Starting Salaries By Industry At Top Schools

Where a business schools graduates go to work often signals the strengths and weaknesses of a given MBA program.

Interested in working in consulting? Then, Emory University’s Goizueta School, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business should be at the very top of your target list of schools.

Keen on a job in high tech? UC-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, and Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business should certainly be among your choices.

And finance? Chicago, Wharton, Columbia, and NYU have got to be in your consideration set.

SEVERAL SURPRISES AMONG THE INDUSTRY CHOICES OF MBAS AT THE TOP 25 U.S. SCHOOLS

We’ve combed through the latest business school employment reports and created this nifty interactive table for you to see how all the top 25 U.S. schools compare with each other. It shows the percentage of each class heading into a specific industry at each school. As is often the case, you’ll find a good number of surprises when you look over the data.

What if you have your heart set on a career in pharmaceuticals or bio-tech? You just might want to take a look at Washington University’s Olin School, or UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Vanderbilt and Indiana Universities also send significant numbers of MBA grads into the health care field.

Or what about manufacturing, an industry where few MBAs tend to tread? An interesting mix of schools pop up on this list for sending the most grads into the world of making things: Indiana, Washington University, Emory, and Virginia.

TOP SCHOOLS FOR SOCIAL ENTERPRISE, CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND ENERGY

Social enterprise, non-profits and government jobs? Don’t overlook Georgetown, Yale, Stanford, or Berkeley.

Consumer products and retail? Indiana, the University of Washington, and Washington University emerge as leaders in this category, along with Michigan’s Ross School, Emory, and Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management

And energy? The University of Texas’ McCombs School is an obvious choice, but what about Yale’s School of Management or Washington University’s Olin School? They’re tops in this industry.

TOP SCHOOLS FOR MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT AS WELL AS REAL ESTATE

Though industries such as real estate and media and entertainment tend to draw fewer MBAs from the top business schools, there are some standout MBA programs that rack up some interesting stats by dint of geography or specialization. In media and entertainment, for example, you’ll find UCLA’s Anderson School, in the heart of Hollywood, sending the most grads into those industries. Not far behind is New York University’s Stern School and Wharton.

In real estate, there’s a big surprise. The No. 1 top business school sending the most MBAs into the field is UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Wharton, Columbia, and Georgetown also tend to stand out from the B-school crowd in this industry.

One important note to users of this data: In some cases, schools don’t break out stats for industries that attract fewer than 2% of their classes. As a result, a 0% may actually mean the school has placed less than 2% of its MBAs in the Class of 2014 into that category or it could literally mean zero. It’s also worth noting that sometimes a school that produces fewer graduates in a category can offer the same or even better opportunities for MBAs in that industry. Why? Because there is less competition for those jobs from fellow classmates.