"Real" Global MBA Rankings for 2009: "The 100"

The "Real" Global MBA Rankings for 2009: FT Global MBA Rankings in Weighted US$ Salary Order

This is my second annual ranking of programs in salary order. This year, instead of 98 schools, FT has 100, so I have 100. 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 "Global MBA Rankings 2009" Data was ranked in order of “ Weight Salary ($).” 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 salary 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 objective criteria that all programs have in common.

Disclaimer #1: I could use some other accumulation of salaries for this same purpose, but FT's list is global, so I decided to use it. If your school is not included on this list of the top 100, please don’t be offended. If FT ranked more programs, so would I.

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 salary 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. I will provide new data on this, but here is the old data. If you want new data, you should go to the various ranking lists to obtain Fall 2008 admission rates.
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 100"

Rank School Country Weighted Salary
1 Stanford University GSB U.S.A. $170,340
2 University of Pennsylvania Wharton U.S.A. $169,784
3 Columbia Business School U.S.A. $164,310
4 Harvard Business School U.S.A. $163,637
5 MIT: Sloan U.S.A. $156,451
6 Dartmouth College: Tuck U.S.A. $156,124
7 CEIBS China $151,641
8 IMD Switzerland $151,624
9 University of Chicago: Booth U.S.A. $150,272
10 Indian School of Business India $148,339
11 INSEAD France / Singapore $147,908
12 London Business School U.K. $146,565
13 New York University: Stern U.S.A. $144,125
14 University of Cape Town GSB South Africa $143,693
15 Northwestern University: Kellogg U.S.A. $142,645
16 UCLA: Anderson U.S.A. $141,065
17 Yale School of Management U.S.A. $140,803
18 University of California at Berkeley: Haas U.S.A. $137,699
19 University of Virginia: Darden U.S.A. $137,215
20 University of Oxford: Saïd U.K. $135,502
21 IE Business School Spain $132,925
22 University of Michigan: Ross U.S.A. $132,522
23 University of Cambridge: Judge U.K. $130,160
24 Duke University: Fuqua U.S.A. $128,692
25 Cornell University: Johnson U.S.A. $127,858
26 Australian School of Business Australia $127,474
27 Cranfield School of Management U.K. $127,004
28 Emory University: Goizueta U.S.A. $126,262
29 IESE Business School Spain $124,645
30 City University: Cass U.K. $124,026
31 Georgetown University: McDonough U.S.A. $121,786
32 ESADE Business School Spain $121,776
33 University of North Carolina: Kenan-Flagler U.S.A. $120,198
34 University of Strathclyde Business School U.K. $118,683
35 HEC Paris France $117,630
36 Imperial College Business School U.K. $117,119
37 Carnegie Mellon: Tepper U.S.A. $116,773
38 University of Southern California: Marshall U.S.A. $116,258
39 University of Rochester: Simon U.S.A. $115,867
40 University of Texas at Austin: McCombs U.S.A. $114,761
41 Warwick Business School U.K. $114,653
42 Vanderbilt University: Owen U.S.A. $110,768
43 Melbourne Business School Australia $110,290
44 RSM, Erasmus University Netherlands $109,997
45 Babson College: Olin U.S.A. $109,541
46 Washington University: Olin U.S.A. $109,507
47 Rice University: Jones U.S.A. $109,302
48 Manchester Business School U.K. $109,066
49 SMU: Cox U.S.A. $109,052
50 University of Maryland: Smith U.S.A. $108,404
51 Hong Kong UST Business School China $108,364
52 Boston College: Carroll U.S.A. $108,162
53 Indiana University: Kelley U.S.A. $107,653
54 University of Bath School of Management U.K. $107,613
55 Lancaster University Management School U.K. $106,960
56 University of Notre Dame: Mendoza U.S.A. $106,487
57 Pennsylvania State University: Smeal U.S.A. $105,728
58 U. of Washington Business School: Foster U.S.A. $105,558
59 Boston University School of Management U.S.A. $105,532
60 University College Dublin: Smurfit Ireland $104,934
61 SDA Bocconi Italy $104,859
62 University of Western Ontario: Ivey Canada $104,456
63 Nanyang Business School Singapore $104,294
64 Durham Business School U.K. $104,282
65 Michigan State University: Broad U.S.A. $102,897
66 Univ. of California at Irvine: Merage U.S.A. $102,010
67 Univ. of Edinburgh Business School U.K. $101,884
68 George Washington University U.S.A. $101,530
69 University of Florida: Hough U.S.A. $101,343
70 Vlerick Leuven Gent Mgnt. School Belgium $101,180
71 University of Arizona: Eller U.S.A. $101,066
72 Leeds University Business School U.K. $100,918
72 Purdue University: Krannert U.S.A. $100,856
73 Wake Forest University: Babcock U.S.A. $100,727
74 Nottingham University Business School U.K. $99,647
75 Arizona State University: Carey U.S.A. $99,624
76 Case Western Reserve U.: Weatherhead U.S.A. $99,238
77 Thunderbird School of Global Mngt. U.S.A. $99,187
78 Wisconsin School of Business U.S.A. $99,138
79 Texas A & M University: Mays U.S.A. $98,647
80 University of Minnesota: Carlson U.S.A. $98,451
81 Brigham Young University: Marriott U.S.A. $97,789
82 University of Toronto: Rotman Canada $97,413
83 Coppead Brazil $96,938
84 Hult International B. School USA/ UK/ UAE $96,915
85 Bradford School of Management/Tias
86.Nimbas Business School U.K. / Netherlands / Germany $96,144
87 NUS School of Business Singapore $95,926
88 University of Pittsburgh: Katz U.S.A. $95,633
89 Ohio State University: Fisher U.S.A. $93,744
90 U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign U.S.A. $92,863
91 University of Iowa: Tippie U.S.A. $92,166
92 U. of Miami School of Business U.S.A. $92,064
93 U. of South Carolina: Moore U.S.A. $91,774
94 EADA Spain $89,786
95 U. of British Columbia: Sauder Canada $89,682
96 York University: Schulich Canada $88,609
97 Aston Business School U.K. $86,364
98 Grenoble Grad. School of Business France $83,516
99 Birmingham Business School U.K. $82,624
100 University of Alberta Canada $75,084


One advantage of a salary-based list of programs worldwide is that it helps to see the rising global market value of MBA programs. It also means that those of us who help applicants considering worldwide application, start to pay more attention to such national leaders as the Indian School of Business, China Europe International Business School, and Australian Graduate School of Management.

For those with a US MBA bias, this ranking should be humbling because so many of what are usually ranked quite highly in the US, don't, at least at the salary level, look as attractive as a FT, Businessweek or other such ranking might suggest.

From a school selection perspective, I think looking at the stark reality of the expected financial outcome is critical. Looking at this solely helps to put the outcome into focus. "The 100" is only one possible way of doing this.

I am well aware that applicants don't simply make selection choices on the basis of salary, but I think evaluating programs on this basis is one important consideration.

Given the present grim economic situation, it stands to reason that we might see a decline in these salary numbers over the next couple of years. It will especially be interesting to see whether US and UK schools that are highly connected to the financial industry lose their present high rank on this list.

Finally, I would like to thank "my team" at FT for doing all of the hard work. They have this nifty way of generating excel documents that really reduced my work by hours.

-Adam Markus
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Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.


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HBS MBA Interview Preparation: Rip Yourself Apart!

This is a short follow-up to my post on HBS MBA interviews. In that post I wrote:
You need to know your application very completely as you will be asked by adcom about its content. Review your entire application (not just resume and essays, but everything including the transcript) very carefully and consider what your interviewer might ask you to explain more thoroughly. Remember: Anything is fair game. Assume that the weakest parts of your application will be topics in the interview. Assume the worst-case scenario and be very prepared to address their concerns. Given the annual failure rate at HBS, if you have any academic weaknesses (low GPA, a relatively weak TOEFL, insufficient proof of a quantitative background), be ready to address those issues. Be prepared to tell new stories and alternative versions of the stories you told in your essays.

A point I will be making to own clients who have been invited for the HBS interview is that proper preparation for this interview really requires that you look for all the weak points in your application: Rip yourself apart in order to try and determine what you need to be especially ready to address. Getting a fresh perspective by reviewing your own application is certainly helpful. In addition, you should consider having one or more other people who can help you prepare for this, review your entire file. If you use any paid services, make sure that the mock interviewer (admissions consultant, admissions counselor, interview coach) will be reading your application first and developing a list of questions partially based on that review, otherwise they are not really helping you prepare for an HBS interview. When I do mock interviews for interview-only clients, I always ask to read their applications if they are not doing a blind interview. For schools like HBS and MIT, which are never blind, reading the whole application (especially the essays) is critical for simulating the real thing.

If you are interested in my interview preparation or other graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant."
-Adam Markus
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HBS: 750 Round Two invitations go out with 50-100 more to follow

If you did not get an HBS 2nd round invite today, as the HBS Admissions Director makes clear on her 2/9 blog post, it is not over yet:
Today we are sending emails to about 750 applicants inviting them to interview. Detailed information will be included in the email. I think there will be between 50 and 100 additional invitations sent between now and April 2. These will be sent out as files are reviewed - not on a designated day or days.

So, if you applied to HBS, till you hear otherwise you are still under consideration.

-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

Tuck Japan Trek 2009 Sponsor

The Japanese students at Tuck are putting on their first Japan Trek this year, which I think is wonderful way for them to teach their fellow MBA students about Japan. I am very pleased to serve as an official sponsor of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth's Japan Trek 2009 because I know such trips will build lasting bridges between individuals and nations.

-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス


Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

Wharton MBA Admissions Interview Strategy

In this post, I have decided to simply comment on the mostly helpful advice that Wharton provides in Tips on the Wharton MBA Admissions Interview. In addition to my own knowledge of Wharton MBA interviews, I am drawing on the reports found at accepted.com and clearadmit.com.

For those who might be interviewing with J.J. Cutler, the new Director of MBA Admissions & Financial Aid, you should read my earlier post on him as you get can learn about his background, though I can't say that it will provide you with much insight on how he conducts interviews.

I have quoted that entire Wharton Tips text and inserted comments. Wharton's original text is in bold.

Tips on the Wharton MBA Admissions Interview

Invited to an interview? Here are some tips directly from the Admissions Committee to to help prepare you…

PURPOSE

Interviews provide additional information about your candidacy that is included in the final reviews of your application. As such interviews, are not the decisive factor in your admissions decision. In most cases, interviews are fairly consistent with the application.

ADAM: At Wharton, interviews are just one factor that goes into the determination to admit, waitlist, or reject. That said, don't take this interview lightly because I think is fair to say that those who don't do a superior interview are unlikely to be admitted or at least waitlisted.

STRUCTURE

Interviews are blind, which reduces bias as your interviewer will have no preconceived ideas of your ability or personality based on your written application.

ADAM: While it is true that all interviews are blind in the sense that interviewers will not have read your application, if you interview with an admissions officer or alumni you have had previous contact with, the interviewer may very well have preconceived ideas of your ability based on that contact.

Interviews may include behavioral questions. Questions may center on specific examples or detailed descriptions of events, projects or experience that demonstrate how situations you’ve faced in the past have been handled and what you learned from them. Behavioral interviewing assumes that past performance predicts future behavior.

ADAM: Sure, this is possible, but a review of Wharton's interview reports indicates that the behavioral interview method is generally not used at all or used extensively. However, the fact that they have a statement like this means that you should be prepared to answer behavioral questions. See my post on MIT interviews for more about that.

No advance preparation is required. Questions are straightforward and cover topics such as why you seek an MBA, why you feel you are a good fit for Wharton (vice versa), what your career goals are, how you spend your spare time, what you value, about what you are passionate, etc. You will not be asked analyze a case study or demonstrate your mastery of particular subjects.

ADAM: A review of Wharton's interview reports indicates that the questions are almost always straightforward. You should certainly prepare for this interview by becoming comfortable answering the full range of such general MBA questions as well as being able to discuss everything on your resume. See here for more information about how to prepare for such questions. It is particularly important that you be able to express why Wharton is your first choice.

All interviews carry equal weight. There is no advantage to interviewing on-campus or with an admissions staff member. Arrange the type of interview that is most convenient for you.

ADAM: Based on my experience with clients, I can say that I have not ever noticed any real distinction in terms of outcome (admit, ding, waitlist) that was traceable to who the interviewer was. If you do an alumni interview, you will might have a choice of alumni to select from. The one advantage of this is that you can find out about the alums ahead of time. If you have an off-campus option of meeting with an admissions officer, you will be able to learn about him or her as well. Campus interviews are with students or admissions officers, but you will probably not have any information about your interviewer ahead of time. Each option has its inherent advantages and disadvantages. Alums and admissions officers are likely to be more experienced at interviewing, whereas students are more likely to be your peers. My suggestion is to select whoever you will feel the most comfortable with.

GENERAL TIPS

Interviews are dialogues or exchange between two people. Steer away from pre-rehearsed speech and over reliance on your résumé. We are interested in getting to know you as an individual, so follow the cues of the interviewer.

ADAM: This is really sound advice regarding the structure of the exchange. Successful Wharton interviews often become conversations rather than simply a question and answer session. Their advice "to follow the cues of the interviewer" is really applicable to any interview, so listen to each question and don't simply blurt out the first thing that comes to your mind. Also try to gauge how long your answers should be based on the conversational style of the interviewer. Instead of making speeches, make certain that you are engaged in a dialogue. One thing to practice is giving short, but very direct initial answers to questions.

The exact length of the interview does not indicate how well the interview went. While we schedule 30 minute interviews, they may vary a bit. Deviations from the schedule are random and unrelated to the candidate.

ADAM: Reported length is typically 30-45 minutes.

Do not expect the interviewer to give you feedback – literally or figuratively. Be careful to avoid any interpretation of verbal or non-verbal communication, as both may mislead you.

ADAM: I think asking for feedback is a particularly odd thing to do because it puts the interviewer in a difficult position. The advice to avoid interpretation of verbal or non-verbal communication is nonsensical and/or simply badly stated. As a human being we cannot avoid such interpretations. More specifically, Wharton has previously suggested following the cues of the interviewer, which is a form of interpretation of both verbal and non-verbal communication. What they probably meant to say was that one should not necessarily assume the absence or presence of positive verbal and/or non-verbal feedback from the interviewer indicates how well your interview is going. This might be true or it might not. It is certainly is the case that whatever way your interviewer acts, you need to stay positive and focused and not over-analyze the interviewer's reactions.

Interviews are not a popularity contest. The interviewer is assessing your fit for the Wharton MBA program, not whether or not the two of you would make good or best friends.The key is to relax, be genuine, and enjoy the opportunity for us to get to know one another.

ADAM: While these interviews may not be popularity contests, your objective is make sure that the interviewer understands why should be a part of the Wharton community. As these interviewers are gatekeepers, convincing them that you belong at Wharton requires that you be well prepared as well as relaxed and genuine. Being both well prepared and genuine requires real practice, so don't focus on one at the cost of the other.

-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス

If you are interested in my interview preparation or other graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant."


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