MBA applicants can get carried away with rankings. In this series, we profile amazing programs at business schools that are typically ranked outside the top 15.
As home to six of the world’s “supermajor” energy companies, Houston, Texas, is perhaps an obvious choice for prospective MBA students looking to break into the energy sector, and the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University is arguably the leader in energy curriculum and recruiting. Offering 11 courses, including “Managing in a Carbon Constrained World,” “Geopolitics of Energy,” and “International Energy Development,” the school’s energy concentration “develops a student’s perspective and understanding of management issues in the energy industry,” explains the school. As a result of strong recruiting ties to such companies as ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips, well over one-third of Rice’s MBAs have found jobs in the petroleum/energy sector in recent years. The school also has an active Energy Club that hosts various opportunities to connect with recruiters and alumni, including an Energy Speaker series, networking events, and Energy Treks that give students firsthand exposure to trading floors, drilling rigs, and manufacturing facilities.