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

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

School Index   Peers   Recruiters   Selectivity   GPA   GMAT   Salary        Employed   Later
  1. Harvard 100 4.8 4.6 11.1% 3.66 724 $139,735 83.2% 93.4%
  1. Stanford 100 4.8 4.6 7.0% 3.70 730 $140,972 75.6% 92.5%
  3. Wharton 96 4.8 4.5 18.8% 3.56 718 $137,311 82.1% 92.7%
  4. MIT 93 4.7 4.4 13.3% 3.51 710 $132,618 80.8% 93.5%
  4. Kellogg 93 4.6 4.5 21.1% 3.54 712 $130,092 83.8% 93.8%
  4. Booth 93 4.7 4.4 21.9% 3.52 719 $133,424 82.1% 89.3%
  7. Berkeley 90 4.5 4.1 12.2% 3.64 715 $129,776 71.7% 91.0%
  8. Columbia 89 4.4 4.3 15.9% 3.50 716 $134,233 75.3% 90.9%
  9. Tuck 87 4.2 4.0 17.9% 3.52 718 $138,220 82.8% 93.6%
10. Yale 84 4.2 4.0 19.1% 3.52 719 $125,735 69.8% 91.1%
11. NYU 83 4.2 3.9 13.6% 3.42 719 $128,888 80.7% 90.6%
12. Duke 82 4.3 4.0 26.5% 3.44 689 $128,666 78.4% 88.2%
13. Ross 81 4.3 3.9 32.2% 3.40 703 $127,817 83.4% 85.8%
13. Darden 81 4.1 3.9 24.6% 3.40 701 $127,595 83.2% 92.3%
15. UCLA 79 4.1 3.9 28.6% 3.50 704 $119,109 70.5% 86.1%
16. Cornell 77 4.1 4.1 27.1% 3.29 691 $122,329 74.7% 88.2%
17. Texas 76 4.0 3.7 25.3% 3.43 692 $118,410 75.2% 88.8%
18. Tepper 74 4.0 3.8 23.9% 3.35 686 $117,650 74.1% 88.4%
19. Emory 70 3.7 3.4 35.1% 3.30 681 $121,050 78.9% 94.0%
19. UNC 70 3.9 3.8 37.7% 3.31 689 $101,904 74.1% 85.2%
21. USC 69 3.8 3.6 27.0% 3.30 687 $109,619 66.9% 89.1%
22. Olin 67 3.6 3.5 28.1% 3.32 696 $99,354 68.8% 93.8%
23. Kelley 66 3.7 3.5 38.0% 3.32 670 $106,195 69.3% 89.6%
24. Geotwn 65 3.6 3.4 49.1% 3.31 686 $111,721 64.8% 88.3%
25. Fisher 64 3.5 3.2 26.7% 3.40 674 $91,696 71.2% 97.6%

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.

Later: Employment rate for 2011 graduates three months after graduation. This metric is given a weight of 14% of the final ranking.

(Table of the top 25 to 50 schools on the following page)

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