The best business schools offer great networking opportunities for students.
When it comes to finding the top-rated business schools, although you might encounter slight differences in rankings of the institutions, for the most part, you'll find the same names appearing on list after list consistently, whether you're looking in the "Financial Times" or examining the Top Ten rankings as judged by Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
Overall Rankings
In a survey conducted in 2010 of 426 MBA programs, "US News and World Report" created a list that ranked the various programs according to such criteria as overall scoring of all categories, as well as the cost of enrolling in the programs, the average starting salary of those attaining a degree, and the percentage of graduates employed when they graduate. In the survey, Harvard University attained a perfect score of 100, as did Stanford University.
Undergraduate
When Bloomberg BusinessWeek formed its ranking of the best undergraduate business programs, Notre Dame was ranked in the number-one position. This was followed by the University of Virginia and Massachusetts Institute of Technology's business programs. The median starting salary of a Notre Dame graduate was $55,000, while that of an MIT graduate was $62,000.
Global
Just because a school isn't located in the United States doesn't mean that it should be excluded from being given a ranking, which is why the "Financial Times" created its Global MBA Rankings. Coming in at the top of the list is the London Business School, followed by the University of Pennsylvania in second place and Harvard Business School in third place.
Admission Requirements
Out of 30 of the top-ranked business programs and schools, all but four required applicants to have taken the Graduate Management Admission Test, or GMAT. The four that didn't require GMAT scores were Yale, University of Michigan, University of Virginia and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition, with the exception of Michigan State University and Stanford University, all of the other top-ranked business schools and programs require interviews.
Employment
Employment opportunities are always considered when choosing the right business school to attend. Ninety percent of all Dartmouth College graduates are offered jobs at graduation, ranking it the highest in job offers. That's followed by Harvard University with 87 percent of graduates offered a job, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology coming in third place with 84 percent having job offers.
Reputation
Business Insider ranked Harvard Business School as its top-rated business school because of its "brand value." In other words, if you graduate from Harvard Business School, you might have an advantage over graduates from other schools due to the favorable name recognition of the Harvard name.
Suitability
When it comes to finding the right business school, you need to carefully examine each school and decide which one has what you're looking for. Just because a school is the top-ranked business school in a particular category doesn't mean that it's the best school for you. By carefully examining the programs each school offers in-depth, you'll be able to determine which school best fits your needs.
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