Our Most-Read Stories Of 2017

5. The Pioneering MBAs In The Class Of 2019

Vishruti Jakhar is nicknamed the “mountain goat” — and she considers it a compliment. It is a testament to her sure-footed resilience. A mountain climber, Jakhar has scaled 20,000 foot peaks, with her adventures taking her from Ethiopian lava lakes to Himalayan passes. In the process, she has endured 15 hour days covering 7,000 feet, capped by burnt shoes and even hypothermia.

Such conditions prepared Jakhar well for her job: a deep oil and gas driller. Before joining Rice University’s full-time MBA program, she would spend 28 straight days on an oil rig. Of course, the isolation was the easy part. For Jakhar, the true struggle was being “a pioneer female” on many drill ships. In the end, Jakhar conquered these mountains too, relying on the virtues she practiced during unforgiving climbs at Kedarkantha or Panpatia Col: patience, optimism, and courage.

6. Average GMAT Scores At The Leading MBA Programs 

Just when you thought GMAT scores couldn’t possibly go any higher, guess what? At many of the the leading business schools, average scores for the latest incoming classes have set new records—yet again.

A Poets&Quants analysis of scores for the MBA cohorts that began their first year in the fall of last year shows that 16 of the Top 25 U.S. schools achieved year-over-year increases in their GMAT averages. Only five schools—NYU Stern, Duke Fuqua, UNC Keenan-Flagler, Carnegie Mellon Tepper and Wharton—registered declines, with three programs falling by two or fewer points.

7. Best & Brightest MBAs: Class of 2017

Business school can be a time to stretch your boundaries. No one knows this better than London Business School’s Alana Digby. As a first year, she juggled a full load of classes, along with serving as a peer leader and student ambassador. Behind the scenes, the Strategy& consultant was preparing for something even bigger: She planned to swim solo across the English Channel.

That’s no easy task. The legendary 21-mile trek from the White Cliffs of Dover to the golden beaches of Cap Gris Nez is considered the ultimate test of physical and mental endurance. A bustling shipping lane, the channel boasts 50-degree waters and thick fogs, not to mention fierce winds, dicey waves, and unforgiving tides that can yank swimmers miles off course. Beyond powering through these conditions, swimmers must also contend with fatigue and boredom, which often trigger that inner voice urging them to give up and climb onto the boat…like so many others.

8. Kellogg Topples Booth To Capture First in 2017 Economist Ranking 

For Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management Dean Sally Blount, it couldn’t have happened at a better time. After being dean of the school for seven years, she opened the doors to a new $250 million Global Hub  on the shores of Lake Michigan. Now, for the first time under her watch, Blount can claim a number one ranking for the school’s prestige MBA program–seven months before she steps down from her job at the end of the 2017-2018 academic year.

Kellogg toppled Chicago Booth to capture first place in the new global ranking from The Economist today (Oct. 26), nudging aside its arch-rival Booth which had held the top title in the ranking for five consecutive years. Though Kellogg only had to gain one place to knock out Booth this year, it’s No. 1 status caps a long, upward climb in this topsy-turvy, unpredictable ranking. In the past five years, Kellogg went from finishing 23rd in 2013, to 14th the following year, to seventh in 2016, and to second place last year before finally emerging the big winner.

9. Ranking B-Schools By Specialization

Close your eyes. Ask yourself this question: What words come to mind when you hear Wharton?

Chances are, CFO or banker flashed across your mind. No surprise: Wharton has been a synonym for finance for generations. How about Ivy League? That’s a fact, even if it can be a dog whistle for privilege. Of course, there is always runner up, as in Wharton plays the Quaker Coyote to Harvard’s Road Runner.

Sound about right? Maybe if you chummed around with John Sculley or Robert Crandall! These days, Wharton has emerged as a leader in high tech and entrepreneurship, as connected to Sand Hill Road as Wall Street. You’ll find as many hip hop lyricists as blue blood elites in Huntsman Hall, where liberal arts majors outnumber quant jocks by a near two-to-one margin and women nearly equal the men. Wharton student arrive in Philly with higher GMATs than their Charles River rivals — and leave with higher starting paychecks too. If the original Generation Y — Yuppies — wanted to earn their first million by 30, Wharton Millennials are hell bent on making a social impact by the same age.

10. Acceptance Rates At The Top 50 Programs 

When you look at a person’s chances of getting into a highly ranked MBA program these days, it’s pretty much a tale of two tiers. At the top 25 ranked U.S. business schools, it has become a greater challenge to get an admit. At the next 25 schools that fill out the top 5o list, it’s a bit easier.

Some 15 of the top 25 schools last year had lower acceptance rates than a year-earlier, with significantly tougher admission standards at MIT Sloan, Cornell Johnson, UC-Berkeley Haas, the University of Texas’ McCombs, and Duke Fuqua. Even among top 25 schools that saw fewer applicants, the declines were generally modest, with not a single school reporting a double-digit drop.

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DON’T MISS 2017 EDITORS’ PICKS OF OUR FAVORITES and PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: THE HIGHLY INNOVATIVE CORNELL TECH MBA