Let's Crowdsource MBA Rankings!

Question

Hey GMATClub -

Clearly, BusinessWeek's latest business school rankings have created a bit of a furor. Let's see if we, as a collective whole, can do any better - at least the top MBA schools.

Partake in this live crowdsourcing initiative here: https://www.allourideas.org/topmbarankings.

The question is "What Top US MBA School would you rather attend?" and gives you two choices. With enough people taking part, we'll generate scores for each university and see who actually comes out best!

EnigmaD · Answer

I've been following the rankings and while early, already 8,000 votes have been cast from US, Canada, Europe, Asia, and South America. We're already seeing some stabilization and clustering as well. Honestly, I think it goes to show that despite the rankings that come out, perceptions are what they are:

The Best: 
Harvard - 87 (scores out of 100)
Stanford - 87

- I don't think there's any debate over this (unless you're BusinessWeek). The only reason either of these does not score 100 is because of the other.

Almost H/S: 
Wharton - 81

- Clearly behind H/S, but clearly distanced from the rest of pack.

New York Ivy 
Columbia - 75

- Surprised to see it this high, as other rankings have it from 5 to 8 - may be benefiting from its New York location.

M7: 
Northwestern - 69
Chicago - 69
MIT - 67

- The rest of the "M7". Also shows that people may still speak of Northwestern and Chicago in the same breath, and also wonder if the Chicago location hampers them.

The "M9"?: 
UC Berkeley - 56
Dartmouth - 53

- These two schools are consistent in outperforming the remainder of schools - however, still clearly behind the M7.

Almost Elite: 
NYU - 45
Duke - 42
Yale - 42

- BusinessWeek's #1 school is fallen to #11 here - meaning on average, there are 10 schools that people would rather go to. That said, Duke and Yale seem to be on their way up, while NYU seems to be heading down.

Almost Almost Elite: 
UCLA - 28
UVA - 26
UMich - 23

The Rest of the Best: 
CMU - 10
UT - 8

Full List 
Harvard - 87
Stanford - 87
Wharton - 81
Columbia - 76
Northwestern - 69
Chicago - 69
MIT - 67
UC Berkeley - 56
Dartmouth - 53
NYU - 45
Duke - 42
Yale - 42
UCLA - 28
UVA - 26
UMich - 23
CMU - 10
UT - 8

bb · Answer

Thanks for starting this.
So far the results seem very logical and so far no surprises ...
The main issue/challenge you will run into (just like we run into it with GMAT Club here business-school-discussions-183/?tov=rank ) is that the size of the program matters and some programs are more popular/less popular in terms of applicant numbers.

dtse86 · Answer

This is really cool!!

I hope more people visit this and use this. It will bring about some very interesting results.

bb  , although size of program can matter in these types of things, I wonder how the "unlimited" voting will be affected or skewed by those willing to dedicate a little more time to get more votes for their favorite programs.

EnigmaD · Answer

I guess the hope would be that anyone who cares a lot about MBA rankings won't be willing to waste their life clicking through questions.... then again, this is the internet. Hopefully with increasing numbers, that bias goes away! Given how stable the clusters have been lately, there is some proof of that.

In regards to bb's point, I think the question takes all components into consideration: reputation, location, etc. - while making program size less important since survey takers are just considering one school over another. For instance, I would expect that with this question, Haas would outrank Ross nearly every time, despite being nearly half the size.

EnigmaD · Answer

At this point, we're looking at nearly 12,000 votes, from every continent besides Antarctica! Pretty cool.

The scores have all pretty much settled and there has been very little change in the actual rankings themselves, just some of the clustering. I think it goes to show that despite the rankings that come out, perceptions are what they are:

The Best: 
Harvard - 89 (scores out of 100)
Stanford - 89

- Again, no debate - (unless you're BusinessWeek). The only reason either of these does not score 100 is because of the other.

Almost H/S: 
Wharton - 81

- Clearly behind H/S, but clearly distanced from the rest of pack.

M7: 
Columbia: 72
Northwestern - 69
Chicago - 69
MIT - 66

- These schools have all narrowed - they're clearly behind H/S/W, but clearly ahead of everyone else. At this point in the rankings, it seems like from a "which is better" perspective, what really matters is your personal preference on location, career, etc.

The "M9"?: 
UC Berkeley - 56
Dartmouth - 52

- These two schools are consistent in outperforming the remainder of schools - however, still clearly behind the M7.

Almost Elite: 
NYU - 42
Duke - 42
Yale - 41

- BusinessWeek's #1 school is fallen to #11 here - meaning on average, there are 10 schools that people would rather go to. That said, Duke and Yale seem to be on their way up, while NYU seems to be heading down.

Almost Almost Elite: 
UCLA - 29
UVA - 29
UMich - 27
Cornell - 22

The Rest of the Best: 
CMU - 10
UT - 8

Full List 
Harvard - 89
Stanford - 89
Wharton - 81
Columbia - 72
Northwestern - 69
Chicago - 69
MIT - 66
UC Berkeley - 56
Dartmouth - 52
NYU - 42
Duke - 42
Yale - 41
UCLA - 27
UVA - 29
UMich - 27
Cornell - 22
CMU - 10
UT - 9

csi · Answer

Really awesome stuff. Thank you for starting this!

QiuYidio

blueapple · Answer

Very cool idea. I, like many others, have serious issues with the main business school rankings out there. While there is no perfect way to rank them, I believe that it should be more outcome-based (recruiting ranking, starting salaries, etc.) that based on admission information, which is more easily influenced by institutional actions.

It will be fun to track this going forward as more and more people respond.

It will be fun to track this going forward as more and more people respond.

Let's Crowdsource MBA Rankings!

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