Understanding Ranking & Choosing a School

[Business Week Rankings] [Financial Times Rankings] [US News Rankings]

There are various publications that rank business schools. We recommend using Business Week and the Financial Times, then cross referencing with current students/alumni and professionals in your desired industry of post-MBA employment.

A few points about the prestige of a school:

  • Don't get swayed by the annual changes in school ranking. Rankings as perceived by recruiters do not change with time.

  • Be cautious about the advice you receive from your professors, peers or relatives. A school that is prestigious to a Taiwanese, such as UIUC or Purdue, is not necessarily prestigious globally. It's important to remember that the world is a big place, so know what you are looking for in a school.

How we view schools:

We and, generally speaking, recruiters divide the US schools into three tiers:

I. HBS/Stanford/Wharton/Kellogg/Columbia/MIT/Chicago

II. Berkeley, Duke, Cornell, Yale, UCLA, Tuck, Michigan, NYU, Virginia

III CMU/UNC/Emory/USC/Austin/

On the bubble: Georgetown/Indiana/Olin

How to Choose a School?

Short Answer:

Get into the best school possible. A higher ranked school will give you more options and opportunities.

What about the importance of fit?

  • We have yet to meet someone who had a bad experience studying abroad, so our view is that as an international student, you will generally view your experience in the US/abroad very positively, so we feel that the issue of “fit” is a bit overemphasized by the brochures.

  • What we do find is that students often feel that there is a “disconnect” between their pre-MBA career expectations and their post-MBA/graduate school employment opportunities.

  • Given that you are going to have a “great time” anyway, we recommend that you focus on the unique value proposition that an MBA offers—the professional opportunities associated with the degree.

  • Our view is that attend the school that “fits” the best within the same tier.

Long Answer:

I. Define a Purpose: Why do you want an MBA? Why do you want to study abroad?

a) Switch to a new industry (for example, engineering to finance, accounting to consulting)

b) Use the MBA as an opportunity to immigrate