Which are the best rankings for MBA programs? - Forum

Hi Sammy,

Rankings are an excellent indicator of a school's quality, recognition and prestige. Among the most widely accepted and trusted MBA rankings are The Financial Times, The Economist and Business week. You can check out a compilation of MBA rankings here.

SearchMBA

You should also be aware that different rankings have different criteria - always check before judging a school.

Hi Alex,

That is a very good point. Each ranking authority uses its own ranking criteria to judge the quality of a program. If your criteria doesn't match that of a ranking system, that particular ranking is likely of no use to you. Here's a quick guide to the ranking parameters of 3 well-known ranking authorities: 

Financial Times:

expected salary increase of alumnus, value for money, career progression, the extent to which alumni achieve their stated goals, the effectiveness of the school's career service, whether or not alumni would recommend the school, female faculty and students, international board and students, international mobility, availability of international courses and number of faculty members holding doctoral degrees.

The Economist:

diversity of recruiters (number of different industry sectors), quality of the career's services, employment rate immediately after graduation, student satisfaction, number of faculty with PhDs and the faculty-student ratio, average GMAT score and years of work experience of admitted students, student diversity, range of languages and international courses offered, rate increased salary after graduation, and the size, diversity and effectiveness of the alumni network.

Forbes: increase of alumni salary after graduation

To see how schools ranked according to these criteria, visit our rankings page.

Thank you. Really useful guide.

You should know that the B-school rankings in India are calculated on a variety of factors which together form the overall ranking of any institution. These rankings may differ from agency to agency conducting the survey. According to Business Today rankings (Business Today Surveys are Reputed and Trusted in the market.) IIM Ahemdabad ranks first in the list of best B-schools in India.

Here is how it ranks on other parameters:
Learning Experience: Rank 1
Living Experience: Rank 2 (IIM-Calcutta Ranks 1)
Placement Performance: Rank 1
Selection Process and Establishment: Rank 1
Future Orientation: Rank1

Schools will always site the rankings that they are listed in, no matter how anonymous it is. Overall. the Financial Times is the primary authorty on rankings. However, each ranking system focuses on different aspects. Forbes, for example, relies heavily on post-gradudation salary increases and not much else.