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.

Corporate connections are a major selling point at Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business. Located in the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, the school offers its MBA students access to a large network of corporate representatives and recruiters—from the 18 Fortune 500 companies with headquarters in the area to a global alumni base in excess of 115,000. One highlight of the networking resources Cox provides is the Associate Board, an executive mentoring program that pairs MBA students with business leaders and entrepreneur from every major industry.

The Economist ranked Cox’s small, collaborative program 23rd for “potential to network” in 2014. In addition, Entrepreneur magazine has ranked business-friendly Dallas second among U.S. cities for entrepreneurs.