2012 U.S. News Ranking of the Best B-Schools

HOW U.S. NEWS’ 2012 TOP 25 TO 50 SCHOOLS STACK UP AGAINST EACH OTHER

School	Index	Peers	Recruiters	Selectivity	GPA	GMAT	Salary	Employed	Later
25. Rice	64	3.4	3.1	25.2%	3.40	673	$108,175	73.2%	91.8%
25. Notre Dame	64	3.5	3.3	36.8%	3.33	692	$104,763	68.6%	86.9%
25. Wisconsin	64	3.5	3.1	30.3%	3.33	680	$105,333	76.8%	91.1%
25. Vanderbilt	64	3.5	3.3	29.0%	3.40	695	$102,694	66.9%	82.8%
30. Ariz State	63	3.5	3.2	32.2%	3.36	674	$95,255	78.3%	90.4%
30. Minnesota	63	3.6	3.1	40.9%	3.30	686	$110,349	63.2%	88.2%
32. Ga. Tech	62	3.3	3.1	26.0%	3.31	674	$97,376	88.5%	95.1%
32. Texas A&M	62	3.3	3.2	27.4%	3.50	647	$97,270	66.7%	93.3%
34. BYU	61	3.0	3.1	52.4%	3.55	670	$103,369	76.2%	88.4%
35. UW Foster	60	3.3	3.0	43.5%	3.40	675	$97,970	72.6%	90.5%
36. UC-Davis	59	3.3	2.9	24.4%	3.37	690	$96,758	58.1%	90.7%
37. Boston Col.	58	3.3	3.0	30.7%	3.39	656	$98,283	69.5%	87.8%
37. Boston Univ.	58	3.2	3.1	30.4%	3.32	684	$94,434	67.9%	86.9%
37. Illinois	58	3.4	3.1	28.1%	3.40	650	$85,916	69.2%	89.7%
37. Rochester	58	3.3	3.0	36.1%	3.46	675	$81,117	64.2%	88.7%
37. Texas-Dallas	58	2.9	3.7	25.8%	3.54	662	$76,272	58.8%	91.2%
42. Purdue	57	3.4	3.2	34.9%	3.32	635	$89,720	77.2%	89.1%
43. Tulane	56	3.1	3.1	56.7%	3.30	670	$76,398	78.8%	98.1%
44. Mich State	55	3.4	3.2	36.2%	3.24	638	$94,826	70.9%	83.7%
44. Penn State	55	3.4	3.1	31.6%	3.35	650	$93,156	61.9%	77.8%
44. Florida	55	3.2	3.0	24.0%	3.51	678	$78,522	50.0%	80.8%
44. Maryland	55	3.4	3.1	41.4%	3.31	661	$99,694	45.6%	83.5%
44. Wake Forest	55	3.2	3.2	41.2%	3.20	651	$91,504	71.4%	91.1%
49. UC-Irvine	54	3.3	2.9	32.1%	3.32	663	$79,149	57.3%	92.0%
49. Iowa	54	3.1	2.8	37.3%	3.38	666	$94,003	60.3%	87.9%

 

Source: U.S. News & World Report 2012 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 2011. 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 2011. 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 2011. 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 2011 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 2011 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.

(Table of the top 51 to 75 schools on the following page)