Keywords
Citation
(1999), "Snapshots from Hell: The Making of an MBA", Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 23 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/jeit.1999.00323cae.005
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 1999, MCB UP Limited
Snapshots from Hell: The Making of an MBA
Snapshots from Hell: The Making of an MBA
Peter RobinsonNicholas Brealey Publishing1998£8.99 paperback
Keywords Business schools, Masters of Business Administration
Peter Robinson's Snapshots from Hell is a funny and enlightening attempt to provide an answer to the question every prospective student asks: what is business school really like?
During his first year at Stanford Business School in California, USA, Peter Robinson began keeping a journal of his day-to-day impressions which evolved into this book, the writing of which he came to see as a "simple act of decency, like going back to the last calm bend in the river and nailing up a sign that reads 'Waterfall ahead'." From his initial harrowing days at "maths camp" through the dizzying phalanx of core courses, the frenzy of exam week, the pitfalls and triumphs of the interview process (including a surreal interview with Robert Maxwell!) to being wined and dined by some of the most prestigious companies in the world, Robinson's account is witty, candid and peopled with a remarkable cast of characters.
He survives maths camp, and finds a place to rent a house with a hot tub which remained largely unused and converts the pantry into his study:
"October 18 The time is six minutes past ten. I have worked all day, rising at 7:00, attending class from 8:00 until 11.45, eating a quick lunch, returning to class from 1.20 until 3:05, doing some quick shopping at the grocery store, going for a quick run, microwaving a quick dinner, and then entering my pantry office to study. I probably have another five hours of work to go, but I'm not sure I'll be able to complete it because I feel too old.
I don't mean I feel my full 31 years. I mean I feel 80 or 90 old. My joints are stiff, I have trouble remembering what I did yesterday, I doze off intermittently, and I find that I keep checking myself over..."
A must for all aspirational "Masters of the Universe" as well as MBAs, Snapshots from Hell is a fast-paced, first-hand account of the nightmare world of getting a top business school MBA, one of the glittering prizes of the 1990s.