MBA Business School Rankings

[prominence]

which is more reputable as far as MBA business school rankings: Business Week, US News & World Report, Wall Street Journal, or Financial Times? Or is there a better souce for MBA rankings?

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[Law2Doc]

which is more reputable as far as MBA business school rankings: Business Week, US News & World Report, Wall Street Journal, or Financial Times? Or is there a better souce for MBA rankings?

Here's my view (and it's opinion so feel free to disagree). In the finance world, the WSJ is the "bible", and everything said it there will be known in the industry. That being said, you never hear about the Journal being a big resource of business school rankings. Business Week has more credibility than US News, but its ranking doesn't come out as frequently (new rankings every other year, I think), so might not account for the ebbs and flows in reputation during the year you are applying to B school. But folks probably consider this a more authoritative resource. US News rankings are next, given the saving grace of their annual list. The FT is not US oriented, and so won't be considered authoritative in this country, although those in the global business world may know of it. I've never heard of a school touting it's FT ranking the way it might one of the others.
In general, you can gauge a school's rank by looking at the free online US News and Business Week rankings -- the top schools don't change all that much, and the schools not on the rankings lists may have regional benefit, but otherwise won't be known in the key industries/specialties.

 

[traxtar511]

I've always found BusinessWeek to be more in line with what the business community/recruiters would believe. WSJ is good, but their rankings seem to be a little off traditionally. However, good schools will be found in the top of both lists (Kellogg, Wharton, Harvard, U of C, Yale, etc.) and individual programs will always have their particular strengths. I don't know anyone who reads USNews in general, let alone their mba rankings.

 

[SuperTrooper]

I've always found BusinessWeek to be more in line with what the business community/recruiters would believe. WSJ is good, but their rankings seem to be a little off traditionally. However, good schools will be found in the top of both lists (Kellogg, Wharton, Harvard, U of C, Yale, etc.) and individual programs will always have their particular strengths. I don't know anyone who reads USNews in general, let alone their mba rankings.

Yale? Their business school isn't exactly considered a top one, is it?

 

[southerndoc]

I didn't think Yale's business (management actually) school was considered a "top" school, but it definitely has a great reputation.

Any opinions of Vanderbilt or Duke for their MBA programs? Both have MBA's in healthcare management.

 

[traxtar511]

I agree, Yale is probably not a top school (maybe top 20?). I'm from the midwest so I may be biased to say kellogg or u of c are the best schools in the country. However, Harvard grads typically earn the highest average salaries out of school though and Harvard degrees open doors worldwide.

I know Duke's school has a very strong reputation and is what most people would call a top school. I don't know much about Vanderbilt.

 

[bluejay68]

I agree, Yale is probably not a top school (maybe top 20?). I'm from the midwest so I may be biased to say kellogg or u of c are the best schools in the country.

Chicago and Kellogg are great, but I wouldn't go so far as to call them the "best schools in the country". A solid argument can be made for top-10, perhaps even top-5, but it's hard not to see HBS/Wharton/Stanford as the top 3 (in whichever order you please). Duke is probably in the lower half of the top-10 somewhere, and I have no idea where Vanderbilt fits in (top-50?).

I wouldn't get too caught up in which school is #4 vs #7, etc; just try to think of how empoyers (the only opinion that really matters in the end) view your degree. In general, they will have "target" schools where they will recruit (if you already have a sepcific employer in mind that you would hope to work for, e.g., BCG, Genentech, etc, find out if they recruit from the school you are interested in).

Also, are you planning on looking for jobs outside of the region where you go to school (or even internationally)? If so, the draw of a big name will be that much more important. Employers usually have a cluster of "top" schools where they actively recruit (i.e., for top-tier management consultants - McKinsey, Bain, BCG, for the Northeast offices, they look at HBS, Wharton, Sloan, Tuck, Columbia and perhaps Stern). It can be very difficult to get an interview if you are at a B-school that is not on their "list".

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

I've heard from more than one person that the US News rankings for business are close to worthless and completely ignored by employers.

 

[Law2Doc]

I've heard from more than one person that the US News rankings for business are close to worthless and completely ignored by employers.

Employers have their own idea as to rankings, as bluejay indicated, and likely don't "use" US News, per se. However the top schools are pretty consistent on all the lists (US News, Bus Wk, and employer's own), and so you can use such in selecting a school.