***OFFICIAL 2009 US NEWS MBA RANKINGS***

those are wrong

For starters, Chicago is at 5 and Maryland is at 40. Some of it is correct but that is not a definitive ranking. One USC Marshall is not on his list anywhere. I have a hard time believing they dropped out of the top 50. There are a few more errors.

Some personal observations,

Those people on Soni's blog have a ridiculous sense of entitlement. Demanding proof with a scan or a photo of the blog (posting anonymously no less!), asking to see rankings 20 to 30 otherwise they are calling shenanigans, etc. Geez, maybe I am slowly turning into a crusty curmudgeon, but that's just ridiculous.

While I am pleased with Booth's ranking (be it 5, 5a, 5b, or even 6), it's a tad disappointing to see it not even be ranked in the top 10 for Management.

Anyway, it's good to see Georgia Tech shoot up the ranks. Given it's location and it's reputation (particularly as an engineering school[0]), it's well-positioned for growth. However, given that so much of the ranking is dependent on brand value/reputation, further improvement (in ranking at least) should be difficult/slow/impossible(?)

[0] A preemptive answer to the skeptics. The engineering school can affect the business school in several ways. 1) The big companies already recruit there for the engineering students, so there is already a strong relationship between the school and several prominent companies. 2) It can help Georgia Tech possible carve out a niche as a source of technically inclined MBA graduates. 3) Georgia Tech does a lot of projects with government agencies, in particular the DoD, so people wanting to work for the government or defense contractors, there is a lot of opportunities for synergy. Then again, I'm hardly an unbiased observer.

I wouldn't worry about it. The recruitment numbers are much more important then rankings. I know that a couple of companies hire at Booth, and not at other "Top Management" schools for their management programs, Dow is one example - they hire only at HBS, Wharton, and Booth:
https://www.dow.com/careers/programs/corp_recruit.htm
PS - Those from other schools, I'm not attempting to bash other schools here, just pointing out that rankings themselves are sometimes meaningless.

Remember that jpg monkbent posted a couple of days ago? Well I could read a 92 score at UofC, but it is so blurry and as my vision is not the best one with 2 degrees of astigmatism, I preferred not to say a thing.

thanks for posting the rankings!

Yay for Haas getting #7 by itself now.

Like kwam said, rankings are just there for reference. In the end, it's all about whether you can get the job you want at the school you're at and what resources the school puts out to help its students.

Oh, I'm not worried, I was just splitting hairs. I don't for a second believe that Booth's absence from US News Top 10 Management business schools ranking (typing this out makes it sound even more ridiculous) will have any tangible effect.

Besides, we all know BW MBA rankings >>>>>>>>> US News MBA rankings.

I have to say these rankings are really surprising to me. I was really under the impression both Booth and Kellogg were strong in entrepreneurship. What is so special about Babson's entrepreneurship program that puts it ahead of Stanford?

I wonder if USNEWS could find a single person who would choose Babson over any of the 2-5 schools.

Babson has actually been number 1 15 years in a row.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babson

Anyhow, a lot of the USNews speciality rankings are a bit weird. I wouldn't worry about it.

Introducing the Official Gil's Mba Rankings. (Basically, just an excel sheet with an average ranking combining USNEWS and BWEEK).

I was actually planning on unveiling these tomorrow but somehow they leaked:)

Figured this could interest some people. Be warned - I am not great at excel so this may contain calculation errors.

They'll be available online tomorrow. From the usnews website: https://secure.usnews.com/premium/cart.jsp


Pre-order: America's Best Graduate Schools 2010 Premium Online Edition. Access begins April 23,2009.

Re: the specialties, USNews focuses on how much the program is 'geared' towards that sector, e.g. electives offered, # of professors who specialize in that field, # of students who pursue that track. The place that lets one most 'immerse' him or herself. Babson's MBA program is more or less specifically geared towards entrepreneurs, they were the first school to offer a course designed for students looking to launch their own business prior to / immediately after graduation. A significant chunk of their program are part-timers who by day run/work on startups in the metro-Boston area. So if you are looking for a place where you'll have plenty of opportunities to say demo your new idea at a fair amongst other start-ups and meet other people looking to do the same, it's hard to beat Babson.

That said, from my experience one should really only put a lot of stock in the 'specialty' rankings if you are basically 100% that's what you'll be doing after school, which to me is really something you can only feel after having some significant experience in the field (some may disagree with me on this). In my line of work I come across a ton of people who talk about going to Thunderbird or U of SC-Moore (the "Babsons" of international business schools) because they want to work internationally, but they don't even know a useful 2nd language or are accustomed to the separation/changes that come from being 10 time zones away from your friends/family. Then they get 2nd thoughts and struggle to find work because they've already pigeonholed themselves so much. Same for someone who wants to 'get into entrepreneurship' but doesn't have a concrete idea for a new business.

As always just my 2 cents on the matter.

It's up on their website now...

https://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandr ... s/rankings

Very well put bostonsparky. I have people asking me why I'm not going to Thunderbird and this is basically exactly what I say (and I already speak a second language and have lived abroad). Overall quality is definitely most important for 95% of applicants.

Just to add to what Kwam said, I am here at Booth pursuing general management as my post-MBA career. I was able to land my top choice internship - at a company similar to Dow in that they only recruited at Booth and 1 other school for their general management internships this year. I'm happy to answer any questions about GM at Booth, just shoot me a message.

Thanks for the link.... Time to hack the webpage and move Ross up to where it belongs...

Right behind Kellogg?

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