A revolving door.

That’s one way to think of business schools. In May, graduates stream out across the globe to make their mark on McKinsey, Microsoft, or Morgan Stanley. Forget starting on the bottom and paying their dues. MBA hires are thrown into the fray – the high profile projects and big name clients – collecting six figure paychecks along the way

That’s a big change from when they first entered business school. Two years earlier, they were asking themselves the hard questions:  Am I good enough to be here? Do I belong among these people? How should I spend my time? Who do I want to become? Awkward and overwhelmed, these MBAs quickly found their bearings – and never looked back!

A MEASURE OF MOMENTUM

Business school is a transformational process, as the cliché goes. It is a period of self-discovery, testing ideas, channeling passions, and stretching limits. Still, the entry and exit points serve as bookends – a means of measuring where students start and where they leave. That’s where class profiles and employments reports come into play.

They are crude instruments, no doubt. After all, GMAT averages hardly gauge creativity and commitment, no different than starting pay rates can project initiative or impact over time.  They do, however, represent a starting point. Employment reports reflect students’ value in the market – whether they choose to pursue consulting, finance, technology, marketing, or any other option. At the same time, class profiles data, such as application volume, can tip applicants off to which programs are gaining momentum among their peers.

How do your target schools fare? This year, P&Q examined the incoming class data for 22 top MBA programs along with the pay and placement stats for another 23 business schools (with more coming). Wondering what types of MBA candidates get accepted into Harvard, Stanford, INSEAD, and Emory? Interested in the pay differences between Wharton, Columbia, Oxford, UCLA? Check out P&Q’s exclusive analysis of business school employment reports and class profiles from 2020.

2020 EMPLOYMENT REPORTS

Starting Salaries Up Almost 6% For Cornell Johnson’s 2020 MBAs

‘It Was A Tough Year’: Berkeley Haas Releases 2020 MBA Jobs Report

2020 MBA Jobs Report: Tech Takes 2nd At Tepper As Consulting Surges

Consulting Widens Gap In Chicago Booth’s Final 2020 MBA Jobs Report

Columbia MBAs See Drop In 2020 Compensation

Virus Can’t Slow Rise Of Dartmouth Tuck MBA Salaries

Tech Bounces Back In New Duke MBA Jobs Report

Consulting Slips, Salaries Grow For Emory MBAs

Covid Dampens But Can’t Drown Georgetown MBA Outcomes

Another Record MBA Pay Year At Harvard Business School

Michigan Ross Credits Alumni, Perseverance For Solid 2020 MBA Salary Numbers

Upper Midwest MBA Jobs Report: Minnesota Carlson Posts Warm Numbers

MIT Makes It Look Easy: Sloan MBAs Get Salary Bump In 2020

Salaries Up Overall, But UNC’s International MBAs Struggle

Kellogg Jobs Report Shows The Market Is Still Kind To Elite MBAs

Impact Of Covid Written Clearly In New Stern MBA Jobs Report

Good News For Oxford On The Job Front As It Prepares For A Year Unlike Any Other

Texas McCombs MBA Jobs Report: Offers Down, Salaries Up

UCLA’s Preliminary MBA Jobs Report Reinforces School Image As A Strong Tech Feeder

Salaries and Bonuses Down For USC Marshall MBAs

Vanderbilt MBA Jobs Report: Owen Grads Overcome, Post Strong Numbers

Darden 2020 MBAs Report Making More Money Amid Scarcer Work

Wharton MBAs See Slip In Employment Rate, Median Salaries Flat

Job Offers Slip, But Yale MBA Pay Is Way Up

2020 CLASS PROFILES

Applications Are Up at UC Berkeley Haas But Acceptance Rates Jumps Too

Huge Leap in MBA Applications and Class Size At Chicago Booth

Columbia Sets New MBA Application Record

Dartmouth Tuck Stands On The Precipice Of Gender Parity

Another Top School Joins The 2020 Reversal of Fortune Party: Apps Climb At Duke

Big MBA Application Boost at Georgetown This Year And Even More For The Next Class

New Harvard Business School Profile: HBS Enrolls Smallest MBA Class In Decades

After A Massive 58% Jump In MBA Applications, INSEAD Enrolled One Of Its Smallest Classes In Years

Swamped With New Apps, London Business School Delays MBA Interview Decisions

Big Drops In MBA Applications, International Students At Michigan Ross

MBA Apps At MIT Sloan Soar 22%

An MBA App Windfall At UNC’s Kenan-Flagler

Massive 54% Jump In MBA Apps At Northwestern Kellogg

3 Records For NYU Stern’s MBA Class Of 2022, But A Much Smaller Class

Massive Jump In Apps and Enrollment For Rice Jones

Stanford GSB Enrolls Its Largest MBA Class Ever

Texas Austin Reports Near Normal Incoming MBA Class

USC Marshall Is The Winner In The 2020 MBA Application Sweepstakes

Amid Southern Resurgence, Vanderbilt Sees Near Doubling Of MBA Apps

At UVA Darden, A ‘Crazy’ 364% Jump In Round 3 MBA Applications

MBA Applications To Wharton Soar By 21% To A New Record

MBA Apps Rise 8.1% At Yale SOM, After A Two-Year Decline

The Best of 2020 at Poets&Quants

DEAN OF THE YEAR: UVA DARDEN’S SCOTT BEARDSLEY

MBA PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: INDIANA UNIVERSITY’S KELLEY DIRECT

P&Q PROFESSOR OF THE YEAR: HARVARD’S DEEPAK MALHOTRA

P&Q’S MOST POPULAR (AND IMPORTANT) STORIS OF 2020

2020 BUSINESS SCHOOL RANKINGS: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

MBA PAY & PROFILES 2020 SCHOOL EMPLOYMENT & CLASS REPORTS

P&Q’S TOP BUSINESS SCHOOL SCANDALS OF 2020

B-SCHOOLS (TRY TO) PREDICT WHAT 2021 WILL LOOK LIKE

BUSINESS SCHOOL DEANS SHARE 2021 RESOLUTIONS