How MBAs Rate Their Business Schools

IE Business School

DARDEN AND IE MBAS RANK AMONG THE MOST SATISFIED

How about overall satisfaction with their MBA program? Again, Darden tops the list with a 4.74 score. In fact, Darden MBAs rank their program in the top three in every category except career services (where it slips to fourth among the top programs sampled by P&Q). So what’s Darden’s secret? Derek Rey, a 2016 Darden grad, cited the school’s case-based learning and “tight knit community and collaborative culture” as part of its allure. While the school’s academic rigor is legendary, it doesn’t come at the expense of the big picture, writes an anonymous student in Bloomberg Businessweek. “The way Darden combines the case method with the right faculty and the right student body creates a learning experience that goes far beyond the official curriculum. What I took away from learning to work in that environment is as important as the material in any class.”

Of course, Darden isn’t alone at the top, sharing honors with Spain’s IE Business School, a program known for churning out entrepreneurs. And this high regard is no accident. In Bloomberg Businessweek’s own survey of students and alumni, IE placed 2nd and 3rd among international programs respectively. INSEAD and Booth also trail closely behind with nearly identical 4.71 and 4.70 scores. Like Darden, Booth performed well across all five Economist survey categories, joining Anderson as the programs to finish with a 4.6 mark or above across the board.

Again, you’ll find the usual suspects at the bottom of the list, headed by McCombs (4.28), Wharton (4.31), LBS (4.32), and HEC Paris (4.34). Notably, McCombs also ranked 37th domestically in Businessweek’s student survey (with HEC Paris finishing 21st internationally), red flags that merit further research from students.