Do rankings have value?

That depends where you sit.

For business school deans, rankings are the bane of their existence. They’re narrow and easily-manipulated instruments, half-truths that can’t measure subtle differences like culture and teaching. To them, rankings are one-dimensional jigsaw puzzles, an interlocked frame full of holes in the middle.

Imperfect as they are, rankings serve a critical purpose. They introduce a variable as anathema to academia as vital to business: competition. The transparency of data – however flawed – holds MBA programs accountable for results. They justify if reputation is warranted or return is commensurate. In the process, rankings drive schools to focus on serving their students and boosting their programming and resources. Of course, they offer bragging rights to alumni from General Mills to Google.

GOING BEYOND BOX SCORES TO SHOW WHAT RANKINGS REALLY MEAN

Yes, rankings are as fallible as they are well-intentioned. Still, they make great starting points for potential applicants who are unsure where to best spend their time and energy. The trick is understanding how specific rankings work. Here’s the big secret: The data chosen and the weights given reflect a certain value system. U.S. News & World Report, for example, prizes inputs and outputs. In contrast, The Financial Times and The Economist rankings spotlight student and alumni sentiment…with a more global perspective to boot. And Bloomberg Businessweek? Well, no one is quite sure; they’re more of a work-in-progress.

In other words, rankings are far more complex than they appear on the surface, full of underlying assumptions that create certain inconsistencies. That’s why Poets&Quants looks behind the numbers and their accompanying methodologies. We look at history and compare rankings to identify the programs that are creating buzz…or slipping in stature. In other words, P&Q acts as an independent voice with a simple agenda: providing readers with a no-nonsense look at what rankings really mean to MBA candidates.

This year, P&Q authored over 80 articles analyzing various MBA-related rankings. Aside from examining the usual ‘name’ rankings, P&Q collected original data and produced exclusive rankings in the online and executive MBA arenas. In the process, we’ve also taken deep dives in rankings in fields like business master’s degrees, consulting, investment banking, and entrepreneurship.

Wondering where your target school or employer stands? Check out our links to our best rankings from 2018.

Poets & Quants

Harvard & Wharton In A Draw For First In P&Q’s 2018 MBA Ranking

How We Crunched The Data For The 2018 Poets&Quants MBA Ranking

U.S. News & World Report

Chicago Booth Gains First In New U.S. News MBA Ranking

Ten Surprises In U.S. News’ MBA Ranking

Winners & Losers On U.S. News MBA Ranking

Ross Cracks U.S. News’ Ranking Top Ten

Neeley Tossed Off U.S. News MBA Ranking

Financial Times

Stanford Tops 2018 Financial Times MBA Ranking

LBS Tops Financial Times Ranking Of Best European B-Schools

FT Adds Rankings For B-Schools In Americas, Asia-Pacific

Why IE Business School Lost Its FT Ranking

Bloomberg Businessweek

Stanford Tops 2018 Businessweek MBA Ranking

Big Changes In This Year’s BW Ranking

Only One Non-U.S. School Makes Businessweek’s Top 20 Global MBA Ranking

10 Biggest Surprises In The 2018 Bloomberg Businessweek MBA Ranking

What To Expect In This Week’s Businessweek Ranking

Economist

Booth Regains First In 2018 Economist Ranking

The Best MBA Alumni Networks

MBA Programs That Students Love Most

B-Schools With The Best Teaching Faculty

MBA Programs With The Best Cultures & Classmates

The Best Business School Campuses

Wall Street Journal / Times Higher Ed

The Wall Street Journal’s ‘Where’s Waldo?’ MBA Ranking

Wall Street Journal’s New MBA Ranking Due Next Week

Many Top Schools Bow Out Of New MBA Ranking By WSJ & Times Higher Ed

Go to next page for MBA rankings involving consulting firms, investment banks, startups, executive MBA programs, online MBA programs, and much more.