Stanford Beats HBS in U.S. News Ranking

An “under the roof” analysis of U.S. News’ 2011 ranking shows how miniscule–and often inconsequential–differences in a single metric can have a major impact on the rank of a business school. We dug through the eight different pieces of data U.S. News uses to rank schools and organized it in a simple table for further scrutiny.

THE 2010 U.S. NEWS MBA RANKING AND THE DATA USED TO CRANK IT OUT.

School	Index	Peers	Recruiters	Selectivity	GPA	GMAT	Salary	Employed	Later
1. Stanford	100	4.8	4.6	6.8%	3.69	728	$131,949	75.8%	92.4%
2. Harvard	98	4.8	4.5	11.2%	3.67	724	$131,759	78.6%	90.1%
3, MIT	93	4.7	4.4	13.0%	3.57	718	$125,905	75.6%	88.9%
3. Wharton	93	4.8	4.5	16.8%	3.50	718	$132,579	72.5%	84.2%
5. Kellogg	92	4.7	4.5	19.9%	3.52	714	$123,996	75.2%	86.5%
5. Booth	92	4.7	4.4	22.3%	3.52	715	$126,779	75.8%	88.6%
7. Tuck	88	4.2	4.2	20.3%	3.50	716	$128,013	80.0%	93.3%
7. Berkeley	88	4.5	4.1	11.6%	3.63	718	$120,164	64.9%	87.0%
9. Columbia	87	4.4	4.3	15.3%	3.50	712	$123,486	67.2%	89.6%
10. NYU	81	4.1	4.0	13.2%	3.42	715	$121,867	73.7%	86.4%
10. Yale	81	4.1	4.0	17.3%	3.52	722	$113,226	64.1%	89.5%
12. Duke	78	4.3	4.1	23.7%	3.40	697	$118,923	63.6%	76.9%
13. Virginia	77	4.0	4.1	26.3%	3.41	699	$119,278	69.0%	82.7%
14. UCLA	76	4.1	3.9	29.0%	3.53	710	$108,806	54.2%	80.6%
14. Michigan	76	4.3	4.0	25.4%	3.40	704	$116,201	59.8%	72.1%
16. Cornell	74	4.1	4.1	23.4%	3.25	687	$112,039	66.8%	85.9%
17. Texas	72	3.9	3.7	24.0%	3.43	684	$108,886	64.8%	89.7%
18. Tepper	69	3.9	3.6	27.5%	3.23	694	$106,066	69.7%	88.9%
19. UNC	68	3.8	3.9	36.1%	3.30	686	$111,327	60.3%	78.6%
20. Olin	67	3.6	3.5	28.6%	3.48	695	$90,767	61.0%	92.7%
21. Carlson	66	3.6	3.5	30.3%	3.50	694	$97,298	63.0%	82.7%
21. USC	66	3.8	3.5	22.0%	3.30	690	$101,810	53.6%	87.7%
23. Emory	65	3.7	3.5	33.3%	3.34	680	$100,300	57.2%	87.3%
23. Indiana	65	3.7	3.7	41.7%	3.31	664	$101,206	70.1%	83.8%
25. Georgetown	64	3.5	3.4	42.5%	3.37	684	$103,676	58.0%	88.1%

SOURCE: U.S. News & World Report 2011 MBA Ranking

How to Read the Above Table:

School: To fit all the data in the table above, we used the shortest possible name of the school. That’s why some schools are identified by their university names and others by the name of the business school.

Index: The total score that U.S. News assigns to a school. U.S. News says the “data were standardized about their means, and school scores were weighted, totalled, and rescaled so that the top school received 100; others received their percentage of the top score.”

Peers: This is the peer assessment score (the highest possible score is a 5.0) that comes from U.S. News’ survey of “business school deans and directors” of accredited master’s programs in business. The magazine asks B-school officials to rate programs on a scale from “marginal” (1) to “outstanding” (5). A school’s score is the average of all the respondents who rated it. It accounts for the largest single weight in the survey, 25% of the final ranking.

Recruiters: This is the recruiter assessment score (the highest possible score is a 5.0) that comes from U.S. News’ survey of “corporate recruiters and company contacts” from MBA programs previously ranked by U.S. News. They are asked to rate full-time programs on a scale of “marginal” (1) to “outstanding” (5). A school’s score is the average of all the respondents who rated it. U.S. News averages the two most recent years of these results. It has a weight of 15% of the final ranking.

Selectivity: The percentage of applicants who are accepted for admission to the class that was entered in the fall of 2010. This metric is self-reported by the schools and has a weight of only 1.25% in the final ranking.

GPA: The average undergraduate grade-point average of students entering the full-time program in fall of 2010. This metric is self-reported by the schools and accounts for 7.5% of the final ranking.

GMAT: The average GMAT score of students entering the full-time program in the fall of 2010. Scores range from a low of 200 to a high of 800. This metric is self-reported by the schools and accounts for 16.25% of the final ranking.

Salary: The average starting salary and bonus of 2010 graduates of a full-time master’s program in business. U.S. News says that “salary figures are based on the number of graduates who reported data. The mean signing bonus is weighted by the proportion of those graduates who reported a bonus, because not everyone who reported a base salary figure reported a signing bonus.” This metric accounts for 14% of the final ranking.

Employed: Employment rate for 2010 graduates at graduation. Those not seeking jobs or for whom no job-seeking information is available are excluded. This metric accounts for 7% of the final ranking.

Later: Employment rate for 2010 graduates three months after graduation. This metric is given a weight of 14% of the final ranking.