P&Q’s Must Reads: U.S New’s Topsy-Turvy MBA Ranking

Hello everyone  — Welcome back to Poets&Quants’ Must Reads, a quick, digestible recap of the top business school news, sponsored by CentreCourt, P&Q’s virtual admission events.

I’m your host, Kristy Bleizeffer, and I’ll be highlighting the most important P&Q stories you might have missed. So, let’s get to it. 

No. 1:  U.S New’s Topsy-Turvy MBA Ranking

In a year in which U.S. News has revamped the way it ranks MBA programs, the fearsome threesome widely considered the best business schools in the world find themselves mere also-rans. According to U.S. News’ 2023-2024 MBA ranking, Stanford Graduate School of Business now ranks sixth in a tie with Dartmouth Tuck; Harvard Business School continues to languish in fifth place for the third consecutive year, while Wharton slips to the third position from first behind both No. 1 Chicago Booth and No. 2 Northwestern Kellogg.

The big news at the top of the new U.S. News ranking, however, is the upward movement of Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business. The school jumped five places to sixth, up from 11th a year ago, largely the result of U.S. News‘ decision to increase the emphasis on outcome measures and to reduce the weight it places on reputation.

There’s plenty of other wild swings in the new ranking, and P&Q editor and founder John A. Byrne packs the most important ones in his ranking analysis. You can find it now in our rankings tab.

No. 2: Berkeley Haas Returns To The Top Of U.S. News’ Part-Time MBA Ranking

In more U.S. News’ ranking results, UC-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business claimed the top spot for parttime MBA programs. Haas unseated the University of Chicago Booth School of Business which had been ranked No. 1 for the four previous years. 

U.S. News’ business school rankings were delayed about a week  in response to “unprecedented” outcry among the ranked schools. The Part-time lists revealed more noteworthy changes among the top tier of programs than it has in years — including a change at the top for the first time since 2018.

You can see the full parttime MBA list, and our analysis of what it all means, now on our homepage.

No. 3: The $150 Million B-School Donor Who Is Also A Superstar In The Classroom

Most business schools are either named after someone who is long dead and gone or an elderly wealthy person who occasionally drops in for a random cocktail reception. Not Larry Gies.

On a recent Spring evening at exactly 6 p.m., he was taking the stage of the Deloitte Auditorium at the University of Illinois College of Business which bears his name. It wasn’t his first time as a guest lecturer in Entrepreneurial Finance. In fact, this is now the 30th year he has taken a break from his job as founder and CEO of Madison Industries to play professor.

P&Q’s John A. Byrne was there for his latest lecture, which filled the 300-seat auditorium. You can read his insider view from our trending tab.

No. 4: Our Weekly Round Up of  News You Can Use

No matter where you are in your MBA journey, we bring several helpful stories for you this week.

First up: On the hunt for a top-of-the-line admission consultant? Be sure to check out our list of Top MBA Admission Consultants of 2023. We ranked the consultants from 1,233  verified client reviews submitted to Poets&Quants from September 1 of 2021 to August 31 of 2022. You’ll find the full ranking on our homepage.

Next: What’s changing in the new GMAT test? Basically everything. Our friends at Fortuna Admissions outlines what’s different in this helpful article, The GMAT Focus Edition – What’s New And What’s Unknown. Find it in our admissions hub.

Finally: If you’re on the hunt for a fat employment package from a big consulting firm, or if you’ve secured the offer but are now looking at a delayed start date, don’t miss our latest reporting on the troubled sector. What Do The Consulting Hiring Delays Mean For The MBA Class Of 2023? offers a clearer picture on the troubling jobs landscape for consulting MBAs. You can read it from our homepage. 

And, that’s it for this week’s Must Reads recap. 

I also want to alert school seekers to Poets&Quants’ upcoming MBA Festival admission event. In these virtual panels, you’ll hear from admission gurus and career experts from leading business schools around the world. Our next event is June 6-7, and you can register now for free.

Again, I’m Kristy Bleizeffer, and you can join me next week, right here, for a recap of what’s important in the world of business education. Thanks for listening and, as always, stay informed!

Questions about this article? Email us or leave a comment below.