How Recruiters Rank The Best Schools

OVERPERFORMERS: FLORIDA AND ILLINOIS SNAG A CONSOLATION PRIZE

Now, let’s move on to the “overperformers” in the 2015 business school ranking. These are the business schools that rank far higher than their recruiter assessments would suggest. In other words, the survey acts as a drag on their overall ranking. The category contains a variety of scenarios. For example, Michigan State (Broad) saw both its overall rank and recruiter assessment score rise, turning it from an underrated school to an overperformer in one year. Conversely, Boston College (Carroll)’s overall ranking sank while its recruiter assessment climbed, making it a solid performer. Here are the schools that perform better overall than with recruiters:

School	2015 Overall Rank	2014 Overall Rank	’15 Recruiter Rank	’14 Recruiter Rank	’15 Recruiter Score	’14 Recruiter Score	’15 Difference	’14 Difference
Florida	41	36	78	50	2.9	2.9	37	14
Illinois	35	47	88	37	2.8	3.0	55	-10
Arkansas	55	66	88	77	2.8	2.6	33	11
Temple	48	58	78	105	2.9	2.1	30	47
UC-Davis	41	40	68	77	3.0	2.6	27	37
Boston Univ.	45	40	68	59	3.0	2.8	23	19
Iowa State	73	70	96	77	2.7	2.6	23	7
Rice	33	30	54	50	3.1	2.9	21	20
Delaware	80	NR	102	NA	2.5	NA	22	NA
Rutgers	60	61	78	88	2.9	2.5	18	27
Rochester	37	37	54	69	3.1	2.7	17	32
Connecticut	52	58	68	97	3.0	2.4	16	39
Tulane	63	67	78	69	2.9	2.7	15	2
Ohio State	27	27	41	37	3.2	3.0	14	10
Maryland	41	37	54	37	3.1	3.0	13	0
Tennessee	65	67	78	97	2.9	2.4	13	30
Boston College	45	40	54	59	3.1	2.8	9	19
Minnesota	33	23	41	59	3.2	2.8	8	36
Claremont	87	101	96	104	2.7	2.2	9	3
Michigan State	35	43	41	37	3.2	3.0	6	-6
CUNY	82	75	88	22	2.8	3.4	6	-53

Source: P&Q analysis based on U.S. News & World Report 2015 business school ranking

Last year, the University of Illinois was deemed underrated. After rising 12 spots overall and 52 spots on the recruiter rankings, it is now a solid overperformer. Consider this: this plunge was precipitated by just a 0.2 point drop in the recruiter score. As a result, Illinois’ standing among recruiters is not as grave as it initially appears. Similarly, the University of Florida maintained its respectable 2.9 average among recruiters and still tumbled 29 spots.

Although neither the University of Arkansas (Walton) nor Rutgers rank near the top of most recruiters’ lists, they sustain impressive three-month placement rates of 92% and 95%, respectively. While Rice (Jones)’s overall and recruiter rankings dipped slightly, they still yielded an impressive 93.8% placement rate, with graduates earning $115,693 to start.

Still, some schools bear watching. Temple (Fox) continued to outperform its overall rank, even after its recruiter scores skyrocketed 0.8 points and its overall rank jumped 10 spots. Although many of last year’s top overperformers – particularly California-Davis, the University of Tennessee, the University of Minnesota (Carlson), and the University of Connecticut – nabbed higher recruiter scores, they still remain overachievers due to so many ties in both the overall rankings and the recruiter rankings. However, California-Davis continues to rank among the top placements at nearly 95%.