What to read before B-School?

Question

Any ideas anyone?

If I am interested in Management Consulting.. or still open to a different career, what are some good books to read/

Thanks!

GMATT73 · Answer

Here is our prescribed pre-matriculation reading list.

willget800 · Answer

thanks!

was that from the school?

naturallight · Answer

I've read a bunch of these books:

1.Barbarians at the Gate QUITE ENTERTAINING

4.Den of Thieves HIGHLY ENTERTAINING, BETTER THAN BARBARIANS

7.Good to Great A STAPLE. RE-READING IT NOW. EVERYONE IN BIZ SHOULD READ THIS BOOK.

10.A Random Walk Down Wall Street GOOD, BUT LONG. NOT SURE HOW RELEVANT FOR NON INV MGMT TYPES.

11.Smartest Guys in the Room MY FAVORITE BUSINESS BOOK HANDS DOWN

16.The World Is Flat UGH. STAY AWAY. 


They should rally have this book on their list as well: 
The Essays of Warren Buffett : Lessons for Corporate America 


For the finance types, I would also recommend these books:

When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management 
Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist 
One Up On Wall Street

died4me · Answer

Thanks guys!

eazyb81 · Answer

Liar's Poker is a must-read for anyone even interested in IB.

MoonShine · Answer

"Smartest guys in the room" is fantastic

Reading "Barbarians at the gate" now - so far so good.

Has anyone here read "Predator's Ball"? Its about Michael Milken and Drexal Burnham. I have it, but havent started it yet.

"Liar's Poker" is probably my favorite book of all-time. It's the only book ive read more than twice.

kidderek · Answer

Everyone raves about Liar's Poker, but I thought it was okay. I actually prefer FIASCO to Liar's Poker. I think it's the chronology that gives Liar's Poker the edge.

useless trivia - Did you know that Michael Lewis is married to  Tabitha Soren

eazyb81 · Answer

It's also pretty sweet that Michael Lewis wrote another favorite book of mine, "Moneyball".

Kdawg8 · Answer

Just finished Moneyball, great book. A few months back I finished one of his newer books "The Blind Side" It's about the emergence of the Left Tackle in football and how linemen started becoming so valuable in the NFL.

naturallight · Answer

Moneyball LOVE THIS BOOK, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

The Blind Side PRETTY DECENT, NOT QUITE AS GOOD AS MONEYBALL

Liar's Poker I AGREE, I THINK IT'S OVERRATED, BUT EVERYONE HAS READ IT, SO YOU PROBABLY SHOULD TOO

Predator's Ball YES, THIS IS A GOOD ONE TOO, BUT NOT QUITE AS GOOD AS DEN OR BARBARIANS

Here's another really good one, esp if you've ever thought about becoming a trader: Fooled by Randomness

And here's one the isn't really biz related, but everyone raves about it: The Omnivore's Dilemma.

fluffydot · Answer

Cornell only has 1 book on the list so far "Freakonomics".

Anyone read it? recommend it?

johnnyx9 · Answer

Didn't like Freakonomics, kind of like The Tipping Point and all these other "social science" books that make dubious connections between different phenomena. Kind of like intellectualism for idiots, people will read books like these and it makes them feel smarter (I think there is even a blurb on the back of the book that says something like, 'This book made me feel smart') when in reality the writers are presenting a bunch of half-baked ideas that are only vaguely intriguing. For instance one of the chapters in Freakonomics talks about how people think guns are so dangerous, yet swimming pools kill many more children a year than guns. And I guess that fact is supposed to be surprising to people.

Fooled By Randomness is one of the best books I have ever read and it explains amazing things about the way people think. It changed the way I think about things in general.

kidderek · Answer

Really? I wouldn't say that it was a horrible book, but it gets pretty boring at times. There are about 2 chapters that are good, the rest are uninteresting.

kidderek · Answer

Whoa, johnny, didn't recognize you with your new see saw avatar. Are you leaning away from Stern?

johnnyx9 · Answer

Kidderek - Just kind of see-sawing back and forth, I literally change my mind every day, and each time I change my mind I'm convinced that its for the last time, but then I'll talk to an alum of one of these schools or re-read a viewbook or something and totally change my mind again.

javed · Answer

Thank you

Javed.

Cheers!

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