The Economist ranks Chicago, University of – Booth School of Business United States as the No.1 B-school in the world in its MBA rankings 2013. Booth School of Business was ranked as the top b-school by the British magazine even in the year 2012. The Economist has ranked Chicago Booth as the world’s best business school, more than any other school. It is ranked No. 1 in 2013, 2012, in 2010 and in 2007.
Apparently even Dartmouth College’s Tuck School stayed put as the second best b-school in the world for both years 2012 and 2013. Haas School climbed three positions and jumped upwards to the third from sixth place last year in 2012. What’s not so surprising is that among the top 10 b-schools in the world, 8 hail from the US.
Just one day before The Economist came up with its rankings, Forbes had named stanford as the best b-school in the US. Stanford is ranked on the 9th spot and harvard on the 6th spot while wharton did not show up in the top 10 et al showing up only on the no 15th spot. Wharton was ranked on the no 13th spot in the year 2012 and this year it further dropped 2 positions and was featured behind schools like the University of Queensland in Australia, New York University’s Stern School, and HEC Paris. What comes as a surprise is that Harvard, Stanford and Wharton have never been featured on the top by the economist rankings ever since it started these rankings in 2002.
The top 10 b-schools in the world according to The Economist MBA Ranking 2013 :
1.) Chicago, University of – Booth School of Business United States
2.) Dartmouth College – Tuck School of Business United States
3.) California at Berkeley, University of – Haas School of Business United States
4.) Virginia, University of – Darden Graduate School of Business Administration United States
5.) IESE Business School – University of Navarra Spain
6.) Harvard Business School United States
7.) New York University – Leonard N Stern School of Business United States
8.) HEC School of Management, Paris France
9.) Stanford Graduate School of Business United States
10.) Columbia Business School United States
The ranking had only one Indian b-school – Indian Institute of Management – Ahmedabad featuring in the top 100 b-school rankings. North America and Europe accounted for most of the schools in the top 25.
The Economist’s methodology takes into account :
- new career opportunities
- personal development/educational experience
- increasing salary
- potential to network
and the statistics are backed by hard data or b-school’s providing the data themselves as a part of the survey.
The Economist’s rankings are facing very aggressive criticism on the web and the majority seem to have their differences and questions regarding the accuracy of the rankings and the methodology. Some even have gone to say that The Economist should stick to what it does best and let go of its rankings feature should it want to maintain any credibility. Once you have Harvard and Stanford out of the top 5, the raking loses all credibility. The Economist though consistently has the oddest results and because it is highly influential and very well read, The Economist’s ranking is followed and consulted with the result that it contributes to the reputation and image of any b-school.
You can take a look at the rankings at http://www.economist.com/whichmba/full-time-mba-ranking