Stanford Graduate School of Business topped the list of schools with the lowest acceptance offer for fall 2017 as the acceptance rate for MBA programs dropped to an average 14%, significantly lower than the overall average of nearly 47% among all ranked business schools for the fall of 2017, according to the U.S. News.
The publication had analysed the data submitted by 126 schools to draw up a list of 10 B-schools with the lowest acceptance rates.
The Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago that tied with Harvard at No. 1 in the rankings, accepted nearly 24% of the applicants for fall 2017.
Stanford GSB, 4th ranked in the U.S. News Best Business School rankings, had 8,173 applicants for the full-time MBA program. However, the school sent offer letters to only 469 candidates or 5.7%. Those selected also had the highest GMAT scores with 737 as the average test score.
Incidentally, more than half of the schools with the lowest acceptance rates figured among the top 10 in the rankings. The second in the list is Harvard Business School (rank 1 tie) with an acceptance rate of 9.9%. Out of the total number of 10,351 applicants, the school sent offer letters to just 1,021 candidates.
MIT Sloan School of Management (5th rank) comes next with an acceptance rate of 11.6%. It selected 670 candidates from an application pool of 5,798. UC Berkeley Haas (7 tie) follows with an acceptance rate of 12.9%. It sent offer letters to 515 culled from a total of 4,007 applicants.
The acceptance rate jumps to 14% with the Columbia Business School (9th rank) making admission offers to 787 of a total 5,626 applicants. UF Warrington College of Business has an acceptance rate of 14.9% offering admission to 36 out of 241 applicants.
The acceptance rate goes up to 17.1% at Penn State Smeal College of Business which took in 94 of the 550 applicants. Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (3rd rank) has an acceptance rate of 19.2%. It sent admission offer letters to 1,287 of the total 6,692 applicants. Northwestern Kellogg School of Management has an acceptance rate of 20.2% taking in 926 of the 4,595 applicants.
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Meanwhile, four schools that rank among the top 10 Best Business Schools notched up acceptance rates above
20%. The Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago that tied with Harvard at No. 1 in the rankings, accepted nearly 24% of the applicants for fall 2017.
The University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, tied with Haas for the 7th rank, accepted 25% while Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business (10th rank) admitted 23%.
Applicants could take heart from the fact that a couple of schools accepted more than 90% of the applicants. Northern Arizona University’s Franke College of Business accepted nearly 98% of applicants and the School of Business at La Salle University in Pennsylvania granted admission to 94%.
The 10 ranked business schools with the lowest acceptance rates for MBA students entering in fall 2017
| Business school (name) (state) | Full-time applicants (fall 2017) | Full-time acceptances (fall 2017) | Full-time acceptance rate (fall 2017) | U.S. News business school rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford University (CA) | 8,173 | 469 | 5.7% | 4 |
| Harvard University (MA) | 10,351 | 1,021 | 9.9% | 1 (tie) |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) | 5,798 | 670 | 11.6% | 5 |
| University of California—Berkeley (Haas) | 4,007 | 515 | 12.9% | 7 (tie) |
| Columbia University (NY) | 5,626 | 787 | 14% | 9 |
| University of Florida (Warrington) | 241 | 36 | 14.9% | 34 |
| Pennsylvania State University—University Park (Smeal) | 550 | 94 | 17.1% | 31 (tie) |
| Yale University (CT) | 4,098 | 713 | 17.4% | 11 (tie) |
| University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) | 6,692 | 1,287 | 19.2% | 3 |
| Northwestern University (Kellogg) | 4,595 | 926 | 20.2% | 6 |
