Business Week 2006 Ranking: Best B Schools

It sure does. Having visited both, Kellogg's facilities don't come close. Not even remotely.

and how many of you will go to Ross instead of Columbia based on these rankings.. prolly no one....so what exactly these rankins mean then......

I'd pick Ross over columbia whatever the ranking was anyway. Columbia is just a place for Ibankers to get their ticket punched.

I would say that yes it's true the Columbia is a place where Ibankers get their ticket punched, but I would also say that Columbia has a stronger placement than Michigan in many areas. Here are placement rankings at "most desirable" type places from last year (no stats available for Harvard & Stanford):

Investment Banks:

Citigroup
1. Columbia
2. Wharton
3. Chicago
4. Cornell
5. INSEAD

CSFB
1. Chicago
2. Wharton
3. Columbia
4. Cornell
5. LBS

Deutsche Bank
1. Columbia
2. Chicago
3. Wharton
4. CMU
5. LBS

Goldman Sachs
1. Wharton
2. Columbia
3. Chicago
4. INSEAD
5. Kellogg

JPMorgan
1. Columbia
2. Darden
3. Wharton
4. Chicago, Michigan

Lehman Brothers
1. Columbia
2. Chicago
3. Wharton
4. Tuck
5. LBS

Morgan Stanley
1. Wharton
2. Columbia
3. Tuck
4. LBS
5. IESE

Merrill Lynch
1. Chicago
2. Wharton
3. Columbia
4. MIT Sloan
5. Rice

UBS
1. Chicago
2. Wharton
3. Columbia
4. Michigan
5. Tuck

Consulting Firms:

McKinsey
1. INSEAD
2. Wharton
3. Chicago, Kellogg
5. Columbia

Bain
1. Wharton
2. Kellogg
3. Sloan
4. Chicago
5. Tuck

Booz Allen
1. Kellogg
2. Columbia
3. Wharton
4. Chicago
5. LBS

Boston Consulting
1. INSEAD
2. Kellogg
3. Chicago
4. Columbia
5. Tuck

AT Kearney
1. Chicago
2. Michigan
3. INSEAD
4. Kellogg
5. IESE

As you can see, Columbia does smack down Michigan (and pretty much everyone else) in terms of Ibank placements. But Columbia also beats Michigan in terms of consulting firm placements. I think the key thing that can be drawn from these numbers is that ultra-elites handily beat elites in terms of highly sought after placements.

Now, Michigan has very substantial placements in general management, marketing and products positions. I do not know if their results beat Columbia in those fields though. On the plus side, Ann Arbor is a great place to live, while Morningside heights is not (in my opinion in both instances). Michigan also has a national-title contending football team (pretty big deal for me, but probably zero importance for many).

So, I would probably go with what Hjort has pointed out elsewhere here at GMATclub, that pretty much in all cases, the ultra-elite schools beat the elite schools in access to jobs, even when the ultra-elite is not known in the area and the elite is well-known.

I would also say that job placement is not the only factor to consider, and it would be extremely difficult for me to turn down a return trip to Michigan. Go Blue!

This is consistent with my research- Columbia does have stronger placements with most firms than Michigan does. In general, the ultra elites really do have the advantage in terms of placement.

woohoo, I see INSEAD!! :) Anyway McKinsey picked 38 from INSEAD in 2005. Of course, it's all up in the air for me. Not like INSEAD's given me a seat and I don't care much for McKinsey anyway (and they won't take an old dude like me..) But STILL! To see INSEAD among all these darned US schools sure feels good.