Harvard Business School (HBS) and Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) retained the number 1 and 2 positions respectively in the annual list of the Most Desired Business Schools in the World released by Ready4, test and exam preparation mobile apps developer.
This is for the second year, the Boston-based company has released such a list after a survey of more than 250,000 prospective MBA students in 195 countries.
Interestingly, two schools offering 1-Year MBA programs are in the list of 25 schools. The Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business (ISB) with another campus at Mohali, Punjab, is ranked 5 and INSEAD, with campuses at Fontainebleau near Paris, Singapore and Abu Dhabi 1s placed 9th in the rankings.
Meanwhile, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania moved up two positions to capture the third spot. However, University of California’s Berkeley-Haas jumped five spots from 15 in the previous year to 10th rank.
Of the 25-schools in the list, the majority of 15 are located in the United States. India has three, as apart from ISB, The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) is listed 13th, even though Ready4 does not specify which particular IIM. It seems to have taken them collectively. The Mumbai-based SP Jain Institute of Management & Research is ranked 23rd.
The United Kingdom has 3 schools. The London Business School ranked 7th, the Said Business School at the University of Oxford ranked 16 and Cambridge Judge Business School at 20. France has two schools in the list. Apart from INSEAD, HEC Paris is ranked 18th.
The Methodology
The rankings are based on the choices listed by Ready4GMAT users. They are required to choose up to 10 schools they are interested in applying to while registering to download the platform’s GMAT (Graduate Management Admissions Test) prep mobile application.
However, the survey results could be influenced by demographics. The countries with the most registered users are the U.S., India, and China. According to the Ready4 report, during testing year 2015, 29,042 India residents took the GMAT, compared to 62,691 from China and 84,600 from the U.S.
ALSO READ:How To Fill In IRMA’s PGDRM Application Form
On a country-by-country breakdown, both U.S. and Chinese registrants picked U.S.-based schools for all of their top five, while Indian registrants chose three Indian schools alongside Harvard and Stanford to make up their top five. Within the U.S., the majority were from California and New York. Thus, it is possible that the higher numbers of users from California and New York could have had a bearing on the performance of Haas, Columbia Business School, and NYU Stern, all of which gained at least two positions from last year.
Desirable but Selective
The most desired schools also happen to be the most selective in granting admission. Harvard enrolled 934 students in its class of 2018, just 10% of the total applicants. Stanford took in 417 students, or 5% of applicants. Wharton’s 2018 class has 851 students and an admission rate of 13%.
Tuition fee for these schools ranges from $64,000 to $74,000 per year, leading to total annual costs of over $100,000 for each two-year program. However, the graduates earn median compensation of $180,000 to $208,000 in their first year out of school.
Full List: Business Schools Where Students Most Want To Go In 2016
- Harvard
2. Stanford
3. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
4. MIT (Sloan)
5. Indian School of Business
6. Columbia
7. London Business School
8. New York University (Stern)
9. INSEAD
10. University of California Berkeley (Haas)
11. University of Chicago (Booth)
12. Northwestern (Kellogg)
13. Indian Institute of Management
14. Yale
15. Duke (Fuqua)
16. University of Oxford
17. London School of Economics
18. HEC Paris
19. Cornell
20. University of Cambridge
21. National University of Singapore
22. UCLA
23. SP Jain Institute of Management & Research
24. University of Michigan Ann Arbor (Ross)
25. Dartmouth (Tuck)
(Image Source:flicker.com)
