Best business schools: this year’s lists have arrived again

MBA topics

Businessweek just released their annual “” list, a couple of weeks ago. US News & World Report also has a top list of bschools for 2007, though its rankings tend to be more traditional and aligned with schools’ general reputations.

What tends to happen on all these lists is that the top schools almost always appear on each one in some random mix of order. Remember that each list uses a different methodology (WSJ’s emphasizes recruiters’ opinions, for example), and methodologies sometimes change from year to year.

Below are the most recent top 10 lists from Businessweek, WSJ, and US News & World Report:

Businessweek WSJ US News & World Report
1 Chicago Michigan Harvard
2 Wharton Tuck (Dartmouth) Stanford
3 Northwestern

Carnegie Mellon Wharton
4 Harvard Columbia Sloan/Kellogg
5 Michigan Haas
6 Stanford Kellogg Chicago
7 Sloan Wharton Columbia/Haas
8 Haas Kenan-Flagler (UNC)
9 Duke Yale Tuck
10 Columbia Sloan UCLA

By the way, I’m a Michigan grad from before they changed the school name to “Ross”. Hey, old habits die hard.

If you’re looking for a full-time MBA program, my advice is still the same: aim for the top schools if you can, but don’t forget to find a good fit. Remember that some programs are bigger, some programs are well-known for strengths in a particular area, some emphasize a core and some are more tailored, and some programs might fit your budget better or offer part-time options that might be worth considering. For example, I’m not knocking Chicago in any way, but for me, it wasn’t the right place when I was applying a few years ago. My undergrad education was already highly mathematical/technical, and I was looking for something that would round out my education and resume a bit more.

Believe it or not, for some people, applying to bschools is like applying to college all over again: aim for the top schools only, and if I don’t get in there, I’m somehow less worthy than someone who got in. Remember that by the time you’re applying to bschool, you’re supposed to have grown up a bit and hopefully realized that finding the right school for you is important. :)

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3 Feedbacks on "Best business schools: this year’s lists have arrived again"

Sandeep

Hi,

I am planning for doing MBA with distance education option. By the way I just finished my Masters in Mineral Engineering and from next month joining a company as Mining Engineer.

Can you suggest me some school which offers MBA through distance education and what is the process to get admission?

Thanks

Sandeep Arya



Ricemutt

I’m not very familiar with distance learning programs, but you might want to start with the list of distance MBA programs at Businessweek. I don’t know if there are any differences between a full-time and distance-learning program in terms of what’s sought in applications, but essays and such will probably vary from school to school.

In general, bschools require a GMAT score, application essays, prefer recommendations from your professional rather than your academic background (e.g. your manager, your peers), and they usually require interviews.

If you’re interested in online programs, go to pfblogs.org and do a search for “MBA”. I think there are quite a few bloggers out there who are studying at U of Phoenix, for example, who might be able to shed some additional light. Good luck!



Financial Samurai

Go Bears! Go Haas!