The following information is based solely on opinions and behaviors of
3,267 MBA recruiters who hire full time business school graduates based on
interviews conducted between December 6, 2004 and March 9, 2005. Schools
without traditional full time programs and those not graduating 50
students in full-time programs in 2004 were removed from consideration.
For this most recent survey, 186 U.S. schools and 79 international schools
were eligible for ranking. Rankings were then categorized into three main
groups: National Ranking (19 N. American schools), Regional Ranking (47 N.
American schools), and International Ranking (20 schools). Schools are
grouped according to the recruiters they share, which is based on where
recruiters say they are inclined to recruit. Additionally, recruiters are
asked to rank schools based on 21 key attributes:
- Ability to work well within at team
- Analytical and problem-solving skills
- Career services office at that school
- Commitment to corporate social responsibility, such as community service and environmental protection
- Communication and interpersonal skills
- Content of the curriculum
- Faculty expertise
- Fit with the corporate culture
- Incorporates experiential learning into the curriculum
- Leadership potential
- Likelihood of recruiting "stars" - that is, graduates who are very likely to be promoted within the company
- Overall value for the money invested in the recruiting effort
- Personal ethics and integrity
- Strategic thinking
- Student chemistry - that is, the general like or dislike a recruiter has of the students overall
- Student's average number of years of work experience
- Success with past hires
- Well-roundedness
- Willingness of the schools' students to relocate to the job location you require
- Likelihood of extending an offer to a student in the next 2 years
- Likelihood of making an effort to recruit at the school in the next 2 years
WSJ does not use specified or concrete criteria in defining which school
is eligible for which ranking. Rather, this is the information
considered in the breakdown of each of the rankings.
National Ranking: Refers to North American schools that
tend to share the same recruiters. Many of the schools included in this
ranking are private and located in the east. Also, recruiters that tend
to recruit at these schools typically come from larger companies.
Regional Ranking: Includes schools from all of North
America that are both public and private. Typically schools are smaller
and recruiters tend to recruit locally around particular schools and pay
less than recruiters included in the National Ranking.
Internation Ranking: Only schools that attract global recruiters are included.
Source: Career Journal
