Poets&Quants’ Most Popular Stories Of 2021

TOP 100 MBA PROGRAMS THAT WAIVED GMAT & GRE TESTS IN 2021

At the start of 2021, all the talk was about which MBA programs would continue their Covid-19 policies of waiving test requirements for admission. Many did — and continue to do so. For MBA applicants, it’s the silver lining to the pandemic.

As of last January, some 67 of the top 100 had gone fully test-optional or are actively promoting test waiver policies. MBA admission officials say that their admission standards have not declined as a result of the policy changes. Instead, they are relying on other parts of candidates’ applications to gain confidence that an applicant can handle the academic requirements of their programs.

“We are not waiving the requirement that an applicant has demonstrated analytical and quantitative skills,” said Soojin Kwon, managing director of full-time MBA admissions and program at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. “We want to see students succeed and thrive in our program. As such, we will continue to look for evidence that an applicant can handle the rigor of our MBA program.”

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WHO REALLY HIRES HARVARD, STANFORD & WHARTON MBAs THESE DAYS

It’s a pretty well-known fact that McKinsey, Bain and BCG, among the world’s most voracious hirers of MBA talent, are the top three major employers at Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. McKinsey leads at Harvard and Stanford, while BCG tops the list at Wharton.

But what about the rest of the major recruiters of MBA talent from these three business schools? If you want the answer to that question, don’t go to the MBA employment reports published by the schools. All three business school giants keep the major employers of their MBAs under wraps.

In June, for the first time, an extensive analysis of MBA recruits by Menlo Coaching, the premium MBA admissions consulting firm, pulled the curtain back on exactly which firms are hiring in a big way from these schools. Menlo Coaching’s research team analyzed 51,991 student profiles on LinkedIn to get to the bottom of it. What does the analysis reveal?

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POETS&QUANTS’ 2021-2022 RANKING: IT’S STANFORD AGAIN AT THE TOP!

It’s always one of our top stories of the year: our annual ranking of the top 100 U.S. business schools, aggregated from the main rankings of MBA programs. This year, as in the past two years, Stanford Graduate School of Business held on to win top honors, while Stanford’s East Coast rival, Harvard Business School, slipped to its lowest P&Q ranking ever into fifth place from fourth last year. The University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business MBA program finished right behind Stanford in second place, with the Wharton School third, and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in fourth place.

In a topsy-turvy year for business school rankings, there were surprisingly few major changes among the top 25 MBA programs. Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business made the biggest gain, rising three places to finish 11th from 14th a year earlier, while Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management slipped three places to end up 15th from 12th last year. Two schools fell out of the Top 25: Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business. They were replaced by No. 24 Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business and No. 25 Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management.

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DON’T MISS OUR 2021 YEAR IN REVIEW

POETS&QUANTS’ FAVORITE MBAS OF 2021

2021 BUSINESS SCHOOL RANKINGS: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

MBA DATA THAT MATTERS: P&Q’S COMPLETE STATS COLLECTION OF 2021

2021 MBA EMPLOYMENT REPORTS & CLASS PROFILES

THE BIGGEST B-SCHOOL SCANDALS OF 2021

POETS&QUANTS’ PROFESSOR OF THE YEAR

POETS&QUANTS’ MBA PROGRAM OF THE YEAR

POETS&QUANTS’ DEAN OF THE YEAR