Just for fun - rank your top 7 schools by preference!

Here is my ranking. It is going to be based on an Indian perspective, schools which are more tech/engineering/Indian friendly plus which offer great career opportunities and are not super expensive).

1.) Stanford (Dhirubhai Ambani Scholarship)
2.) MIT (45% International Students)
3.) Booth (Prefers Quantitative Background).
4.) Kellogg (Pretty big name in India at par with HBS/Stanford)
5.) Tuck (A very down to earth school).
6.) Haas (An under rated school, very low acceptance rates).
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7.) UCLA (A great combination of tech and finance).
7.) Darden (The most hectic case method school, better than Duke).
7.) Cornell (Ivy League Brand, proximity to NYU).
7.) Yale (proximity to NYU, yet low cost of living).
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School excluded even these are otherwise as good as the above mentioned.
HBS, Wharton - Unless you are an Indian working in McKinsey you have very little chance. I heard that in a particular year HBS took only 17 Indians in a class of 800.
Columbia, NYU - Super expensive, Columbia doesnot offer loans without US Cosigner. NYU not as reputed as Chicago Booth.
Ross, Duke - Location disadvantage leading to respectively fewer career opportunities, yet costs are very similar to Top M7 schools. Brand less known outside USA.
LBS/INSEAD - Difficult for Asians to land a job in the locations where these schools are located. Effect more pronounced after Eurozone Crisis.
IE/IESE/Oxbridge - Very tough to land jobs post graduation.
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Underdog
Emory - With a class size of 150 and fewer big competetiors around offers great opportunities. Very generous with scholarship.

1. Tuck
2. Tuck
3. Tuck
4. Tuck
5. Tuck
6. Tuck
7. Stanford, Booth, Kellogg, Ross, Darden (the other schools I actually applied to, in preference order).

I thank my lucky stars daily that I'm a Tuckie. I don't regret passing up other offers. Home is home.

1. HBS - It is HBS and you have that forever.
2. Stanford GSB - Would rather be here than HBS, but beautiful weather, amazing program, great life
3. Kellogg - Just love the school and its focus on collaboration. Chicago area is frigid, but what a city.
4. Sloan - Janitor's are geniuses there...enough said.
5. Booth - Chicago again, its ranking, the fun of living downtown at MPP with all my classmates
6. LBS - The campus is beautiful, its in London!!!!, prestige!...if it was an option I would've applied, but I gotta stay local. If one of these schools let me in, it's a study abroad target for sure!
7. Wharton - The brand. Everybody says HBS and Stanford head to head...and I believe it. They are the most prestigious amongst us informed folks/MBA experts and to much of the business world...but to me, the Wharton brand is much stronger across the globe and with outsiders than Stanford GSB. I mean I hear characters in TV shows and movies who are made to be business leaders who went to wharton or hbs...never heard anybody say hes a stanford mba...just an example of what the world thinks of the brands.

My honorable mention #8:
8. Tuck - This place is the bomb! I loved loved loved it, but its #7 b/c its in Hanover...but if it wasn't in Hanover, it wouldn't be the same. So it's really #7 b/c I don't know about Hanover.

It's funny looking at my list how there are just some schools that never really got onto my radar. Like Booth for example, I've heard great things about it and people seem to love it, but for some reason it never interested me. I've always been a tad quick to latch onto things and consider nothing else though. For years I refused to take advil because tylenol was "just better". Yeah no reason for thinking that.

1) HBS - I ended up not applying because I already had too many reaches and honestly I just don't think I would fit here. I like case method, in some situations, not the majority of the time. Also, class participation is a huge portion of your grade, I just don't want to feel stressed on a daily basis that I'm not contributing enough. But like others have said, it's one of those places that you just can't say no to.
2) Wharton - I actually love philly, I really do. Also I really felt like I could see myself there when I visited, which surprised me for some reason I had a negative viewpoint on what the students would be like, but I found the marketing class I visited to be laid back and fun. Plus all the companies I want to work for recruit there.
3) Kellogg - I really liked the vibe I got from the students and the class I visited, it's the best for marketing, and man would I love to go on a kwest trip, ha! Plus their joint ventures club seems really strong.
4) Columbia - It took me awhile to come around to CBS, did not have a great visit when I went. But I'm from NYC area and plan to stay here so I think the network in the area is great to have. Plus there are just so many opportunities (like internships or projects) that you can take advantage of during the school year because of NYC. Also some of the CBS follies videos I've been watching are pretty comical.
5) Duke - Absolutely loved Fuqua and still do. I really don't think Team Fuqua is a marketing ploy, you can feel it when you visit. Have really had a great experience in all of my interactions with the school. Am still sad not to be going there.
6) Stern - Similar reasons to CBS. Got a good vibe from the school when I visited. They certainly have a better building than CBS. Why oh why couldn't the new CBS building be ready a few years earlier.
7) Cornell - I never visited Johnson since I pulled my application once I got into Duke. But a friend of mine went there and loved it. I like the experiential learning focus and seemed like they have a good marketing program. At the end of the day I just wasn't feeling moving all the way up north to Ithaca. If I'm going to move to the even colder than NYC, I'd prefer to be near a city (ala Kellogg).

Really though, I imagine if I got into Tuck or Booth I would put them somewhere around 5. Went to college in California, I'm an east coast girl at heart, so no interest in Stanford or Haas. Don't think I'd fit in at MIT. There are just so many other great schools Yale, Ross, etc. how to choose how to chose!

bumping this thread back up for this year's class.

My last list is pretty accurate - lets see what you guys have!

of the schools where I've applied:

1) Sloan
2) Booth
3) Tuck
4) Kellogg

Of the schools where I'm only thinking about applying and will only apply in R2 if things don't work out in R1:

5) Haas
6) Fuqua
7) Johnson

For me, Sloan is far and away my top choice. My schools at 2-4 on my list are very close together and change every couple of days based on the latest thing I've learned about each of them.

Get ready for a really long list. Of the schools I'm applying to... (Wait, I wouldn't even have a top 4 list! )

1. Stanford
2. Sloan
3. Kellogg

If I don't get in this year (which is highly probable, considering the schools I applied to), I'll expand my list. I'm not sure which schools I'd add, though. I don't think I fit in with the culture at HBS, Booth, or Wharton. Beyond that, I don't find any other school more appealing than UT because it's close to home and significantly less expensive (in-state tuition!). I also like O&G and would like to stay in Texas, so the network and opportunities would be highly useful.

You gave me a heart attack man.. Salman Khan.. HBS.. Then I googled him... Heart rate back to normal...

1. UChicago
2. Columbia
3. Tuck
4. Johnson
5. Anderson

My list is also quite personal:

1) Tuck - I love the view of leadership, the small classes and New Hampshire
2) Darden - Great campus, totally enjoyed the class I was in, and close to the Shenandoah Valley
3) Stanford - Their new CS/MBA joint degree is appealing - though I'd need to take the GRE
4) Tepper - Even smaller program than Tuck / Darden / Stanford, and great courses I could do outside of Tepper at CMU
5) Yale - A lot of graduates choose NGOs - I guess that tells something about the values at the school, too
6) McCombs - Strong in (renewable) energy and technology
7) Fuqua - a great school, but not that great location

Planning to transition from finance to Management Consulting.

1) Kellogg (R2) - Top school for consulting, I love the collaborative culture. I went to a cut-throat undergrad program (Stern), and looking to avoid those type of people. KWEST seems like a great way to meet people also. Really don't want to deal with Chicago winters, but I would for Kellogg.
2) Booth (R2) - Highest ranked school I applied to, also does great in consulting despite being known as finance, but I think the culture is a bit worse.
3) Columbia (Rejected after interview) - Very expensive and bad student body, but I currently live in NYC so it would've been easiest. Think I'm ready for a change anyways, kinda glad I got rejected.
4) UCLA (Accepted) - Love southern california and the culture seems awesome. Plus, gave me a 40% scholarship. That said, consulting recruiting isn't very strong.
5) Duke (R2) - Only considering this if they give me a substantial scholarship. Recruiting is not much better than UCLA and much lower than my top 3. Would rather live in LA than North Carolina. Still, has a very awesome culture which is why I applied.

1. Columbia
2. Tuck, Sloan, Booth
5. Johnson, LBS
7. Tepper


Posted from my mobile device

Here is my list.. Quite personal and a bit biased.

1. Yale
2. Stanford
3. Tuck
4. Darden
4. Cornell
6. Duke
7. MIT

Stanford
HBS
Booth
Wharton
Tuck
MIT
Columbia

1. Stanford GSB
2. MIT Sloan
3. Kellogg
4. CBS
5. UMich Ross/Tuck (tie)
6. Cornell Johnson
7. CMU Tepper

1. HBS
2. Kellogg
3. CBS
4. Tuck
5. Haas
6. CBS
7. Wharton

Here are mine:

LBS
HBS
INSEAD
Cambridge
Wharton
Stern
Columbia