2011 U.S. News Ranking of the Best B-Schools

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
25. Ohio State	64	3.6	3.3	27.0%	3.4	676	$91,628	62.5%	94.6%
27. Arizona State	61	3.5	3.4	29.6%	3.3	672	$92,101	62.2%	89.2%
28. Ga. Institute of Tech	60	3.3	3.2	22.0%	3.3	678	$92,282	67.7%	95.2%
28. UC-Davis	60	3.1	3.4	23.9%	3.3	692	$96,295	67.4%	93.0%
28. Wisconsin	60	3.5	3.3	30.5%	3.4	675	$93,332	55.0%	87.4%
28. Vanderbilt	60	3.4	3.4	36.0%	3.4	673	$93,351	62.9%	82.9%
32. Brigham Young	58	3.0	3.2	44.3%	3.5	675	$97,207	62.2%	86.6%
32. Texas A&M	58	3.2	3.3	22.7%	3.4	646	$91,246	64.2%	92.5%
34. Boston College	57	3.3	3.1	32.8%	3.3	662	$91,282	66.7%	88.5%
34. Boston Univ.	57	3.1	3.2	28.0%	3.4	681	$90,157	68.4%	86.0%
34. Rice University	57	3.2	3.2	35.8%	3.4	672	$102,017	52.6%	83.5%
37. Illinois-Urbana	56	3.4	3.2	27.7%	3.4	641	$95,276	61.5%	81.5%
37. Notre Dame	56	3.3	3.4	33.0%	3.3	685	$96,490	48.2%	75.9%
37. Washington	56	3.3	3.1	31.3%	3.3	681	$91,593	64.5%	79.6%
40. Penn State	55	3.4	2.9	37.0%	3.4	650	$95,480	64.4%	81.0%
40. Tulane	55	3.1	3.3	40.7%	3.2	674	$78,443	75.0%	93.3%
40. UC-Irvine	55	3.3	3.1	27.9%	3.5	673	$76,981	51.4%	81.9%
40. Iowa	55	3.1	2.9	37.5%	3.4	657	$92,802	68.4%	94.7%
40. Texas-Dallas	55	2.9	3.3	20.7%	3.6	668	$74,540	55.6%	88.9%
45. Maryland	54	3.5	2.9	38.8%	3.3	670	$91,269	41.9%	80.6%
45. Rochester	54	3.3	3.3	33.5%	3.5	677	$78,083	41.5%	73.3%
47. Florida	52	3.3	3.2	26.6%	3.5	694	$75,403	35.5%	66.1%
47. Wake Forest	52	3.1	3.2	51.5%	3.2	653	$88,390	60.6%	91.5%
49. Michigan State	51	3.3	3.3	29.4%	3.3	636	$92,359	52.7%	72.0%
49. Purdue	51	3.4	3.3	33.2%	3.4	654	$89,655	48.4%	64.3%

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.