Ten Top MBA Programs

Posted: 1/19/2007 by Staff

While the top ten MBA programs are subject to some less than objective measures, they also receive the benefit of prestige and name recognition which in a sense is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Probably the best known program from the general public is the Harvard School of Business. Many of the rankings list Harvard as the top school, but interestingly enough, Harvard does not rank as high as some other schools in the objective measurements. For example, the average starting salary for a Harvard Business School is listed as $90,000 and the same average starting salary is found at Northwestern University's Kellog School.

Another key factor in measure top MBA programs is the average GMAT score. Harvard's average is 690 which is actually below the top ten school average of 692. Stanford University ranked at number two overall has the highest GMAT score with an average of 725. Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania at 691, Kellog School at 695, Sloan School of Management (University of Massachusetts) at 700, and University of Columbia at 700 all rank higher than Harvard in GMAT scores. The University of Chicago's average GMAT score of 690 matches that of Harvard.

Another interesting area of the top ten ranking statistics is the percentage of international students in the MBA program. Harvard has 30% international students while Wharton School has the highest level of international students in the top ten at 40%.

Average age of most MBA students in the top ten schools is 28 and most have had at least 4.5 years of experience before starting the MBA study.