have written a more balanced book, if not more interesting and more engaging. For his work as a speechwriter, I found the book to be very bland and boring. Also, it is written in time where the echoes of the 80s were still prevalent on campus. I much prefer Year One as a better account of b-school life in a top school.
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