Time-Saving Guides for Top MBA Programs

MBA rankings come and go, but Harvard Business School is recognized as the long-term #1 business school in the world.

Stanford is famous for its ties to Silicon Valley, venture capital investing, and tech startups. But the business school at Stanford University is much broader than this, teaching students an interdisciplinary, interpersonal curriculum.

Wharton is good in almost every area. Yes, finance, but also entrepreneurship, technology (don’t forget their San Francisco campus!), social impact, and more.

Kellogg School of Management is rightly famous for its team-based approach and the location in Evanston, which combines access to Chicago with a relaxed college town setting.

The Booth program is known for its academic and analytical rigor, and the fact that its flexible curriculum has only a single strictly required course, with students customizing everything else.

Columbia Business School is about access to New York City and its resources, like executives who come to campus as guest lecturers, entrepreneurs in residence, or to hire in-semester interns.

MIT Sloan is strong in technology — in all senses of the word. Tech at MIT doesn’t just mean Google, Facebook and Amazon, but also physical product design for consumers and industry.

The Tuck MBA bring together a small number of students for an intense bonding experience in its Hanover, NH location, creating a fanatically loyal alumni group that donates to the school at 2-3x the average, and pulls out all of the stops to help other Tuckies.

Berkeley’s Haas School of Business is on the forefront of diversity, both through its connection to the very progressive host university, UC Berkeley, and through its own initiatives, like appointing a Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer. Its Bay Area location allows excellent placement within the tech industry.

Yale SOM seeks to educate “leaders for business and society,” with a special focus on training future managers about the impact of their decisions on society at large. Full time MBA students at the SOM also have access to the full resources of Yale University.

Fuqua focuses on admitting MBA students who have a high “decency quotient”, considering not just their professional achievements, but also whether they treat their colleagues, friends, classmates and others with respect.

The Ross business school is a part of the much larger University of Michigan, whose huge alumni footprint creates networking opportunities with people in almost any company or location, anywhere. “Go Blue, Go Anywhere!”

UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business is the “Harvard Business School of Texas,” and rather well respected outside the state, too. The Austin location provides great access to the city’s booming tech and VC scene.