Stanford GSB

Stanford is Back on Top Alongside Penn’s Wharton in U.S News’ 2024 Best MBA Ranking

The U.S. News and World Report has posted the 2024-2025 Best MBA rankings. Stanford GSB and University of Pennsylvania Wharton are tied for the top spot, followed by a tie for third rank between Northwestern Kellogg and Chicago Booth.

Notable changes to the top 25 from the last year’s rankings include: 

  • Stanford’s five-rank jump, which moved it from 6th in 2023 back to 1st, a position it also held in 2021 and 2022. 

  • Harvard, which has spent the past two years in 5th, dropped one spot into the 6th position in 2024.

  • The biggest increases this year, apart from Stanford, were Vanderbilt Owen, which moved up seven ranks to the 20th spot, and Berkeley Haas and UVA Darden, which both moved up four positions to take 7th and 10th, respectively.

  • Dartmouth Tuck and Michigan Ross experienced the largest declines from 2023, both falling four positions. Tuck now shares the 10th spot with Darden, while Ross joined Columbia and Duke in a three-way tie at 12th. 

According to Poets & Quants, U.S. News acknowledged that its addition of a new post-graduate salary metric explains some of the movement seen within this year’s ranking. The addition of the metric de-emphasizes post-graduate starting salary/bonus slightly, incorporating MBA graduates’ starting salaries based on the field in which they’re entering. A description is available here. 

Rank School Name, Change from 2023

1 Stanford University (tie), +5

1 University of Pennsylvania, Wharton (tie), +2

3 Northwestern University, Kellogg (tie), -1 

3 University of Chicago, Booth (tie), -2

5 MIT, Sloan, -1

6 Harvard University, -1

7 New York University, Stern, (tie), +3

7 University of California–Berkeley, Haas (tie), +4

7 Yale University (tie), +1

10 Dartmouth, Tuck, (tie), -4

10 University of Virginia, Darden (tie), +4

12 Columbia University (tie), -1 

12 Duke University, Fuqua (tie), -1

12 University of Michigan, Ross (tie), -4

15 Cornell University, Johnson (tie), – 

16 Carnegie Mellon, Tepper (tie), +2

16 University of Texas–Austin, McCombs (tie), +2

18 Emory University, Goizueta (tie), -1

18 University of Southern California, Marshall (tie), -3

20 Indiana University, Kelley (tie), +2

20 University of California–Los Angeles, Anderson (tie), -1

20 University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, Kenan-Flagler (tie), +2

20 Vanderbilt University, Owen (tie), +7

24 Georgetown University, McDonough, –

25 Georgia Institute of Technology, Scheller, +1

Wharton Claims the Top Spot in Financial Times’ 2024 MBA Rankings

Over the weekend, the Financial Times published its 2024 MBA Rankings. The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton school took the top spot and Columbia Business School tied with Bocconi for the third rank. While just two U.S.-based schools cracked the top five, fifteen U.S. programs placed within the top 25. 

A few notable findings include:

  • Wharton’s top rank came as a result of its first-place finish in “research” and its strong performance in “weighted salary” (third, behind only Stanford GSB and Harvard). 

  • Stanford GSB came in 23rd overall, but was ranked the highest for “alumni network,” “weighted salary,” and alumni assessment of “aims achieved.” The program also ranked second for “career progress.”

  • Harvard Business School, ranked 11th overall, took the second spot for both “research” and “weighted salary,” and fifth for “career progress.”

  • University of Georgia’s Terry came in 40th overall, but ranked first for “value for money.” 

The rankings also took into account measures such as gender and international diversity, school environmental policies, and employment data. Check out the full rankings and the rankings for the underlying metrics, here.

2024 Rank / School

1 University of Pennsylvania: Wharton 

2 Insead 

3 Columbia Business School 

3 SDA Bocconi School of Management

5 IESE Business School 

6 Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management

6 MIT: Sloan

8 London Business School 

9 Cornell University: Johnson

10 University of Chicago: Booth 

11 Harvard Business School

12 HEC Paris 

12 Dartmouth College: Tuck

14 Duke University's Fuqua School of Business

15 Yale School of Management

16 University of Virginia: Darden 

17 Esade Business School 

18 UCLA Anderson School of Management

19 University of California at Berkeley: Haas 

20 IE Business School 

21 New York University: Stern 

21 Ceibs

23 Stanford Graduate School of Business

24 Shanghai University of Finance and Economics: College of Business

25 ESCP Business School 

Women’s Enrollment in MBA Programs Continues to Climb

MBA matriculation is inching closer to gender parity. According to new data released by the Forte Foundation and reported by the Wall Street Journal, women make up 42 percent of 2023 MBA enrollees. This is up slightly from last year’s 41 percent and up significantly from 34 percent in 2013.

Five MBA programs did achieve gender parity: George Washington University’s School of Business, Oxford Said, Johns Hopkins Carey, U Penn Wharton, and Penn State Smeal. An additional 15 programs came close with women making up at least 44 percent of total enrollees. Among this group are some of the world’s most prestigious MBA programs. They include Northwestern Kellogg (48 percent), Stanford GSB (46 percent), MIT Sloan (46 percent), and Harvard Business School (45 percent).

Notably, two of the five programs that achieved gender parity, Oxford Said and Penn State Smeal, are one-year programs. Administrators from both schools told the WSJ that this shorter time commitment appeals to women, particularly those who carry family responsibilities.

Programs with the Highest Percentage of Female Matriculants (Fall 2023):

  • George Washington University (65 percent)

  • Oxford University-Saïd (51 percent)

  • Johns Hopkins University-Carey (51 percent)

  • University of Pennsylvania-Wharton (50 percent)

  • Penn State University-Smeal (50 percent)

  • University of Rochester-Simon (49 percent)

  • University of Toronto-Rotman (49 percent)

  • Northwestern University-Kellogg (48 percent)

  • University of Washington-Foster (47 percent)

  • Stanford Graduate School of Business (46 percent)

  • Queen's University-Smith (46 percent)

  • MIT-Sloan (46 percent)

  • Duke University-Fuqua (45 percent)

  • Harvard Business School (45 percent)

  • Alliance Manchester School of Business (45 percent)

  • Arizona State University-W. P. Carey (44 percent)

  • Columbia Business School (44 percent)

  • Dartmouth-Tuck (44 percent)

  • ESADE (44 percent)

  • Michigan State University-Broad (44 percent)

MBA Program Announcements Roundup

We’ve rounded up and summarized this summer’s MBA program announcements below.

Essay Tips: The Stanford Graduate School of Business

Stanford GSB has published deadlines for their MBA application submissions and it is never too early to think about your approach. 

Round Application Deadline Decision Notification

Round 1 12 September 2023 07 December 2023

Round 2 04 January 2024 28 March 2024

Round 3 09 April 2024 23 May 2024

*Materials must be submitted by 4:00 pm Pacific Time on the designated date.

Stanford’s Admissions Committee is looking for you to demonstrate intellectual curiosity and vitality (show them how you might contribute in a classroom), leadership skills (show them how you approach guiding others towards a common goal), and how you see the world (show them your values, beliefs, ambitions, and identity in action). They want to see a polished, but genuine, version of you (not what you think an ideal MBA candidate looks like).

Essay A: What matters most to you, and why?

For this essay, we would like you to reflect deeply and write from the heart. Once you’ve identified what matters most to you, help us understand why. You might consider, for example, what makes this so important to you? What people, insights, or experiences have shaped your perspectives?

In this essay, you will need to get deeply personal. If you’ve written this response correctly, it will make you a bit uncomfortable because it will touch on some of your toughest decisions, scariest learning moments, and/or most tender relationships. Stanford’s Admissions Committee asks the question to gain an understanding of how you view the world and how you make decisions and execute against the goals and priorities that you set. What you name as mattering most matters less than your ability to effectively show how you have lived in its pursuit.  

If you’re unsure of what matters most, you’re not alone. Start by brainstorming and writing down stories from your past. A lot of them. (And, bonus! This will serve as an excellent starting point for essay responses for other school applications and/or interview responses). In particular, think about your most meaningful experiences that changed or impacted your worldview. This may involve key decisions, moments of pride or shame, times when you’ve excelled or struggled, and notably strong or difficult relationships. Keep in mind that tough decisions, particularly when you feel torn between the options, are useful for pinpointing what matters most to you. Similarly, painful failures and mistakes can also bring to light what you care about. Consider why the situation was painful and what you learned from it.

While you’ll want the majority of your essay to reflect your adult life, the origins of what matters most to you may have occurred at a younger age, so keep your brainstorming broad. After writing these pivotal moments down, see what themes emerge. Did you turn down an undergraduate admissions offer to Harvard and later an appealing job to stay close to family? Did you move across the country (where you knew no one) to attend the best engineering school you were admitted to, and while there, worked around the clock? Did you quit a lucrative finance career to join a political campaign? 

If you read the question and immediately know your answer, what matters most to you, take a look at our writing process below to craft a strong narrative. 

Essay B: Why Stanford?

Describe your aspirations and how your Stanford GSB experience will help you realize them. If you are applying to both the MBA and MSx programs, use Essay B to address your interest in both programs.

In Essay A, you’ve given Stanford insight into who you are. In Essay B, you’ll explain to the Admissions Committee the specific components of the Stanford GSB MBA that you need to execute on your future goals. What courses, professors, experiential learning opportunities, and/or case competitions are you particularly intrigued by and why? What previous experiences reinforced your interest in these offerings? How will these opportunities help you achieve your post-MBA goals? We know the overwhelming popularity of courses like Stanford’s “touchy-feely,” but your response should feel personalized to your career path. Make the case that the Stanford MBA (not just an MBA) is the perfect bridge between your past and your future.

The Writing Process

Begin with a brainstorm. Do not underestimate the importance of this step. Document your experiences, positive and negative, that prompted an evolution in your perspective—you know, those “ah-ha!” moments without which you would be a different student, professional, and/or person today. Then, record those experiences that will show the reader your abilities in innovation (critical/creative thinking and problem solving), leadership, and teamwork, as well as those experiences that reinforced your interest in business school. Capture as many details as possible, paying particular attention to what you thought, felt, said, and did in each situation. Your focus should be on adult experiences (from the start of college and later), though stories from your youth could comprise up to 20 percent of this brainstorm.

During your brainstorm, don’t limit yourself by worrying about a cohesive narrative, the quality of your writing, and/or the number/length of your stories. Simply focus on collecting those situations that helped to guide your path to this point and impacted your decision to apply to the Stanford GSB MBA program.

Craft an outline. Select the key stories you will use to anchor your narratives. Remember that you’ll use your essays to go deep into experiences that demonstrate the traits you want to emphasize. Think about your application as a whole and use your responses to strategically cover any qualities that may not be adequately addressed in other aspects of your application. 

Write. Keep in mind that you must be showing, not telling the reader who you are. Invite the reader into your life by highlighting sensory details, such as smells and sounds, and don’t hesitate to engage your readers emotionally. Sprinkle in humor (if you feel comfortable doing so) or hit a poignant note. In contrast to your resume which provides a general overview of your experiences, your essay responses should go deep into a story that allows the reader to come to their own conclusions about some of your character traits and abilities. Highlight how you’ve struggled, triumphed, learned, and how these experiences have developed you into the person you are now.  

Review. Revise. Repeat. Confirm your word count and read your essay aloud noting where you stumble. Make revisions as necessary. Once it reads smoothly, set it down and walk away for at least 24 hours. Then re-read it. Is it you? Is it personal and authentic? You want the reader to see the real person behind the applicant number. While we caution against “oversharing,” being appropriately vulnerable will create connection. 

Related:

Essay Tips: Harvard Business School

Essay Tips: Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley

Essay Tips: The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

Essay Tips: Columbia Business School

Essay Tips: The University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Essay Tips: NYU Stern School of Business

Essay Tips: The Yale School of Management

Essay Tips: The University of Michigan Ross School of Business

Chicago Schools Come Out on Top in U.S. News’ Best MBA Rankings

University of Chicago Booth took the top spot in the newly released U.S. News and World Report’s “Best MBA” ranking. Booth was followed by Northwestern Kellogg at number two. University of Pennsylvania Wharton dropped to number three after sharing the top rank with Booth last year. This year’s rankings utilized an updated methodology with a greater emphasis on outcomes, which caused some shifts within the top 15. Highlights include:

  • Dartmouth Tuck saw the largest uptick, moving from the 11th rank in 2022 to share the 6th rank with Stanford. 

  • USC Marshall climbed four spots to the 15th rank, which it holds alongside Cornell Johnson.

  • Harvard maintained its 5th rank position for the third consecutive year.

  • Stanford, Columbia, and Berkeley Haas all dropped three spots from their positions last year. Columbia and Berkeley fell out of the top 10 into a three-way tie for the 11th rank with Duke Fuqua.

Along with the rankings, U.S. News shared key updates to its methodology, which increased the weight for “Placement Success,” to 50 percent of the overall rank. This is up significantly from 35 percent last year and includes two employment metrics as well as the mean starting salary and bonus for graduates. The overall rank de-emphasized the “Quality Assessment” to 25 percent of the total, down from 40 percent, and includes a peer and recruiter assessment score. “Student Selectivity” makes up the final 25 percent of the rank. It includes undergraduate GPA and acceptance rate, weighted slightly more than in previous years, and standardized test scores, weighted slightly less. 

Rank/School

1 University of Chicago (Booth)

2 Northwestern University (Kellogg)

3 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)

4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)

5 Harvard University

6 Dartmouth College (Tuck)

6 Stanford University

8 University of Michigan--Ann Arbor (Ross)

8 Yale University

10 New York University (Stern)

11 Columbia University

11 Duke University (Fuqua)

11 University of California, Berkeley (Haas)

14 University of Virginia (Darden)

15 Cornell University (Johnson)

15 University of Southern California (Marshall)

17 Emory University (Goizueta)

18 Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)

19 University of California--Los Angeles (Anderson)

20 University of Texas--Austin (McCombs)

20 University of Washington (Foster)

22 Indiana University (Kelley)

22 University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)

24 Georgetown University (McDonough)

24 Rice University (Jones)

Most Popular Courses at Stanford GSB in Interpersonal and Organizational Dynamics

To gain insight into the “future of management,” The Economist recently published a profile of Stanford GSB’s most oversubscribed courses. The findings are fascinating. In a world where ChatGPT and AI are gaining traction, the most popular courses for Stanford GSB students are also the most humane. Students are seeking instruction on how to thrive within the murky and complex world of interpersonal dynamics and organizational politics. 

Interpersonal Dynamics, often referenced as “Touchy Feely,” has received the “most popular” accolade annually at GSB for the last 45 years. The class recognizes the role that self-awareness and introspection play in creating strong relationships, which in turn are necessary for success in global and interconnected organizations. The course is typically facilitated in a conversational style within small group sections, and culminates with students sorting themselves into a line based on their influence. The Economist noted their struggle as they seek to balance their perception of their own personal influence with the, occasionally conflicting, views of their classmates.  

Another exceedingly popular course asks students to look outward to understand the power dynamics at play around them. The course, The Paths to Power, provides students with a view of inter-organizational power struggles and strategies to thrive within that dynamic. Topics such as likeability, aggression, pushiness, and audaciousness dominate the conversation. According to the instructor, the course is designed to ensure that students have the tools to “never have to leave a position involuntarily.” According to The Economist, students joke that the course is, “designed for the budding Machiavellian.” 

Finally, Managing Growing Enterprises is geared towards students who plan to own a business. But, rather than the logistics of scaling a business, the course gears predominantly towards navigating sensitive interpersonal or public relations situations, such as poor employee performance or lay-offs, challenging board interactions, crisis management, journalist interactions, missed revenue forecasts, etc. Students engage with these situations through role-playing exercises followed by feedback, offered by professors and fellow students, which can be highly critical. 

Trends in Business School: Happiness, Purpose, and Self-Awareness

MIT Sloan recently announced that it will offer their MBA students a course on happiness. It’s good timing. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2022 report found that only 21 percent of employees feel engaged at work and, while just a third of employees reported to be thriving, a full 19 percent said they were “miserable.” MIT’s course, titled Pursuing Happiness and a Meaningful Life, will explore research findings on happiness and purpose, and provide students with self-assessment surveys, introspective weekly exercises, and guest speakers. Robert Pozen, MIT Sloan Senior Lecturer, says it will teach students to, “enhance their own happiness by changing their behaviors.”

MIT is the latest among prestigious MBA programs to offer courses focused on soft skills and emotional-awareness. Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal published a profile of Harvard’s in-demand course offering titled Leadership and Happiness. The course, pitched and designed by Arthur Brooks, an HBS Professor, social scientist, and writer behind The Atlantic’s “How to Build a Life” series, contends that happiness is a byproduct of decision-making, not of chance. That good leaders must know how to cultivate happiness for themselves and their teams. His ideas resonate. Although the class has doubled in size from its original 72 students over the past two years, it still has a waiting list.  

At Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, students can take Organizational Behavior 374: Interpersonal Dynamics, better known as “touchy feely.” The course focuses on self-awareness as a key to effective and productive communications and relationships. Yale’s School of Management offers students a course titled Mastering Influence and Persuasion, which provides them with the means to more authentically persuade and motivate others. University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School allows students to apply for a six-week program, “P3: Purpose Passion and Principles,” in which participants take a structured approach to considering and defining what success and happiness looks like for them. 

The wide-spread existence of these courses within the most prestigious MBA programs is a clear indication that the business world’s valuation of soft skills and emotional intelligence is increasing. There is real value in learning to find purpose and joy, and helping others to find it too.

New Report Examines Changing Costs of an MBA

The cost of obtaining an MBA from a global top 20 program has increased 6.3 percent in 2022, according to the recently published Business Because Cost of MBA Report 2022. The estimated average cost now totals $189,000, including tuition, fees, living costs, healthcare, and materials. This continues the steady upward trend of the last few years; costs averaged $176,000 last year and $168,000 in 2020. 

The report’s 2022 analysis includes only the FT top 20 schools, while last year the analysis included the FT top 20 plus six other top-ranked U.S.-based schools (who had opted out of the 2021 rankings due to the covid-19 pandemic). 

Some of the key findings include:

  • NYU Stern is the most expensive MBA program within the top 20 with a total cost of $246,506. It is followed by MIT Sloan ($239,990) and Wharton ($237,160). On the other end of the scale, CEIBS comes in as the least expensive in the top 20 at $84,500, followed closely by SDA Bocconi ($85,525). These are the only two schools on the list with totals falling under $100K. 

  • Within the top 20, tuition for the U.S. programs average $225,605, significantly higher than the averages for Europe ($121,583) and Asia ($104,881). 

  • Differences in cost between the U.S., Europe, and Asia are magnified by both the strong dollar (making it more cost effective for Americans to study abroad and increasing the expense for international students to study domestically), and differences in average program lengths. MBA programs in the U.S. typically last two years. Those in Europe and Asia run for 12 to 18 months. 

  • Between 2021 and 2022, expenses increased the most at Cornell Johnson (+11.4 percent) and Berkeley Haas (+8.6 percent). The most significant decreases, which are enhanced by fluctuations in the currency markets, were reported by the London Business School (-21.1), CEIBS (-15.1), and HEC Paris (-10.5). 

  • Tuition expenses, which make up the greatest proportion of costs, are the highest at Wharton ($165,748), NYU Stern ($164,652), Columbia ($160,944), and MIT Sloan ($160,800). They are the lowest at CEIBS ($68,300) and SDA Bocconi ($64,800). 

  • Living costs vary considerably based on the school’s location. Within the U.S. schools, the estimated cost of living was highest for Stanford ($72,396), followed by NYU Stern ($67,792), and Harvard ($62,780). Cost of living was the lowest at Duke ($40,608). 

  • Healthcare costs are considerably higher in the U.S. than in Europe or Asia. Domestically, the Yale School of Management offers the least expensive healthcare coverage at $5,512. It is important to note that some schools bundle healthcare costs with other personal student costs, making it difficult to compare schools directly. 

While the price of an MBA is significant and prospective students should carefully consider each of the underlying cost components, data shows that the degree positions students well to pay off loans. This is especially true for graduates of elite programs. Prospective students should also keep in mind that all applicants are considered for merit-based scholarships (through Round 2), which are more likely with a competitive application package.  

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