"Real" Global MBA Rankings for 2008: "The 98"

June, 19, 2008 Update: Please also see my comparison and averaged ranking of "Top 20" MBA rankings in Businessweek, US News and World Report, FT, Wall Street Journal, EIU, and Forbes. See also my ranking of "Top 20" programs by acceptance rate.
Click here for all of my rankings tables together in one post.

The "Real" Global MBA Rankings for 2008: FT MBA Rankings in Salary Order

The rankings below should hopefully be of value for both those engaged in initial school application selection and for admitted applicants who have been accepted to multiple programs and need to determine where to go.

“Methodology”: All FT 2008 Data was ranked in order of “Salary Today (US$).” No other methods were employed.

Justification #1: Whatever they pay you when you graduate is the market value of your degree, all other factors are mere conjecture.

Justification #2: One may very well value an MBA beyond mere salary calculations, but it will certainly be a factor for almost everyone.

Justification #3: Since each school reports its own data, assuming that data is good, the ranking is based on an objective criterion that all programs have in common.

Disclaimer #1: I could use some other accumulation of salaries for this same purpose, but since FT has just been released, I decided to use it. If your school is not included on this list of the top 98, please don’t be offended. Given more data, I would make a bigger list.

Disclaimer #2: Actual market value will very much depend on your situation. The numbers below are only averages.

Disclaimer #3: Salary is but one measure of ROI. This survey does not account for relative increase in salary, opportunity costs, or other less tangible, but important factors.

Disclaimer #4: These rankings in no way measure the value of the educational experience at any of these programs, merely the likely post-MBA salary outcome.

School Selection Strategy for Those Admitted to Multiple Programs: Go to the highest ranked program if you want to obtain the most market value.

School Application Selection Strategy Based on Salary Approach.
Simply compare salaries to rates of admission (Sorry, admissions rates are not below, but you can get them (except for those schools that don't report such information) on BusinessWeek or US News and World Report or directly from the schools):
1. Apply to the highest ranked programs you think you can get it into.
2. Find bargains: Schools with a high salary and a high rate of admission.
3. Avoid application to schools with a relatively low admissions rates and lower salaries.
4. Caveat emptor.

"THE 98"

1. Stanford University GSB, US, $175,766
2. Columbia Business School, US, $169,730
3. University of Pennsylvania: Wharton, US, $166,032
4. Harvard Business School, US, $163,493
5. Indian School of Business, India, $155,938
6. University of Chicago GSB, US, $155,484
7. MIT: Sloan, US, $155,316
8. CEIBS, China, $154,144
9. Dartmouth College: Tuck, US, $152,580
10. UCLA: Anderson, US, $148,615
11. INSEAD, France/Singapore, $147,763
12. IMD, Switzerland, $147,172
13. London Business School, UK, $145,918
14. New York University: Stern, US, $141,554
15. University of Oxford: Saïd, UK, $141,170
16. Yale School of Management, US, $140,576
17. Northwestern University: Kellogg, US, $136,674
18. University of Cambridge: Judge, UK, $133,480
19. UC Berkeley: Haas, US, $131,688
20. Cranfield School of Management, UK, $129,785
21. University of Virginia: Darden, US, $129,389
22. Cornell University: Johnson, US, $126,829
23. University of Michigan: Ross, US, $125,839
24. Emory University: Goizueta, US, $ 123,569
25. Duke University: Fuqua, US, $ 122,811
26. Australian Graduate School of Management, Australia, $122,349
27. Georgetown University: McDonough, US, $120,346
28. Imperial College London: Tanaka, UK, $120,207
29. IE Business School, Spain, $120,190
30. IESE Business School, Spain, $119,890
31. HEC Paris France, $118,562
32. University of North Carolina: Kenan-Flagler, US, $115,519
33. University of Southern California: Marshall, US, $114,582
34. University of Rochester: Simon, US, $113,983
35. University of Bath School of Management, UK, $113,727
36. University of Strathclyde Business School, UK, $113,071
37. Manchester Business School, UK, $112,625
38. Warwick Business School, UK, $112,586
39. Carnegie Mellon: Tepper, US, $112,536
40. City University: Cass, $111,615
41. University of California: Davis, U.S.A., $109,189
42. University of Texas at Austin: McCombs, U.S.A., $108,268
43. ESADE Business School, Spain, $108,166
44. Edinburgh University Management School UK, $107,956
45. Vanderbilt University: Owen U.S.A., $107,328
46. Rice University: Jones U.S.A. 2008, $107,180
47. Melbourne Business School Australia, $106,978
48. Babson College: Olin US, $106,849
49. University of Maryland: Smith US, $106,636
50. University of Western Ontario: Ivey Canada, $106,073
51. University of Notre Dame: Mendoza U.S.A., $105,783
52.Boston College: Carroll U.S.A. 2007, $105,659
53.Boston University School of Management US, $105,586
54. University of Washington Business School US, $105,554
55. Indiana University: Kelley US, $105,547
56. Lancaster University Management School UK, $104,609
57. RSM Erasmus University Netherlands, $104,211
58. Leeds University Business School UK, $104,165
59. Pennsylvania State University: Smeal US, $103,764
60. George Washington University US, $102,852
61. Michigan State University: Broad US, $102,202
62. University College Dublin: Smurfit Ireland, $101,730
63. Washington University: Olin US, $100,808
64. Nottingham University Business School UK, $100,277
65. University of California at Irvine: Merage US, $100,030
66. Bradford School of Management/TiasNimbas Business School UK/Netherlands/Germany, $99,202
67. Thunderbird School of Global Management US, $99,099
68. University of Toronto: Rotman Canada, $98,940
69. Purdue University: Krannert US, $98,554
70. Arizona State University: Carey US, $98,060
71. Hong Kong UST Business School China, $97,235
72. University of Wisconsin-Madison US, $96,866
73. SDA Bocconi Italy, $96,824
74. Vlerick Leuven Gent, Belgium, $95,754
75. College of William and Mary: Mason, US, $96,717
76. Brigham Young University: Marriott, US, $96,702
77. University of South Carolina: Moore, US, $95,417
78. Tulane University: Freeman, US, $95,384
79. Case Western Reserve: Weatherhead, US, $95,283
80. University of Arizona: Eller, US, $95,225
81. University of Georgia: Terry, US, $94,930
82. University of Pittsburgh: Katz, US, $94,641
83. University of Minnesota: Carlson, US, $94,246
84. University of Florida, US, $93,077
85. Ohio State University: Fisher, US, $92,788
86. Texas A & M University: Mays, US, $91,656
87. McGill University: Desautels, Canada, $91,551
88. Shanghai Jiao Tong University, ACEM, China, $91,346
89. EM Lyon, France, $90,532
90. Nanyang Business School Singapore, $89,836
91. Nyenrode Business Universiteit Netherlands, $89,223
92. University of Iowa: Tippie, US, $88,972
93. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, US, $87,318
94. EADA Spain, $85,811
95. York University: Schulich, Canada, $84,388
96. University of British Columbia: Sauder, Canada, $81,997
97. Temple University: Fox, US, $75,458
98. University of Alberta, Canada, $74,250

I have made some additional comments regarding my ranking in a subsequent post.

Finally, I would like to thank "my team" at FT for doing all of the hard work.

Comments? Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to.

-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス

ビジネススクール MBA留学

Admissions Director & Consultant Simultaneously?

To a few readers who asked about this recent controversy, I would direct your attention to the AIGAC blog (Specific post quoted in full below). As the first member of AIGAC residing in Japan, I fully endorse my organization's position:

"Admissions Director & Consultant– Simultaneously?

In recent days articles have appeared in the press about three admissions directors who serve or have served on an advisory board at a private admissions consultancy in Japan. One advisor has since resigned from her position with the consultancy, which is not an AIGAC member. The arrangement is being questioned and in many cases condemned if not as an ethical breach than at least as an example of extremely poor judgment.

What is AIGAC’s position? An arrangement where a consultant or a member of the consultant’s staff is also working for a graduate school violates AIGAC’s Principles of Good Practice (“PGP”). The Principles state, regarding consultant relations with schools, that members agree to “Maintain independence of thought and action.” That independence could be compromised if a consultant (or one of its staff members) is receiving payment from a school.

Furthermore, one of the articles quotes one of the three as saying that to avoid any conflict she arranged to receive from the consultancy a list of applicants to her school and intended to recuse herself from consideration of these applications. The consultancy’s release of client names would also violate AIGAC’s PGP. AIGAC members agree to “Maintain client confidentiality” and providing a list of client names (presumably without clients’ permission) to someone who is an associate director of admissions at the school to which the clients are applying conflicts with that principle.

AIGAC encourages and values communication with the graduate schools. However, that communication must maintain client confidentiality and come without strings attached. And the ties that bind most tightly are compensation and payment.

We look forward to enhanced communication with graduate schools as we represent applicants, our exclusive clients."

Clear Admit has done an excellent job covering this story.

Finally, I have added an additional comment on my analysis of Wharton's MBA essay questions for Fall 2008 admission to reflect these recent events.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to.

-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス

ビジネススクール MBA留学

Financial Times Global MBA 2008 rankings

You can view all of the glorious FT Rankings for 2008! So exciting... I don't generally blog about rankings because lots of other people do and I find the topic basically pointless. At the end of the day, I look at starting salaries for grads and don't worry about the rest of it. To their credit, FT gives their ranking away unlike Businesweek and US News and World Report, but I guess that probably means something about the market value of FT's rankings.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to.


-Adam Markus

ビジネススクール MBA留学

Columbia Business School Fall 2008 Admission Essays

File this one in the better late than never category. I have been busy with clients and thus not able to cover all the topics I had wanted to last year. For those who have not applied yet, I thought I would post my analysis of Columbia Business School's very odd set of questions. If you find the beginning of my analysis somewhat cynical and mean spirited than chances are you don't belong in New York City anyway. That said, the first few paragraphs below are as much for amusement as for utility. After that I get more practical (mostly).

I say this is a very odd set because this is the only essay set I know where students are being specifically asked to analyze themselves in relationship to the perspective of the Dean of the Business School. By the way, I suggest watching this little video the students at CBS put together for the CBS Follies about the Dean's failed candidacy for Chairman of the US Federal Reserve (for the full story behind the video, see here).

Another aspect that is odd about this essay set is that the first two questions are likely to generate overlapping answers because in both cases one is being asked to assess the value of an MBA to your future. What is worse is that because essay 2 and 3 both reflect the Dean's views on entrepreneurship, there is also potential overlap between these two questions. I will discuss how to handle these problems below. Frankly, I consider this to be a badly formed set of questions as a result. One hopes that next year the Dean will let admissions ask distinct questions that are better designed not to blend into one another. It is their choice of course, but I will be very surprised to see them do this same set again. In the increasingly unlikely event that the Dean gets some great political appointment (in lieu of the Chairmanship of the Federal Reserve that he lost out on) from President Bush than he likely wouldn't be the Dean next year. I am guessing that supporting Mitt Romney for President will not have been one of the Dean's better moves, so he might be the Dean at Columbia for a good long time. In that case, the questions might get even more focused on his perspective.

The Columbia Business School Essays for Fall 2008 are available in the online application. My analysis follows after each question. Unlike other schools, Columbia does not number its questions in the application, but I have taken the liberty of doing so below:

1. What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals? How will Columbia Business School help you achieve these goals (Recommended 750 word limit)?
Over the years, Columbia has been very consistent in the way they ask this question. At first glance, it does seem pretty routine, but notice that something is missing from it? Compare it to NYU Stern or Chicago GSB or Wharton and you will see that there is no reference to the past. While one must certainly address one's past when answering this question, there should be no extended analysis of your career progress to date and you need not emphasize how your past experience will contribute to your future goals. Instead focus this on showing how Columbia will help you achieve your goals. The resources available at CBS and Columbia University are vast, so figure out specifically what you want from the school. The program is flexible, so identify your needs from Columbia as specifically as possible. Also keep in mind that CBS is changing its core curriculum.

Columbia wants to be loved. CBS has an institutional inferiority complex in regards to Harvard Business School and Stanford. After all, when you are frequently second choice, it hurts. What do I base this cruel allegation on? Two things. First, alumni interviews where demonstrating that Columbia really is the interviewees first choice seems to be a very common question and carries greater weight than at other top schools. Also (and more objectively), I look at the yield rates from Businessweek:
HBS 89%
Stanford GSB 80%
CBS 77%

Now Columbia's yield is certainly solid. That said, the good old early decision round helps to keep it that way and hence given the unique nature of that round, comparing the rates of CBS to other programs is somewhat problematic because by comparison the other schools are at a disadvantage. Which is to say if Columbia did not use the mandatory $6000 deposit and ethical stranglehold approach it takes to those who are accepted for the early decision, its yield would easily fall. How far, I am not sure.

Making a clear case why your goals are best achieved at CBS should be at the core of the essay. To make sure that they can see that, be very specific about what you need to learn at CBS to achieve your goals. After all, you want to show them you love and need them! If your goals are hot, that will making this essay even better. For learning about what is hot at Columbia, I suggest taking a look at their new blog: Public Offering.

2. In a recent speech delivered to the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, Dean Glenn Hubbard discussed the new, essential elements of the 21st century MBA: http://www.gsb.columbia.edu/admissions/21st_century_MBA.pdf. How will your MBA prepare you for a rapidly changing business environment (Recommended 500 word limit)?
I will NOT be providing you with an analysis of the Dean's speech. Read and reflect on it yourself. Here I will focus on how to answer the question. As mentioned above, Question 2 overlaps with question 1 and since Question 2 is partially focused on the role of entrepreneurial education, there is also some significant overlap between this question and Question 3. My suggestion is actually draft your answers to Questions 1 and 3 before answering Question 2 so that you fully differentiate between the essays and because if you have completed other school's essays already, you are likely to have a good start on Questions 1 and 3.

A number of my clients have asked me what the difference is between Questions 1 and 3. I think one huge difference is that 1 is specifically about your goals and about why CBS is the right place to achieve them, while 2 is about how you will use an MBA to adopt to a changing world. Thus I would suggest using 1 as a space to provide a very specific career goal oriented essay and 2 as a space to write more thoughtfully about the kind of very significant challenges taking place in your imagined future that an MBA will help you with. My clients have also asked to what extent reference should be made to Hubbard's speech and my general answer is that it should be clear that you read it, but DON'T WRITE A 500 WORD ANALYSIS OF HIS SPEECH. Mention ideas from his speech that are relevant to your answer, but don't feel obligated to write about the speech at any great length. Use Hubbard's speech as a springboard for writing your own essay, not as the core of tour essay.

3. The entrepreneurial mindset is an integral component of the Columbia Business School MBA. Please discuss a time in your own life when you have identified and captured an opportunity (Recommended 500 word limit)

Question 3 was previously Hubbard's question and identified in previous years as such. It reflects his focus on entrepreneurial education, but is actually a very open-ended question. For a story to fit, it essentially needs to consist of both a clear demonstration of your ability to identify an opportunity and to get it implemented. Let's discuss each step in turn.

The identification of the opportunity is really critical. If you are about to write a leadership essay about how you lead a team successfully by carrying out someone else's plan, you don't have the right topic for Question 3. The key part of this essay is that you identify something that other people can't see or don't see, that you initiate a positive change that adds value. I think the add value test is really important. A story where you identify a potential problem and simply prevent it from taking away value is not going to work here.

Capturing an opportunity means to get it implemented. To what extent you you do the actual implementation yourself is less important than your ability to go from having a good idea to making into a reality. If you do actually handle all the implementation then to the extent possible, explain what you did. In this sense, this essay could be like a leadership essay. Capturing an opportunity is ultimately about results, so describe the results very clearly. Obviously a situation where your are in the midst of implementing something will not likely work well here. You should be writing about a situation with a clear positive outcome where you added value.

While the story need not be on a professional topic, it should be on a topic where the outcome is clear and that best showcases your ability to find and realize opportunities. I think applicants with only two to three years of professional experience can more reasonably write on a non-professional topic than those with five or more years of experience.

4. Please tell us about what you feel most passionate in life (Recommended 250 word limit)

Passion is about emotion, it is about motivation. It is not rational and hence is in contrast to the very rational questions that make up the rest of the CBS application. In past years, I have seen successful essays on this topic on a variety of subjects, but the only common thing was that no one wrote about work. For those who write about work in Question 3, Question 4 is the main place in the essay set to write at length about something other than work. Whether it is your committed involvement in an organization, an issue that you care deeply about, or a hobby/interest that you have long been engaged, provide Columbia with some further insight into who you are as a person through this essay. If you have chosen to discuss a non-professional topic in Question 3, I think it is possible to write about a professional topic here, but be really certain that you are focused on passion. Whatever it is that you do write about, passion has to be there.


5. Optional) Is there any further information that you wish to provide to the Admissions Committee? Please use this space to provide an explanation of any areas of concern in your academic record or your personal history. [ADAM: Length not specified, 600,000 characters maximum, BUT KEEP IT BRIEF]
As with other school's optional questions, do not put an obvious essay for another school here. This is bad in general, but especially bad for CBS, given my comments above about their sensitivity. If you have negative issues of concern, see my post on the Chicago optional question. You can certainly write on something positive here, but before you do, ask yourself these questions:
1. If they did not ask it, do they really need to know it anyway?
2. Will the topic I want to discuss significantly improve my overall essay set?
3. Is the topic one that would not be covered from looking at other parts of my application?
4. Is the essay likely to be read as being a specific answer for Columbia and not an obvious essay for another school?

If you can answer "Yes!" to all four questions, it might be a good topic to write about, but my suggestion is to keep it brief so as to be consistent with the length for the other essays, ideally around 100-500 words.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to.

-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス
MBA留学 ビジネススクール カウンセリング コンサルティング

あなたはMBAを必要としていますか？

(English Version)

僕の仕事は熱心な出願者の入学を助けることであって、MBAの必要性を説くことではない。率直に言って、僕のMBA入学コンサルタントとしての長所は、この質問にとてもニュートラルであるということだ。なぜなら、MBAがいつも価値あるものであるとか、大学院においてそれがベストな選択だとは信じていないからだ。

もし誰かが「私はMBAを取得するべきなのでしょうか？」と質問してきたら、僕は大体こういう風に答えている。「僕がその質問に答えることはできませんが、あなたはあなた自身に次の質問をする必要があります。

1. MBAを取得したら、個人的に、また仕事上において、どのような影響がありますか？

2. どうしてあなたのプロフェッショナルなゴールにMBAが必要なのですか？

3. あなたは本当に1年から2年間、学校に戻りたいと思いますか？

4. MBAの費用はどうしますか？

5. 出願手続きをコミットする準備はできていますか？

6. 「機会費用」について考えましたか？経費だけではなく、時間についても。

7. ROI（投資利益率）を計算しましたか？(Click here for the Businessweek MBA ROI calculator.)

8. この学位はあなたに適切なものですか？他の学位やトレーニングについても考えてみましたか？

9. MBAプログラムについてどのくらい知っていますか？

10. どの学校に出願しますか？それはなぜ？

あなたにとってMBAが本当に必要かどうかを見極めるためにも、上記の質問に答えなければいけません。加えて、一度これらの質問に答えることは、MBAエッセイとインタビューへの良い初期対策となるでしょう。もし自分の答えに満足いかないときは、もっと深く考えて、より調査することが必要です。

僕の経験から言うと、自分の選択肢をよく考えるために時間を割く人は良い決断をします。もしその人たちがMBAを取得する決定をしたなら、それは優位な立場から決定したと言えるのです。

何かご質問は？　コメントを僕に直接送ってください。お気軽にadammarkus@gmail.comへ英語でご連絡ください。
-アダム マーカス,
Adam Markus のカウンセリングサービス



MBA留学