The “2015 Best Business Schools” ranking was released this week by U.S. News & World Report—rating the nation’s top MBA programs. The number one spot among business schools is a surprising… three-way tie between Harvard Business School (HBS), the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Wharton School, with the latter climbing from third place last year (2014). Chicago Booth also made some gains, shifting from sixth place to fourth, pushing MIT Sloan and Kellogg—which tied for fourth last year—down to fifth and sixth place, respectively. The most dramatic change was reportedly seen by the University of Cincinnati’s Lindner College of Business, which jumped from 99th position to a three-way tie for 60th place. Look out HBS, Lindner is coming for you…
1. [tie] Harvard University
1. [tie] Stanford University
1. [tie] University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
4. University of Chicago (Booth)
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
6. Northwestern University (Kellogg)
7. University of California—Berkeley (Haas)
8. Columbia University
9. Dartmouth College (Tuck)
10. New York University (Stern)
11. University of Michigan—Ann Arbor (Ross)
11. University of Virginia (Darden)
13. Yale University
14. Duke University (Fuqua)
15. University of Texas—Austin (McCombs)
16. University of California—Los Angeles (Anderson)
17. Cornell University (Johnson)
18. Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
19. University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)
20. Emory University (Goizueta)
Although such quantitative measurements carry an undeniable allure for applicants who are attempting to differentiate between programs, we emphasize that rankings are no substitute for a thorough understanding of what each school actually has to offer in the way of curricular strengths, student culture and overall fit. We encourage applicants to base their decision on more in-depth information about their target programs, such as can be found in our Insider’s Guides.