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Who Tops The Economist’s 2017 MBA Rankings?

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MBA rankings and other business school news.

GMAT scores for Ross’s new students remain flat—but applications have increased.

Ross welcomes its new students, The Economist announces this year’s MBA rankings, and Duke Fuqua reports higher starting salary and compensation for its latest crop of graduates. See what’s trending on the business school landscape.

The Economist’s 2017 MBA rankings

There are perhaps more lists of rankings for MBA programs than for any other graduate-level degree. Each uses slightly different methodologies to arrive at their results, and some include a different subset of schools—which is what The Economist does in its global MBA rankings: it ranks not only U.S. business schools, but schools around the world, including in Europe and Asia.

Here are some highlights from The Economist’s 2017 MBA rankings: The University of Chicago Booth School of Business takes the top slot this year, while Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management places second. You have to go down to the number eight position to find a school that’s not in the United States. That honor goes to University of Navarra IESE Business School in Spain. (Business Insider)

Ross’s new students by the numbers

The University of Michigan Ross School of Business just welcomed its newest class, which includes a rocket scientist, opera singer, and entrepreneurs galore. Here are some helpful admissions stats that the school has released: The average GMAT score for new students stands at 708, the same as it was a year ago, and just five points higher than it was five years ago. This bucks a trends we are seeing at a few other top business schools, which have reported steadily increasing GMAT scores.

The average GPA for new students did increase slightly (.04 points) to 3.44. Perhaps most interesting figure reported by the school was the tremendous jump in the percentage of female students, which increased to 40 percent from just 32 percent last year. Ross also reports that this was its third consecutive year of an increase in applications. (Poets & Quants)

The best internship opportunities

Career-focused website Vault publishes another MBA ranking of interest: the best places for business students to intern. First of all, remember how important internships are as part of the business school experience. Not only will you use the skills you learned in business school in “the real world,” but performing well at your internship gives you a good shot at landing a job there after graduation. Consider it almost like a pre-job interview.

Topping the rankings is global consulting giant Bain & Co, which was in first place last year too. As you likely know, Bain has long been a favorite destination for aspiring MBAs. One intern there said, “The best aspects were the personal development opportunities and the interesting work.” Another added, “Travel was tough, but the points and benefits—great dinners, fancy hotels—more than make up for it.” (Business Because)

Starting salary up among Duke Fuqua grads

The average starting salary plus bonus for graduates of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business this year was $151K—compared with last year’s starting salary of about $145,000. Fuqua’s highest paid graduate of the Class of 2016 is earning a salary of  $225,000, but the industry was not disclosed.

“Things look pretty much like last year, but the number of top employers who hire four or more graduates and interns is up to 50 from 41, a low last year,” explained Sheryle Dirks, associate dean for career management at Fuqua. “For the previous four years those numbers had been at a steady decline, a sign of increasing fragmentation.” (Poets & Quants)

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The post Who Tops The Economist’s 2017 MBA Rankings? appeared first on Business School Insider.