Kellogg SOM | Mr. Fertilizer Financier
GMAT 735 GMAT Focus, GPA 3.85
Harvard | Ms. Indian Engineer
GMAT 760, GPA 3.5
Wharton | Mr. Private Equity
GMAT 730, GPA 3.2
HEC Paris | Ms. M&A Lawyer
GMAT 700, GPA 3.5
Stanford GSB | Ms. UK In the USA
GMAT 720, GPA 1st class (UK scoring)
Kenan-Flagler | Mr. Do I Have A Shot?
GMAT EA: 151, GPA 3.1
Chicago Booth | Ms. Tech4Good
GMAT 760, GPA 3.76
Columbia | Mr. Underdog
GMAT 695 GMAT Focus (750 Legacy GMAT equivalent), GPA 2.85
McCombs School of Business | Mr. Big Pharma
GRE N/A, GPA 3.1
Kenan-Flagler | Mr. Non-Traditional Undergrad
GMAT 660, GPA 2.9
Kellogg SOM | Ms. Talent Acquisition
GRE 316, GPA 3.6
Ross | Mr. Tax Accountant
GMAT N/A, GPA 3.3
Tuck | Mr. Nothing Is Perma
GMAT 760, GPA 7/10
Kellogg SOM | Mr. Desi Product Manager
GMAT 740, GPA 2.90
Columbia | Mr. Clean
GMAT 770, GPA 3.1

Acceptance Rates & Yield At The Top 100 U.S. MBA Programs

by: Marc Ethier on April 17, 2024 | 3 Comments | 37,305 Views
Acceptance Rates At The Top 100 U.S. MBA Programs

MIT Sloan School of Management has seen the biggest drop in MBA applications of any top-25 B-school over the last three years: down nearly 1,800, to 5,317 in 2023

MBA applications rise and fall depending on many factors, the most well-known of which is the state of the economy. A strong economy, traditionally, spells trouble for B-schools because it inclines candidates to stay in their well-paying jobs. This may be why the top programs are now in a second year of slumping apps.

Only one top-10 school, Stanford, and only nine of the top 25 reported MBA application increases in 2023; seven of the nine were at schools ranked 18th to 25th. Stanford’s increase was minor, just 38 apps to 6,190 total. The biggest increase of any school out of 53 for which we have data to compare was 514 apps at USC Marshall, giving the California school a second straight year of gains.

Of the nine top-10 schools with declines, No. 9 Michigan Ross School of Business saw the steepest drop-off, falling 655 apps to 2,976, a second straight year of losses for the public B-school. Among the 16 schools in the top 25 with declines, notables include NYU Stern, down 478 to 3,075, also a second year of declines; and CMU Tepper, down 481 to 1,786.

HARD TIMES FOR THE TOP SCHOOLS

Across the last three years, the picture is even starker. Just one top-10 B-school is up in MBA applications since 2021: No. 7 Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management, up 448 apps to 2,553. Only six schools in the top 25 have seen three-year increases, led by USC Marshall, up 748 apps to 3,166.

Of the nine top-10 schools with declines since 2021, the biggest has been at Harvard, which is down 1,624 apps to 8,149. Four of the top-10 schools and six of 53 have had declines of 1,000 apps or more since 2021. In the top 25, the biggest three-year decline has been at No. 14 MIT Sloan School of Management, down 1,795 to 5,317.

Here is how 2021 to 2022 looked for some of the top U.S. MBA programs:

  • Pennsylvania (Wharton): 7,338 to 6,319: -1,019 (13.9%)
  • Chicago (Booth): 5,037 to 4,352: -685 (13.6%)
  • Stanford GSB: 7,367 to 6,152: -1,215 (16.5%)
  • Northwestern (Kellogg): 4,632 to 4,187: -445 (9.6%)
  • Harvard Business School: 9,773 to 8,264: -1,509 (15.4%)
  • MIT (Sloan): 7,112 to 5,349: -1,763 (24.8%)
  • Columbia Business School: 6,535 to 5,643: -892 (13.6%)
  • Yale SOM: 3,877 to 3,237: -640 (19.8%)
  • Dartmouth (Tuck): 2,463 to 2,282: -181 (7.3%)
  • UC-Berkeley (Haas): 3,841 to 3,183: -658 (17.1%)

And while they may have pulled out of the tailspin, most were still in a deficit from 2022 to 2023:

  • Wharton: 6,319 to 6,193: -126 (2.0%)
  • Booth: 4,352 to 4,184: -168 (3.9%)
  • Stanford: 6,152 to 6,190: +38 (0.6%)
  • Kellogg: 4,187 to 4,316: +129 (3.1%)
  • HBS: 8,264 to 8,149: -115 (1.4%)
  • Sloan: 5,349 to 5,317: -32 (0.6%)
  • CBS: 5,643 to 5,430: -213 (3.8%)
  • Yale: 3,237 to 3,076: -161 (5.0%)
  • Tuck: 2,282 to 2,009: -273 (12.0%)
  • Haas: 3,183 to 2,904: -279 (8.8%)

19 OF THE TOP 25 B-SCHOOLS INCREASED THEIR ADMISSION OFFERS IN 2023

Seventeen of 27 schools for which we have the data to compare have seen declines in both the two- and three-year windows (from 2021 to 2022 and from 2022 to 2023); just six schools have had increases in both.

The app decline has been dreaded and felt in equal measures for years. One way schools address it is by admitting more of the candidates who do apply. This was certainly the case in 2023, when seven of the top 10 B-schools increased their admits, led by No. 5 Yale School of Management‘s 119-offer increase to 1,013. In the top 25, 19 schools increased their admit numbers, led by MIT Sloan’s 155-offer growth to 947 total.

There were declines, too: HBS offered admission to 111 fewer candidates, dropping its admit total to 1,076; and among the six schools in the top 25 with declines, CMU Tepper had the largest, down 145 offers to 509. See the tables below for apps and admits at the top schools.

MBA APPLICATIONS AT THE TOP U.S. B-SCHOOLS: 2021 TO 2023

P&Q 2024 Rank School Apps 2023 Apps 2022 Apps 2021 2-Year Trend 3-Year Trend
1 Stanford GSB 6,190 6,152 7,367 +38 -1,177
2 Harvard Business School 8,149 8,264 9,773 -115 -1,624
3 Dartmouth (Tuck) 2,009 2,282 2,463 -273 -454
4 Columbia Business School 5,430 5,643 6,535 -213 -1,105
5 Yale SOM 3,076 3,237 3,877 -161 -801
6 Duke (Fuqua) 3,292 3,539 3,762 -247 -470
7 Cornell (Johnson) 2,553 2,555 2,105 -2 +448
8 Virginia (Darden) 2,834 2,984 3,057 -150 -223
9 Michigan (Ross) 2,976 3,631 4,003 -655 -1,027
10 New York (Stern) 3,075 3,553 3,958 -478 -883
11 Chicago (Booth) 4,184 4,352 5,037 -168 -853
12 Northwestern (Kellogg) 4,316 4,187 4,632 +129 -316
13 UCLA (Anderson) 2,182 2,473 3,085 -291 -903
14 MIT (Sloan) 5,317 5,349 7,112 -32 -1,795
15 UC-Berkeley (Haas) 2,904 3,183 3,841 -279 -937
16 Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) 1,786 2,267 1,962 -481 -176
17 Washington (Foster) 830 1,000 839 -170 -9
18 Rice (Jones) 1,178 982 867 +196 +311
19 Texas-Austin (McCombs) 1,889 1,866 2,102 +23 -213
20 North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) 2,064 1,975 1,494 +89 +570
21 Vanderbilt (Owen) 1,410 1,226 1,159 +184 +251
22 Southern California (Marshall) 3,166 2,652 2,418 +514 +748
23 Emory (Goizueta) 1,104 1,055 1,000 +49 +104
24 Georgetown (McDonough) 1,428 1,537 1,625 -109 -197
25 Florida (Hough) 126 119 NA +7 NA
26 Rochester (Simon) 1,692 1,497 NA +195 NA
27 Georgia Institute of Technology (Scheller) 777 492 559 +285 +218
28 Washington (Olin) 806 701 NA +105 NA
29 Georgia (Terry) 366 371 NA -5 NA
30 Notre Dame (Mendoza) 917 700 NA +217 NA
31 Pennsylvania (Wharton) 6,193 6,319 7,338 -126 -1,145
32 Brigham Young (Marriott) 217 256 NA -39 NA
33 Texas-Dallas (Jindal) 328 324 NA +4 NA
34 William & Mary (Mason) 434 327 NA +107 NA
35 Arizona State (Carey) 551 517 NA +34 NA
37 Indiana (Kelley) 1,163 1,372 1,173 -209 -10
38 Michigan State (Broad) 766 599 NA +167 NA
39 Maryland (Smith) 518 400 NA +118 NA
40 UC-Irvine (Merage) 342 374 NA -32 NA
41 Boston University (Questrom) 1,146 1,347 NA -201 NA
42 George Washington 555 524 NA +31 NA
43 Texas A&M (Mays) 252 232 NA +20 NA
44 Minnesota (Carlson) 375 495 NA -120 NA
46 Southern Methodist (Cox) 665 452 NA +213 NA
49 Rutgers Business School 272 310 NA -38 NA
50 Ohio State (Fisher) 1,053 949 NA +104 NA
52 Pittsburgh (Katz) 400 313 NA +87 NA
53 Wisconsin 268 356 NA -88 NA
55 Utah (Eccles) 152 112 NA +40 NA
59 Penn State (Smeal) NA 390 NA NA NA
62 Tennessee-Knoxville (Haslam) 105 125 NA -20 NA
72 Alabama (Manderson) 724 459 NA +265 NA
73 University of Miami (Herbert) 115 151 NA -36 NA
Source: U.S. News & World Report data and P&Q analysis

MBA ADMITS AT THE TOP U.S. B-SCHOOLS: 2022 TO 2023

P&Q 2024 Rank School Admits 2023 Admits 2022 Trend
1 Stanford GSB 521 528 -7
2 Harvard Business School 1,076 1,187 -111
3 Dartmouth (Tuck) 806 763 +43
4 Columbia Business School 1,215 1,109 +106
5 Yale SOM 1,013 894 +119
6 Duke (Fuqua) 729 727 +2
7 Cornell (Johnson) 764 798 -34
8 Virginia (Darden) 1,116 1,021 +95
9 Michigan (Ross) 1,131 1,020 +111
10 New York (Stern) 966 962 +4
11 Chicago (Booth) 1,364 1,308 +56
12 Northwestern (Kellogg) 1,439 1,316 +123
13 UCLA (Anderson) 881 929 -48
14 MIT (Sloan) 947 792 +155
15 UC-Berkeley (Haas) 667 625 +42
16 Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) 509 654 -145
17 Washington (Foster) 345 281 +64
18 Rice (Jones) 459 420 +39
19 Texas-Austin (McCombs) 716 637 +79
20 North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) 776 709 +67
21 Vanderbilt (Owen) 566 489 +77
22 Southern California (Marshall) 724 658 +66
23 Emory (Goizueta) 432 391 +41
24 Georgetown (McDonough) 883 782 +101
25 Florida (Warrington) 38 43 -5
26 Rochester (Simon) 241 220 +21
27 Georgia Institute of Technology (Scheller) 151 159 -8
28 Washington (Olin) 225 179 +46
29 Georgia (Terry) 130 125 +5
30 Notre Dame (Mendoza) 304 229 +75
31 Pennsylvania (Wharton) 1,533 1,442 +91
32 Brigham Young (Marriott) 122 121 +1
33 Texas-Dallas (Jindal) 109 110 -1
34 William & Mary (Mason) 257 189 +68
35 Arizona State (Carey) 89 93 -4
37 Indiana (Kelley) 318 323 -5
38 Michigan State (Broad) 133 138 -5
39 Maryland (Smith) 176 142 +34
40 UC-Irvine (Merage) 82 77 +5
41 Boston University (Questrom) 412 371 +41
42 George Washington 143 149 -6
43 Texas A&M (Mays) 119 98 +21
44 Minnesota (Carlson) 176 187 -11
46 Southern Methodist (Cox) 160 139 +21
49 Rutgers Business School 114 81 +33
50 Ohio State (Fisher) 128 143 -15
52 Pittsburgh (Katz) 138 124 +14
53 Wisconsin 133 140 -7
55 Utah (Eccles) 79 69 +10
59 Penn State (Smeal) NA 72 NA
62 Tennessee-Knoxville (Haslam) 54 80 -26
72 Alabama (Manderson) 228 212 +16
73 University of Miami (Herbert) 67 121 -54
Source: U.S. News & World Report data and P&Q analysis

Next page: MBA class sizes at the top U.S. B-schools

Previous Page
Continue Reading

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