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What goes into the MBA rankings and why should you care?

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Well shoot. We have literally been intending to talk about this for 1-1/2 years.

We had posted a question for all y’all way back in November 2017, looking for input on why Duke was ranked at a certain spot on the BusinessWeek list of best business schools. We got just one response at the time (hi rwelch9439!), and then another BSer popped in and gave additional insights a couple weeks later (hey buffalo!), and we had planned at the time to do a follow-up post of our own, to mostly agree with what was already said and hopefully continue the conversation about rankings.

But that didn’t happen.

Round 2 2017 took over. And then summer 2018. And then Round 1 2018. And, well, you know. Life.

But rankings are really something we want to discuss.

We would tweet stuff like:

BW ranked @NYUStern P/T MBA #35, after U of Louisville? (U of who??)

or

Here’s a question about the methodology used to gather some of the US News data
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/trying-understand-us-news-rankings-best-undergraduate-teaching#.WV-iY8Y-Kv9.linkedin

And we would remember the many posts in the ‘snarchives where we called out different publications, like this long-ago post about BusinessWeek’s data being unreliable.

And we would privately be scoffing and throwing things and rolling eyes and all sorts of aghastedness when we saw that School X was ranked higher than School Y on such-and-such a listing.

We really wanted to do the deep dive for you, to demystify rankings and help you understand them, so that you’re a more informed consumer of them as you go about your school research tasks.

(Because in case you’re not already aware, EssaySnark is not so much a fan of these rankings thingies.)

We planned to go into detail on points like this:

One factor of The Economist’s ranking is the percentage of students finding jobs through the school’s career services. What are the implications of this when a school decides to tailor its admissions practices in order to score better on a ranking methodology? Does it discourage schools from admitting family business or sponsored students? What if your goals are off the mainstream, so that you’ll by definition be on your own for recruiting? In some respects that could be seen as a positive factor in a profile, as it could convey to the adcom that you’re self-sufficient and ready to carve your own path in life. But could that also be a headwind against you, if a school cares about maximizing their points in the context of how this publication is scoring them? The Economist also used years of pre-MBA work experience as part of their “student quality” measure, which is just really tough to get the head around. Why is years of experience a quality factor? Not getting it.

These methodologies are obviously a very complex topic, and rather than continue to punt it down the road and reschedule it into some never-to-arrive future slot in our editorial calendar, we’re going to offer a very much condensed version today, mostly comprised of links to a few other resources that we encourage you to explore.

Then if you want to come back with your discussion points or questions or observations or theories of how a particular publication’s rankings methodology might have unintended consequences in the business school marketplace, we’re all ears.

You can start here: From a now-dead link, the GMAT people break down the rankings with a useful interactive chart — originally at http://www.mba.com/us/plan-for-business-school/choose-a-school/evaluate-schools/users-guide-to-mba-rankings and thankfully preserved at wayback

Or for a very simple overview, here’s a description of how to use the rankings from a now-defunct admissions directors’ blog targeted to military candidates.

More recently, a cheat sheet to the rankings from Darden

Obviously whenever a school is touting its appearance on a particular rankings, that’s part of its marketing and promotional effort. You know that the schools study this stuff closely. Ranking matters to ALL of them and sometimes a school will bring in a new dean with an explicit mandate to improve their standing in the rankings. It’s a rigged system — not rigged by any one party, but overall, not serving any particular constituent to any true degree of value. The only entity who profits from rankings is the publications who produce them, because it drives sales of their guidebooks and traffic to their site. That’s it. The consumer — you — the student — the supposed audience of this — does not benefit, except from a very gross value level of putting a line in the sand between schools like Michigan Ross and “U of Who?” Many schools are catering to their own colleagues in some of their policies and promotions.

The fact that some publications use the opinions of other deans as a ranking factor is just ridiculous. How could a dean at one school know what’s going on at another school? How could Dean Wharton evaluate Dean Stanford? Sure, they are professional peers, they likely interact in a variety of professional settings, and hopefully they’re following what their competition is doing in the marketplace, in terms of big new programs or initiatives being launched — but don’t hold your breath. Most deans have trouble staying on top of what’s going on at their school much less following the changes at all the other five-ish schools they consider to e direct competitors to, much less the 15-ish schools that are broadly considered to be “the best.” (Pro Tip: If you ever hear an admissions person claim that their school is “the only one who” has such-and-such a program, they’re almost always wrong.) How can a ranking put ANY weight on what the deans thinks of the other schools? It’s all just who’s got a puffed-out chest and is making noise and attracting attention. A school like NYU who has in the recent past had more low-key deans who don’t go out there strutting their stuff, yet who are very busy making all sorts of improvements to their programs and expanding to new geographies and focusing on their culture, those schools don’t get noticed. They don’t have the “reputation” — yet these are incredible schools that offer a high-value and high-impact educational experience. But you wouldn’t know it based on many of these rankings systems.

So, the main message today is, caveat emptor as far as rankings go. When a school is touting how they are #1 on this scale or #3 on that one, take it with a grain of salt. There are now so many different rankings and categories of rankings and subrankings that every good school is bound to end up in a respectable position on at least one of them. Heck, EssaySnark even posted our own rankings before!! Based on how easy it is to get into one school versus another. If you’re really focused on rankings, seems like that would be the most important one of all, no?

 
 
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($) The BSer’s Dilemma: Deciding between two top MBA programs — what do to, what to do?

by EssaySnark

In case you missed it, we started this discussion of How to decide which U.S. business school to go to when you get multiple offers?? here. If you’re also in this wonderfully privileged yet oh-so-stressful position, today’s post is for you. First bit of advice: We have a treasure trove of posts on individual schools…

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“Rankings will not tell you what’s the best school for you.”

by EssaySnark - Discusses Leave a Comment

The first page of the Kellogg School MBA application has a very polished video that flashes images of the gorgeous new Global Hub building and plays one-second soundbites of students sharing the stress and anxiety (and self-reflection) that they experienced in their application.

It’s easy to tune out and not really absorb any of it. We’re hit with so many marketing messages every day that we become immune.

But we encourage you to spend time with this, and with every other production that every other school you’re trying for makes available. Sometimes their messaging is straightforward; sometimes it’s so overbranded that you can’t actually distill anything meaningful. But in many, there are real gems of wisdom that are not only important but also relevant, and can possibly be reflected on to find nuggets on the inside of you that you can leverage in presenting your message back in your apps.

One comment that somebody makes in the video is “Rankings will not tell you what’s the best school for you.”

This is the type of thing that can wash right over you, because yeah, you know it’s true.

But why not stop and think about it?

Many, many people are focused on rankings and often rankings alone in their choice of an MBA program. This makes total sense, since everyone wants to go to the best program they can. But rankings tell an exceedingly limited story.

The only legit way to choose schools solely on rankings is if you have spent the time yourself to dig into the methodology used by that publication that develops the rankings. If you cannot sit here and spout off the factors and weightings that Bloomberg BusinessWeek uses to identify Kellogg as a Top 10 school, or that USNews does, then it’s irrelevant that Kellogg is Top 10. (Their methodologies are quite different, BTW.) To go only by rankings is to completely outsource the entire selection process to some nameless corporation. Rankings are useful as a starting point, but that’s it. We’re not going to go so far as to say that rankings are fake news but in this day and age especially, you need to be an informed consumer of everything you take in.

After all, we’re talking about YOUR LIFE.

Remember that these promo videos by the schools are designed for a reason. Significant time and effort is put into them. They are the result of many deliberate choices to try and convey something about the school — something that the school thinks is important. While it’s easy to think that all schools are alike, and to review a bunch of websites makes all of them start to blur together, it’s also important to recognize that each school is desperately trying to convey what they’re about.

Sometimes all it takes is that you listen.

Choosing your schools based on rankings is the same as the schools making admits on GMAT score.

by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

Any long-time reader of the EssaySnark blahg knows that we’re no fans of bschool rankings.

Sure, they give you a starting point when you’re brand-new to this process, to understand which schools are considered “good” — but they hardly tell the whole picture.

When we have a BSer come to us saying they’re interested only in Harvard, Stanford or Wharton, then we just heave a little sigh and say, “Oh well.”

It’s a very limited way to look at the world.

A ranking is someone else’s evaluation of the school. Not your own.

Harvard, Stanford and Wharton are soooooo different as to be almost laughable.

And, there are so many other really good schools out there!!

Anyone claiming that the ROI is only worthwhile with H/S/W is simply saying that they only want to buy their way into a club. That they want the prestige or rubber stamp of a particular brand associated with their name.

They are overlooking the fact that it’s a TWO YEAR COMMITMENT into an experience that will CHANGE you.

Don’t you care about what that experience will be like?

The Harvard and Stanford and Wharton experiences are similar, sure, but they are by no means the same — and they are by no means that much different from what you might get at Columbia, or Ross, or NYU, or…

You get the point.

The biggest issue with someone saying they only care about H/S/W though is when in the same breath they lament the fact that these schools select applicants on GMAT score.

They don’t, of course.

They evaluate the whole package. They look at everything you submit individually and complete a holistic review on how you present your background and your qualities and your strengths and your weaknesses through the individual elements of the app. Including GMAT score, of course.

But they do not select applicants on the basis of GMAT score alone. If they did, the top schools would have only 780-scoring students and nobody else.

Yes it’s a factor.

And yes, the rankings maybe can play a part, in the initial phase of your process of investigating the schools.

But please, if you’re serious about changing your life and you REALLY want to impact the world, then don’t rely on rankings alone to evaluate quality of an institution.

Go find out for yourself what the place is about.

Do your own research.

Construct your own viewpoints. Don’t accept someone else’s.

Rankings are not like fake news; they all are constructed through different methodologies put in place by the different publications. They all profess to use data behind them.

But if you’re serious about learning what the world is really like and not being a victim of propaganda and undue influence from the powers that are trying to control your mind (said in half-jest) then please find out what the world is like FOR YOURSELF.

The schools don’t make admits only on GMAT.

You should not use ranking to figure out where to apply.

The Three Types of MBA Applicants (with advice for international applicants this year)

by EssaySnark 4 Comments

We’re reblahgging this from last Fall ‘cuz, well, it’s relevant! 😀 And no, that does not mean this post is about YOU — we are not publishing this now in response to working with any particular BSer. It’s just an overall appropriate topic, ya know? What’s particularly useful is to read the comments that BSers last year offered (after you’ve read the post) — those can be incredibly instructive for you sitting here with the advantage of the full season ahead of you.

There are only three types of BSers:

  1. The ones who are H/S/W or Bust. These people are aiming for, err, H, S, and W. Only.
  2. The ones who are “I’ll go anywhere.” These people are not so much aiming, as papering the country.
  3. Everybody else. These people are aiming for Top 10.

Almost everyone in Category #1 is a first-time applicant.

Almost everyone in Category #2 is a reapplicant. Usually their first time they were in Category 3.

Those in Category #1 tend to be the BSierest of all BSers.

They also tend to be the worst procrastinators. Not always, but often, sometimes to the extent where Round 2 is their first and only submit, even though the GMAT was done long ago. This is just what our experience has been in working with this type of applicant.

They also tend to be least likely to succeed in the current era of hypercompetitive MBA admissions.

Why?

We have our theories.

One is that they are frequently coming from the elite firms, after attending the elite colleges; they now have nailed a good GMAT score, and they have a recommender who’s a Harvard alum. They think that’s enough.

Sometimes, at Wharton, particularly in Round 1, in fact that can be enough. In Round 2 it’s much less likely to be.

This type of Category 1 BSer maybe will toss out an app to Columbia or Booth along with the other three, to, you know, have a (cough) safety school in the mix. But that’s just a pretend.

Because what frequently happens to this BSer if they only get into their ‘safety’ and not into H/S/W, is that their sense of entitlement kicks into overdrive, and instead of realizing that, gee, maybe you need to WORK FOR IT (as in, ON YOUR ESSAYS, so that you don’t come across as quite such a pr_ck), and maybe that Chicago or Columbia or whichever other school that did say ‘yes’ to them is actually a really really good MBA program as well, that they just scratch it. They turn down the offer. They stick with their current situation in life and they get the sour grapes thing, the attitude that an MBA at some lesser-than school like Columbia* just doesn’t have the ROI so I’m not gonna bother.

In case it’s not clear, this post is for Category #1 folks. 😀

Orrrrrr….. On second thought, maybe it’s not.

It’s not like it really matters if any of you get into a top MBA program. It certainly does not matter to the ‘Snark. (We really really really want a whole bunch of you who we’ve been working with for the past few months to get in, ‘cuz we’ve learned your stories and know a little about you and see that you’re nice guyz and cool girlz and you’ve worked hard and yes we do think you deserve it!!) If none of you make it into any of your target schools this year, it’s not like the earth will fall off its axis or the Universe will collapse in on itself. It’ll be a bummer, but it’s not going to make a massive difference in how your life, or ours, continues to evolve.

Us writing this post today to invite all reading it to examine which category of BSer they are most definitely will not change your fate in this process, and it’s unlikely to get anyone to change.

If anything, it may only serve to piss off the Category #1 folks, where we’ll have some readership drop off, and lose them from the crowd. Instead of prompting any type of soul searching or convincing anyone to not be entitled about their situation in life, a more common reaction to a pushy post like this one is for some to be turned off of the ‘Snark and move on.

But.

In case us talking about these trends and patterns in BSers might get one or two of you to self-reflect on where you’re at, and what attitudes you hold, so that you can either:

  • Expand your list of targets
  • Start working NOW on your Round 2 applications – ESPECIALLY if you skipped out on Round 1 completely Round 1 applications — since this post was reblahgged in June 2018!!!!! Don’t skip Round 1 people!!!!

(or both)

Well, then we’d consider that a success.

Update for 2018: We do expect this season to be significantly less competitive for international applicants. The U.S. is just not making friends on the global stage, and there will be another drop-off in applications from around the world. This is to your advantage if you’re still seeing the value of an American MBA. HOWEVER, you also need to be conscious about the changing economic climate and the possibility that when you graduate in 2021, a) there could be a massive recession going on which means that international applicants are the first to suffer in U.S. hiring markets, and/or b) there (very slim chance) could be immigration reform that locks out international students; and/or c) the local living situation in certain American geographies will continue to become stridently anti-immigrant and (EXTREMELY slim chance — we hope!!) you may experience outright racist behavior. These things are truly possible and need to be accounted for in your application strategy. What you might do is proceed with your Round 1 apps to your U.S. targets and just take a very cautious approach, and also consider expanding your app strategy to include some non-U.S. schools like Canada or Europe.

Want EssaySnark’s advice on your 2018 situation? We can do a one-off question through our Private Consult or you may benefit from the entire Comprehensive Profile Review process — you can ask about your schools, plans and options in the questionnaire that you submit.

 
 
*Yes there are really many BSers who think this!! Obviously we disagree.

 
 
 
 
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($) MBA Application Mistake #1: Not Researching Schools (and why we balk at the M7 thing)

by EssaySnark

When a starry-eyed wanna-be-bschool-student tells us that they are only interested in the M7, then we assume we’re in for some trouble. Using the “M7” designation is just another way to say “I care about brand and reputation more than anything.” We’re not exactly bschool insiders, but we’ve been around quite a bit – and…

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($) Is Harvard good for entrepreneurship?

by EssaySnark - Discusses ,

Sure, if you want to pursue the most expensive way in the world to start a business. EssaySnark is just not a fan of using the MBA to launch a company. And we really don’t think Harvard is the best place to learn entrepreneurship specifically. They were fairly late to jump on the entrepreneurship bandwagon…

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Why we think rankings are stupid.

by EssaySnark - Discusses 6 Comments

It’s because Harvard is stupid.

There is no way that your Harvard education is that much better than what you will get at Tuck or at Duke or, heck, at Cornell.

Rankings mess with your head.

From the description of a book, aptly named Engines of Anxiety , that studied the effect of US News rankings on the law school market:

The authors find that prospective law students not only rely heavily on such rankings to evaluate school quality, but also internalize rankings as expressions of their own abilities and flaws. For example, they often view rejections from “first-tier” schools as a sign of personal failure.

Sound familiar?

What you get with Harvard (bschool, law school, any school) is ACCESS.

You get to go play with the rich boys and girls for a few years. You get “the network” so that when you try that little startup idea you have (before it crashes and burns) you can hit up these alumni with money to see if they’ll fund your starry-eyed dreams.

Is that worth it?

Hell yeah, if you’re going to use it.

But please do not fool yourself.

Harvard is not ‘better.’ It’s just what this system of class and money has designed to fool you, to continue with the illusion that class and money matter.

Exhibit A: Harvard Fellowships Have Always Been A Joke

Mostly what you get with Harvard is the smug satisfaction of the rubber stamp of Society Approval.

Sure, you have to be smart to get in.

Sure, you have to work hard.

But the Harvard kids are not smartER. They did not work hardER. They are just like everybody else — or, frequently, they’re members of the Lucky Sperm Club where they landed in a family of Harvard grads, so they’re what’s called a ‘legacy applicant’ and definitely in undergrad admissions, Harvard College loves those kids. For the class of incoming freshman that just got on campus this summer, one-third are legacy .

It’s like buying a Rolex or a Gucci handbag or a Ferrari.

A brand like that will deliver some attention to detail and refinement in the product. It’s going to be made with better materials and care of construction than what you find at your local Macy’s or the Kia dealership.

But a Rolex is just a watch.

Wearing a Rolex is a symbol to the world that you can spend that much money on a bauble on your wrist that tells you the time.

Everyone else is just looking at their phone. You get to shoot your cuff and show off this glint of luxury.

That’s all that Harvard is going to do for you.

(And the value only goes so far. If Harvard Business School were so great, why are its tweets so lame? We are convinced that they’ve got an undergrad student writing them — no offense to Harvard undergrads. But c’mon people.)

Please don’t be confused by what you are going to get.

Is there value to that prestige?

Sure. But the EDUCATION is what will change your life.

Not the association with wealthy elite.

So many people think getting in to Harvard will finally be validation. No, maybe they don’t CONSCIOUSLY think it, like, “If I go to Harvard then I’ll finally be worth something!” But it’s what’s driving the engine, under the hood.

But guess what? If you’re actually so insecure that you’re constantly seeking out external validation from The World, and you think going to Harvard will finally put all those internal voices of doubt and self-criticism to rest, no, that’s not what will happen. Instead, when you get on the campus at Harvard, you will be surrounded by a more extreme concentration of People Who You Think Are Better Than You than you’ve ever experienced in your life. You will see all these other AMAZING students who have done more impressive things (who have way more money than you) who have traveled the world, who already have a Rolex and not a Gucci bag but a Birkin. You think that’ll make you feel better?

We’re not saying not to apply to Harvard. That would be silly. We’re saying that you may want to look at your reasons for why you’re so enamored of the BRAND.

Because that’s all it is.

It is a BRAND.

A school is different than a consumer product, because a school is an experience and a community and oh yeah, an education. But very few people are focusing on applying to Harvard because of any of that. They may not be consciously thinking, “I want to go to Harvard for the prestige” but really, that’s what’s driving our social-construct personalities so much of the time.

Unless what’s really fueling your interest in Harvard is so that your unborn children will get to go to Harvard. Then by all means. Apply to Harvard.

We hope you get in!

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Duke is #3 on the 2016 BusinessWeek rankings

by EssaySnark - Discusses 4 Comments

We asked you to exercise some critical thinking skills recently.

Why not turn those same skills to evaluating the MBA rankings?

Here’s the 2016 BusinessWeek list. Duke #3. Why?

The simplistic answer is that they scored at 90.5 which is higher than Booth and lower than Stanford.

But WHY???

Is that the position you’d expect Duke to be at?

We’re not knocking Duke. That’s an honest question.

What about the Jones school, at Rice University? They’re at #8. Why?

Comments? Reaction? Discussion?

Please base this on the actual data on the BusinessWeek chart. Here’s a link to the BusinessWeek rankings page where you can sort to your heart’s content.

($) ROI and the MBA

by EssaySnark

The MBA is a very expensive degree. Hopefully you’re aware of that already. The schools publish numbers on their sites about tuition and estimated costs, yet many applicants neglect to read those pages until after they’ve been admitted and are faced with the prospect of plunking down a deposit and looking at how they’re going…

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