What MBAs Earn At Top Consulting Firms in 2019 - Poets&Quants

Grappling with whether to pursue an MBA or stay at your job? If you’re weighing a career in consulting, the answer is definitive: Get an MBA.

That’s what the data reflects in the 2019 edition of Management Consulted’s “Management Consulting Strategies for Undergraduates, MBAs/PhDs & Interns” (Released January 14th). How stark is the difference? According to Management Consulted’s latest data, the average starting base pay for a newly-minted undergraduate or master’s degree holder is $80,000. For an MBA or PhD, that number is nearly double: $150,000.

That’s just start. An MBA grad’s one-time signing bonus comes in at roughly $25,000, five times what an undergraduate degree nets. When performance bonus is added to the mix, the difference is equally staggering: $44,000 vs. $12,000 in favor of MBAs.

FRUITS OF RISING REVENUE GOING MORE TO MBAs

That was a macro look at industry pay from Management Consulted, a leading resource for consulting-related data and news that also offers intensive coaching in areas like interview and resume preparation. The salary data stems from hundreds of confirmed offer letters from candidates and clients alike, says Jenny Rae Le Roux, a former Bain consultant and Columbia Business School MBA who serves as the firm’s managing director. The data also includes information that arrives directly from consulting firms, though the specific response numbers and overall process are treated as proprietary information.

According to the report, the pay gap between MBAs and undergrads is also widening in consulting. In the analysis that accompanies the 2019 data, Management Consulted notes that the MBB (McKinsey, Bain, BCG) has boosted starting pay for MBAs and PhDs to $165,000 over the past year, thanks to competitive pressures like higher client expectations for “digital solutions, advanced analytics and analytics” and competitive threats from boutique shops and technological firms. Although the consulting industry has seen revenues rise from 5% to 16% over the past year, the pay for new hires from the undergraduate and master’s degree pool has stagnated.

To an extent, this trend stems from how differently consulting firms value the experience MBAs and undergrads brings to their firms, says Le Roux in an exclusive statement to Poets&Quants.

Management Consulted’s Jenny Rae Le Roux

“The intangible value prop of a consulting education is still more differential for someone with less work experience (undergrad/Masters) – it’s his or her first brand name, c-suite exposure, analytics training, and travel. Plus, it comes with the potential for MBA sponsorship. MBAs – many of whom have already had those things – are making more focused career choices. Many of the things they want then –lifestyle, specific cities, accelerated promotions, managerial experience, etc. – come as adequately in tech as in consulting. In short, the market for MBAs is more competitive and their values are different.

A SHORT-TERM PAY SPIKE

In fact, MBAs are so valuable that they earn roughly the same starting pay as PhDs. At the same time, consulting firms often lump Master’s degree holders with undergrads on pay scales. That is changing, as consulting firms are beginning to seek out candidates with greater experience or technical skills in areas like data science. The process, Le Roux admits, is slow.

“Some firms may have special practices that will treat them slightly differently, but in general no. They (MBA/Ph.D. and Undergrad/Master’s) come in at equivalent levels based on their years of work experience. This is not a change from 2018-2019, but standard consulting industry practice.”

While MBA pay jumped substantially in 2018, Le Roux believes the year was an outlier, with MBA pay growth cooling in coming years.

“We anticipate standard inflation increases for undergrads, and the same for MBAs,” she points out. “The MBA jump is a one-time jump to catch up to tech, and the largest we’ve seen in the 10 years we’ve been covering salaries. These kinds of annual pay increases would be a losing battle for firms unless their per-project fees or utilization rates really continue to leap (which we do not expect).”

BASE PAY ISN’T THE ONLY KEY FACTOR

Perhaps the greatest value from the Management Consulted data is derived at the more granular level. Notably, the annual survey breaks pay down by company. Instead of a lump sum, pay is parsed down to areas like base pay, performance bonus, and signing bonus – not to mention allowances, retirement, relocation, travel bonus, and tuition reimbursement when applicable.

For undergrads, the most recognizable names don’t always pay the most. AArete, an analytics oriented firm with six locations in the United States and United Kingdom, pays an $112,000 base to start. Compare that to big name rivals like the Boston Consulting Group ($90K), Accenture, Bain, and McKinsey ($85K), and PwC, KPMG, and A.T. Kearney ($75K). While AArete doesn’t offer a one-time signing bonus, it does provide a performance bonus of $16,000 – a number that tops McKinsey ($15K) and Bain (12K). The highest performance bonus? That belongs to PwC at $18,750. This gives PwC a huge advantage over Deloitte, which doesn’t offer a performance until after a consultant passes the three year mark.

Of course, base and bonus are only part of the equation. For many undergrads, the pay package is the best gauge of company fit. Looking for a company that’ll invest in your retirement? Bain will pour 4.5% of base and bonus into a 401K without requiring any contribution. Huron provides $5,000 in stock to new undergraduate hires – and will match 25% of any personal investment up to $20,000. A.T. Kearney offers profit sharing up to $7,000 – and re-location up to $10,000. While consulting demands long hours, Mercer pays out 1.5 times base pay when their consultants work over 40 hours. At West Monroe Partners, graduates pull down an additional $4,000 for every 30 nights on the road.

McKinseyites hamming it up after work.

HIGHEST PAY IS $170K FOR MBAs

Impressed? Just wait until you get a load of the MBA perks. Worried about tuition? Accenture and AlixPartners are happy to help out, with each covering $80,000. For those interns who return to Deloitte S&O, the company will cover their second year tuition. A.T. Kearney and Bain will each chip in $8K to a consultant’s 401K – and BCG will raise you to $10,260, Then again, ECG Management Consultants pays $14,950 into each retirement account. That pales in comparison to L.E.K., which makes a hard-to-beat $30,000 contribution into retirement and profit sharing per consultant.

That doesn’t count regular pay, where the highest bases are reported by Parthenon-EY hires at $170K to start. The next rung begins with a $165K base, which includes MBAs from McKinsey, Bain, BCG, and AlixPartners. The latter also earmarks the highest performance bonus at $60K, with OC&C ($50K) and Strategy& ($49.5K) also falling on the generous side. Then again, Accenture Strategy dangles a $30K performance bonus for all first year employees out an MBA program, with another $15K budgeted for “top performers.”

When it comes to signing bonuses, Accenture Strategy is equally competitive, with a $25K bonus plus an additional $17.5K for returning interns. L.E.K. offers a similar package: $25K for every MBA and another $25K for interns who come back. Alas, KPMG just makes it simple: up to $35K when you sign the dotted line.

AN ASTERIK COMES WITH SOME PAY NUMBERS

Of course, Management Consulted is careful to point out that these packages come with caveats. For one, performance bonuses are generally only conferred to the top 5%-10% of consultants. “Average performers often receive bonuses closer to half of the maximum amount, while poor performers typically only receive a small bonus if any,” the report notes. “Also, firms that pay overtime may choose not to offer a performance bonus.” Many packages, particularly from MBB, are also tendered with little room for negotiation.

The report adds that firms like L.E.K. pay bonus out in increments over years. Not surprisingly, pay is often tagged to nation, with American consultants often raking in better packages due to competition from finance and tech firms. Cost of living is another factor, where consultants in metros like New York City and San Francisco will be paid a little more to cover the costs.

While the competition is still fierce for consulting talent, Le Roux admits that firms are relying on a proven formula to land their choice candidates. “[It is] many of the same elements: firm-to-firm, they focus on culture, lifestyle, and work process differences. In consulting vs. non-consulting firms, consulting firms push analytics insights training, career acceleration, C-level impact, and the power of the lifetime network.”

The career and pay progression in consulting doesn’t hurt, either. According to the report, MBAs can expect a 10%-20% annual increase in base pay and performance bonus each year. What’s more, consultants enjoy big jumps in pay with each career step, which often come in 2-3 year increments (with Management Consulted citing the move from associate to consultant at BCG, which is accompanied by a doubling of base salary).

What does this mean in real numbers for MBAs? After notching a promotion to manager after 2-3 years, base pay rises to the $190K-$210K range, which is accompanied by an $80K-$120K bonus. After the 4-5 year mark, MBAs can make associate principal, a rank with $230K-$300K in base pay and bonuses pegged from $110K-$200K. As a junior partner – a step that’s an option after 6-8 years – pay balloons to $320K-$400K. This is also a time when bonus ($300K-$500K) can actually eclipse base. After a decade or more, a senior partner can pull down a cool million a year between base ($400K-$600K) and bonus ($500K).

Alas, few consultants make it to senior partner, Management Consulted observes, due to the up-or-out nature of the industry. Still, the report found that MBAs who left consulting still received a 12%-20% bump in pay. However, that doesn’t mean consulting doesn’t have drawbacks – aside from the long hours and travel, that is. Notably, financial services pays more, with tech firms becoming increasingly competitive in this space. While consulting remains on solid ground, MBAs can expect the tech industry to pose a greater allure when it comes to stability.

“Consulting still offers an incredible starting or re-starting point to any career – the value proposition has remained unchanged,” adds Le Roux. “However, lifestyle competition from tech firms (you’re home more with tech firms) – and no stock compensation from consulting firms – mean that more MBAs in particular are jumping into tech right away rather than consulting first and tech later.”

Want to know how much you’re worth? Check out the data below.

Page 3: Differences in undergrad and MBA pay between 2018 and 2019. 

Page 4: A look at how undergrad and MBA pay has changed over the past four years. 

Page 5: Internship Pay.

Page 6: Detailed pay data by firm for MBAs. 

Page 7: Detailed pay data by firm for undergrads. 

DON’T MISS: THE BEST CONSULTING FIRMS TO WORK FOR IN 2019

THE TOP FEEDER BUSINESS SCHOOLS TO THE CONSULTING INDUSTRY

Bain consultants meeting in a lobby

BCG’s new New York office at 10 Hudson Yards – overlooking the Hudson River. Photo by Anthony Collins

A.T. Kearney consultant meeting in the New York office

Undergraduate/Master’s Program Internships

Accenture Strategy: $32/hr + $2,000 signing bonus and overtime

A.T. Kearney: $12,000

Bain: $15,000 (10 weeks)

BCG: $15,000 (10 weeks)

Deloitte: $35/hour + overtime (10 weeks)

EY: $30/hour + overtime

Huron: $21/hour ($2,000 signing bonus)

IMS Consulting Group: $12,000

Insight Sourcing: $1,100/week

KPMG: $29/hour

L.E.K.: $12,000

McKinsey: $15,000 (10 weeks)

OC&C: $12,770 (8 weeks)

Oliver Wyman: $11,750 + $2500 signing bonus (9 weeks)

PwC: $39/hour (Hong Kong: HK$7000/month)

Strategy&: $38/hour

ZS Associates: $5,000/month

MBA/PhD Program Internships

AT Kearney: $12,000/month

Bain: $32,000 (10 weeks)

BCG: $32,000 (Canada: C$4000/week)

Deloitte: $30,000 + full 2nd year MBA tuition for returning interns

EY: $27,500 ($11,000/month for 10 weeks)

IBM: $25,000 + $4,500 relocation (10 weeks)

IMS: $11,500/month + $5,000 signing bonus

L.E.K.: $3125/week (9 weeks) + up to $25,000 tuition reimbursement for returning MBA interns

Kalypso: $25,000 ($10,000/month for 10 weeks)

KPMG: $66/hour ($99/hour for overtime, 10 weeks)

McKinsey: $32,000 (10 weeks)

Parthenon-EY: $27,000 + $5,000 signing bonus (for 10 weeks)

PwC: $12,000/month

Simon & Kucher: $12,000/month

Strategy&: $12,000/month

ZS Associates: $11,500/month + $5,000 signing bonus

Bain consultants kicking back after another productive day.

Salaries for Incoming MBA/PhD Full-Time Hires

Accenture Strategy 

• Base: $150,000 (Canada: C$135,000)
• Performance Bonus: up to $30,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $180,000
• Retirement: 6% match for 401k
• Tuition Reimbursement: up to $80,000 ($50,000 after taxes)
• Signing Bonus: $35,000 (Canada: C$25,000)
• Relocation: up to $10,000

AlixPartners 

• Base: $165,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $60,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $225,000
• Retirement: 6% match for 401k
• Tuition Reimbursement: up to $80,000 ($50,000 after taxes)
• Signing Bonus: $25,000 (Canada: C$25,000)
• Relocation: up to $10,000

A.T. Kearney 

• Base: $158,000 (Germany: €85,000)
• Performance Bonus: up to $44,100 (Germany: up to €16,000)
• Total Cash (sum of above): $191,100
• Retirement: 401k contribution up to $8,000
• Signing Bonus: $25,000 (plus $10,000 for summer interns)
• Relocation: up to $10,000 (Germany: up to €5,000)

Bain & Company 

• Base: $165,000 (UK: £85,000) (Thailand: ฿3,600,000)
• Performance Bonus: up to $41,250 (Thailand: up to ฿700,000)
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $206,250
• Retirement: 401k contribution up to $8,000
• Signing Bonus: $25,000 (Thailand: ฿980,000)
• Relocation: up to $5,000 (Thailand: ฿230,000)

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 

• Base: $165-170,000 (UK: £90,000)
• Performance Bonus: up to $45,000 (UK: up to £25,000)
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $215,000
• Retirement: $10,260 into 401k
• Signing Bonus: $25,000
• Relocation: $2-8,000

Booz Allen Hamilton 

• Base: $140,000 (Middle East)
• Performance Bonus: up to $35,000 (25% of base; Middle East)
• Allowances: 40% of base ($56,000) only paid to Dubai/Abu Dhabi/Doha  | 30% for Riyadh
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $231,000 (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha). Up to $217,000 (Riyadh)
• Relocation: up to $25,000 (Middle East)

CCG Catalyst Consulting Group 

• Base: $150,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $15,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $165,000
• Retirement: 5% match for 401k

Cognizant Business Consulting 

• Base: $115-125,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $10-15,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $140,000
• Signing Bonus: $20,000 (Dubai: $30,000)
• Relocation: up to $6,000

Deloitte 

• Base: $140-150,000 (Canada MBA: C$125,000)
• Performance Bonus: up to $45,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): $195,000
• Retirement: 25% match of first 6% into 401k (a total of 1.5%)
• Tuition Reimbursement: Full 2nd year tuition for returning interns
• Signing Bonus: $15-25,000 (additional $17,500 for returning interns, $20K early signing) (Canada: C$20,000)
• Relocation: up to $10,000

Ernst & Young

• Base: $150,000 (UK: £85,000) (Hungary: Ft560,000)
• Performance Bonus: up to $10,000 (UK: up to 20%) (Hungary: up to 8%)
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $160,000
• Retirement: Match up to 6%
• Signing Bonus: $25,000 (UK: £15,000)
• Relocation: up to $5,000

IBM Global Business Services 

• Base: $150,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $15,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $165,000
• Signing Bonus: $25,000 (additional $15,000 for returning interns)
• Relocation: up to $6,500

IMS Consulting Group 

• Base: $130,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $16,250
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $146,250
• Signing Bonus: $25,000
• Relocation: up to $8,000

Infosys 

• Base: $122,500
• Performance Bonus: up to $25,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): $147,500
• Signing Bonus: $20,000
• Relocation: up to $3,000

Kalypso 

• Base: $124,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $15,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): $139,000
• Signing Bonus: $15,000
• Relocation: up to $3,000

KPMG 

• Base: $150,000 (India: 2,100,000 INR)
• Performance Bonus: up to $25,000 (India: up to 400,000 INR)
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $175,000
• Signing Bonus: up to $35,000
• Relocation: up to $5,000

L.E.K. 

• Base: $150,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $25,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $175,000
• Retirement & Profit Sharing: up to $30,000
• Signing Bonus: $25,000 (additional $25,000 for returning interns)
• Relocation: up to $5,000

McKinsey & Company 

• Base: $165,000 (UK: £90,000) (Germany: €105,000)
• Performance Bonus: up to $35,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $200,000
• Retirement: 7.5% into 401k
• Signing Bonus: $30,000 (Germany: negotiable)
• Relocation: $2-9,000 (Germany: negotiable)

Mercer 

• Base: $110,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $22,000 (20% of base)
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $132,000
• Signing Bonus: $20,000
• Relocation: up to $3,000

OC&C 

• Base: $146,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $50,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $196,000
• Retirement: 401k – up to 3.5% match at start of 2nd year
• Signing Bonus: $25,000

Oliver Wyman 

• Base: $145,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $36,250
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $181,250
• Retirement: 401k – up to 3.5% match at start of 2nd year
• Signing Bonus: $20,000

Parthenon-EY 

• Base: $170,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $9,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $179,000
• Signing Bonus: $35,000
• Relocation: up to $2,000

PwC 

• Base: $145,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $29,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $174,000
• Signing Bonus: $30,000
• Relocation: up to $2,000

Roland Berger 

• Base: £78,000 (UK)
• Performance Bonus: up to £23,400
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to £111,400

Samsung Global Strategy Group 

• Base: $167,000 (based in Seoul)
• Performance Bonus: up to $33,400
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $200,400
• Starting Bonus: $40,000
• Relocation: Included in starting bonus

Simon & Kucher 

• Base: $140,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $35,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $175,000
• Starting Bonus: $20,000
• Relocation: up to $3,000

Strategy& 

• Base: $150,000 (Ongoing internal discussions to raise this)
• Performance Bonus: up to $49,500
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $199,500
• Retirement: 4% automatic (no match required); 25% match up to 6% in a separate account
• Signing Bonus: $30,000
• Relocation: up to $3,000

McKinsey consultants in the Sao Paulo office

Salaries for Incoming Undergraduate/Master’s Full-Time Hires

AArete 

• Base: $112,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $16,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $128,000
• Retirement: 3% match for 401k

Accenture Strategy 

• Base: $85,000 (Canada: C$75,000)
• Performance Bonus: up to $8,500 (10% of base)
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $93,500
• Retirement: 6% match for 401k after 1st year
• Stock: 15% discount of Accenture stock
• Signing Bonus: $10,000 (Canada: C$10,000)
• Relocation: up to $5,000

Alvarez & Marsal 

• Base: $65-82,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $16,400 (uncapped bonus if in restructuring/turnaround group)
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $98,400
• Signing Bonus: $5-10,000

A.T. Kearney 

• Base: $75,000 (Canada: C$70,000)
• Performance Bonus: up to $15,000 (20% of base in US and Canada)
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $90,000
• Retirement: 6% match for 401k
• Profit Sharing: up to $7,500 (10% of base depending on firm performance)
• Signing Bonus: $5,000 (Canada: C$5,000)
• Relocation: up to $10,000 (Canada: up to C$10,000)

Baker Tilly Virchow Krause 

• Base: $66,000
• Signing Bonus: $4,000

Bain & Company 

• Base: $85,000 (UK: £45,500)
• Performance Bonus: up to $12,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $97,000
• Retirement: 4.5% of base + bonus into 401k, no contribution required
• Signing Bonus: $5,000 (UK: £3,000)
• Relocation: $5,000

Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

• Base: $90,000 (Canada: C$82,000) (Aus: A$67,000) (Germany: €68,500)
• Performance Bonus: up to $16,800
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $106,800
• Retirement: Profit sharing deposited into 401k account
• Profit Sharing: up to $4,400
• Signing Bonus: $5,000 (Canada: C$8,000) (Aus: A$15,000)
• Relocation: $2-8,000 (Germany: €3-10,000)

Booz Allen Hamilton 

• Base: $75-101,000 depending on experience (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Beirut, Riyadh: $60-80,000)
• Performance Bonus: $6,060-11,250 (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Beirut, Riyadh: $9-12,000)
• Allowances: 40% of base paid in Dubai/Abu Dhabi/Doha; 30% in Riyadh
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $112,250
• Retirement: 6% match for 401k (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Beirut, Riyadh: 1 month of latest salary per year of service)
• Relocation: up to $5,000 (Dubai, Abu Dhabi: up to $15,000)

Cognizant Technology Solutions 

• Base: $65,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $3,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $68,000
• Retirement: 50% 401k match for first 6% of salary (after 1st year)
• Signing Bonus: $5,000
• Retention Bonus: $5,000 (after 1st and 2nd years)

Cornerstone Research 

• Base: $82,500
• Performance Bonus: up to $8,250 (10% of base)
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $90,750
• Retirement: 50% match for first 6% of individual contributions in 401k
• Signing Bonus: $12,500
• Relocation: 100% of moving expenses; 4 nights in hotel while house hunting; all broker fees

Deloitte S&O 

• Base: $80-94,000 (Canada: C$70,000) (UK: £39,500) (Germany: €50,500) (NZ: NZ$47,000)
• Performance Bonus: Only after 3rd year (15% of base) (Canada: up to 10%) (UK: up to 5%)
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $80-94,000
• Retirement: 25% match for first 6% of individual contributions in 401k
• Signing Bonus: $12,500 (Canada: C$5,000) (NZ: NZ$2,000)

Ernst & Young 

• Base: $75,000 (Canada: C$65-70,000)
• Performance Bonus: None (1.5x overtime pay instead)
• Total Cash (sum of above): $75,000 + overtime
• Retirement: 6% match of base into 401k
• Signing Bonus: $3-7,500
• Relocation: up to $2,000

FTI Consulting 

• Base: $68,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $10,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $78,000
• Signing Bonus: $7,000
• Relocation: up to $1,000

Huron 

• Base: $67-72,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $7,200 (10% of base)
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $79,200
• Retirement: 6% match of base into 401k
• Stock: $5,000 (25% match of personal investment up to $20,000)
• Signing Bonus: $5,000
• Travel Bonus: up to $3,750 (typically $3,000)
• Relocation: up to $2,000

IBM Global Business Services 

• Base: $75,000 (Canada: C$68,000)
• Performance Bonus: up to $8,400 (12% of base)
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $83,400
• Retirement: 5% match of base into 401k
• Signing Bonus: $7,000 (Canada: C$5,000)
• Relocation: up to $3,000

KPMG 

• Base: $68,000 (Canada: C$62,000) (UK: £32,000)
• Performance Bonus: up to $8,160
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $76,160
• Signing Bonus: Rare
• Relocation: up to $2,000

L.E.K. 

• Base: $74,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $14,800 (20% of base)
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $88,800
• Signing Bonus: $7,500
• Relocation: up to $2,500

McKinsey & Company 

• Base: $85,000 (AUD: A$86,000) (Canada: C$82,500) (Germany: €67,000) (UK: £43,000) (Taipei: $38,876)
• Performance Bonus: up to $15,000 (Australia: up to A$15,000) (Taipei: up to $5,000)
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $100,000
• Retirement: $7,500 (Canada: C$10,000 to RRSP)
• Signing Bonus: $5,000 (Canada: C$5,000) (UK: £$3,000) (AUD: A$2,000)
• Relocation: $2-10,000 (Germany: €3-€5,000)

Mercer 

• Base: $68,000 (Canada: C$55,000)
• Performance Bonus: No bonus, instead 1.5x pay for hours over 40/week
• Total Cash (sum of above): $68,000 + overtime
• Signing Bonus: $3,000
• Relocation: up to $2,000

Navigant Consulting 

• Base: $72,000
• Signing Bonus: $6,000

Novantas 

• Base: $72,000 (Canada: $72,000 CAD)
• Performance Bonus: up to $14,400
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $86,400
• Signing Bonus: $5,000
• Relocation: up to $5,000

OC&C 

• Base: $83,000 (UK: £45,000)
• Performance Bonus: up to $20,000
• Total cash (sum of above): up to $103,000
• Signing Bonus: $7,500 (UK: £7,000)
• Relocation: $5,000
• Retirement: 401K – up to 3.5% match at start of second year

Oliver Wyman 

• Base: $85,000 (Canada: $75,000) (UK: £43,000) (Amsterdam: €58,000) (Singapore: S$90,000)
• Performance Bonus: up to $16,000 (Amsterdam: up to €27,000)
• Total cash (sum of above): up to $101,000
• Signing Bonus: $10,000 (Canada: C$10,000) (UK: £7,000)
• Relocation: up to $2,000 (Singapore: $10,000)

PwC (including Strategy&) 

• Base: $75,000 (Canada: C$65,000)
• Performance Bonus: up to $18,750
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $93,750
• Signing Bonus: $5,000-7,500
• Relocation: up to $2,000

Simon & Kucher 

• Base: $75,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $15,000
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $90,000
• Signing Bonus: $5,000
• Relocation: up to $3,000

West Monroe Partners 

• Base: $77,000
• Performance Bonus: up to $3,850
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $80,850
• Signing Bonus: $7,000

ZS Associates 

• Base: $70,000 (Canada: C$75,000)
• Performance Bonus: up to $7,000 (10% of base)
• Total Cash (sum of above): up to $77,000
• Retirement: 3% match for 401k
• Signing Bonus: $6,500 (Canada: C$5,000)
• Relocation: up to $4,000 (Canada: up to C$2,500)

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My MIT Interview: Confusing Cultures - Poets&Quants

MIT’s Sloan School of Management. MIT photo

Ben Fouch, an aspiring member of the MBA Class of 2021, is documenting his journey as an applicant every other week in his “Diaries of a Darkhorse” column. He works on the corporate development team at Booz Allen Hamilton on the sourcing, valuing, and structuring of potential M&A deals. Among his target schools is Harvard Business School. He was also a 2017 Best & Brightest business major with Poets&Quants.

In early December, you could find me walking up the steps to Sloan for my interview. The school’s main building is nestled by the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was my first time in Boston, but it was certainly not the first time that I had heard of MIT.

MIT’s name is seemingly everywhere. You can read about new technology invented in its labs all the time in the news. In popular culture, Marvel’s Iron Man features a protagonist hero who called the campus his home. Sloan seems to fit the broader MIT image, with almost a third of the incoming Sloan cohort being engineers.

AN IMAGINATION RUN WILD

Like anyone interviewing for a grad program, I did my research. I read all the testimonials about what the graduates of Sloan were doing. I talked to alumni from the school, learning about their time there. I poured over employment data and student outcomes posted online. I felt as if I had a good handle on what it would be like to study there.

I imagined classrooms full of engineers and scientists. There would be a focus on precise, quantitative methods to tackling problems. Management practices would focus on the technical and measurable, as opposed to the softer side of leadership. It sounded like a vastly different experience than I’d had in business, let alone my American Midwestern background. My pitch was that I was different, and therefore could add value in the classroom.

Walking into the admissions office, I was met with a warm hello and an offer of some tantalizing fruity scones. They were home-made, brought in by one of the admissions representatives to wish us luck. I went to a lunch with current students who came from non-profits, government consulting, and politics. None of them had technical undergraduate degrees. My interviewer was friendly, making casual conversation about life in the area.

AN EPIPHANY GAINED

Benjamin Fouch

Looking back, feeling the ice-cold blast of the Charles River on my face as following my day at Sloan wasn’t the only shock of the day. I felt as if the Sloan I had experienced was an entirely different world than what I had expected. I completely misread the vibe of the culture at Sloan. As a result, I failed to appreciate what I could bring to the school.

You can’t say what you can add to a campus culture if you don’t understand each school’s “special sauce”. Measuring culture is a fool’s errand, and we can, at best, generalize about it. Yet I believe that the cultures at top programs are a main reason they remain perched atop the rankings. In the case of MIT, in trying to guess their “special sauce”, I ended up choosing the wrong flavor.

I had let my preconceptions of MIT’s undergraduate programs influence how I pictured Sloan. It may seem obvious, but it bears repeating: the undergraduate and graduate programs are distinctly different. I’ve seen that be the case even when schools have an undergraduate business program alongside an MBA – or when undergraduates can take graduate coursework. Some MBA programs are more independent than others, but they have distinct cultures.

I’ve thought quite a bit about what else I could have done. Talking to people over the phone was insightful and gave me some excellent perspectives into life at Sloan. What stood out to me, however, was how the on-campus experience was so revealing. Being in the physical space of the school, talking to students in-person, and attending classes are experiences that can’t be replaced.

A HARD LESSON LEARNED

Beginning the process, I disregarded the need to visit in person. I thought independent research was enough. That was a flawed approach. If you really care about a school, going in person gives you a competitive edge. It helps you understand that “secret sauce” and explain how you could enhance it. How can we convince someone we fit at a school without being able to articulate what makes it special in the first plae?

Many of the posts on this website talk about self-knowledge as a top priority for applicants. I’d tend to agree. However, I feel like I over-invested in understanding my own goals and values. While I can articulate them authentically in an interview, interviewers will not be convinced by that alone. Linking one’s goals and values to those of an institution is the step we need to take to win over admissions committees at these schools.

I’d encourage you to think about where you might have biases about one school or another. Did you have a horrible boss who came from one school, and knocked them out of contention? Every school lets in some mistakes each year. Or maybe you’ve heard great things about a school’s wonderful sense of community? Maybe that’s due to special factors influencing the undergraduates like on-campus housing. We all have biases that influence how we view a given school.

Whether you are influenced favorably or unfavorably, biases are going to point us away from the truths about different MBA programs. The hard part is not being misled by our preconceptions into falsely assessing these schools. It’s up to us to identify our biases, face them, and do our best to mitigate their effect.

Originally from Indiana, Ben graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in Finance and Political Science. While at Notre Dame he co-founded Dark Horse Sports Recruiting, an undergraduate academic and athletic admissions consulting service. He enjoys baking, dad jokes, alternative history novels, and obstacle course races.

DON’T MISS:  Diaries of a Darkhorse: The Subtle Art of Choosing a Recommender

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Valuing An MBA: Arguments From the Future Indebted

“This article was prepared by the author in his/her personal capacity. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, opinion, or position of their employer.”

 

 

 

 

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10 Business Schools To Watch In 2019 - Poets&Quants

They go by different names: disruptors, rising stars, upstarts, and catalysts. A decade ago, you would’ve found those labels slapped on Facebook, YouTube, Tesla, and Hulu. They were the up-and-comers, fresh and flashy and daring and dynamic. The experts celebrated them as clear breaks from the status quo – a glimpse into the future where solutions were faster and cheaper or more all-inclusive and personalized. In other words, these firms held the promise to upend what people should expect…and ultimately how they lived.

You won’t find that same mobility in graduate business schools – not on the surface, at least. The industry could serve as a case study on barriers to entry. Infrastructure and accreditation are just two hurdles. In reality, the MBA landscape is driven by branding where a moniker like M7 serves as a status symbol. Such schools draw the most talented students (on paper) because they boast the most respected names, widest resources, and deepest pockets. This creates a virtuous circle, one where their graduates land the best jobs with the highest pay.

THE INNOVATORS THAT RANKINGS OVERLOOK

The MBA market is a battle for inches – or rankings, if you will. That has created an arms race of sort, a push to refurbish facilities and enhance programming that drives up expectations and costs for everyone. In the process, every innovation is mimicked and codified across the spectrum. Once upon a time, hands-on learning was the cornerstone of the MIT Sloan and Michigan Ross experiences. Now, team-based, employer-supported projects are embedded in every business school core. Required international excursions? That spread like mad from USC Marshall as markets exploded and the globe grew increasingly interconnected.

That begs the question: Which business schools will produce the next innovations?

Chances are, they will bubble up rather than trickle down. That’s one reason why Poets&Quants creates an annual list of the “10 Business Schools To Watch.” While inputs and outputs slot rankings, substance and soul set the bar. This year’s list features MBA programs that have distinguished themselves in two ways. Not surprisingly, many have launched curriculum experiments or made investments that are spurring a momentum that can’t be measured in incremental instruments like rankings. At the same time, others are wrestling with issues that are increasingly defining national discourse.

Here are the business schools that are expected to dictate the pace and agenda for other programs to follow in 2019.

A relaunch of the MBA program at Washington University’s Olin Business School is announced

Washington University, Olin Business School

Dean Mark Taylor isn’t afraid to make bold pronouncements. That includes making clear that he wants Olin to become “the most international program in the world.” Hyperbole? Not when you back it up– and Taylor will be doing exactly that in 2019.

Want to know what a business school truly values? Just look at the activities and courses that open its MBA program. In Olin’s case, it is  a global immersion for the Class of 2021…and beyond. This isn’t just any stale voluntary excursion that happens during their second year. Here, it starts in June, back when most MBAs are wrapping up work, boxing up belongings, and jetting off to Melbourne for some R&R.  Instead, Olin first-years are meeting up in St. Louis for orientation before heading to Washington DC, where they receive intensive training from the Brookings Institution, the most cited think tank in the areas of foreign policy and global economic development. From there, candidates spend the next month in Barcelona and Shanghai, taking classes, conducting research, and delivering projects on behalf of corporate partners.

Oh – and Olin is doing all this without increasing tuition.

Taylor, who joined Olin in 2016 after serving as dean of Warwick Business School, views this curriculum revamp as a “boot camp” – one that provides an opportunity for students to build camaraderie while being exposed to a diverse set of business practices and cultural mores. “They will work together and travel together and the international students in the cohort will naturally show their colleagues around in other parts of the world,” Taylor notes. In that time, it will be more than academic tourism. It will be a chance to begin to understand doing business in Europe and Asia.”

That’s not the only wrinkle being added by Olin, which was supported in this initiative by the Boston Consulting Group. To offer great flexibility, students can also choose from durations ranging from 14 months to 2 years. The former accommodates students looking to cut opportunity costs and return to their careers sooner, while the latter supports career switchers seeking for a transformative experience and Olin’s trademark close-knit community. At the same time, Olin invested in its strengths. While its MBA program consistently produces placement rates among the best, Olin still restructured its Weston Career Center. That included boosting its staff by a third and placing staffers on the east and west coasts – as well as China.

In other words, this program “re-launch” (as Taylor calls it) offers a larger menu of options and opportunities to students. However, the underlying message is this: The experience matters – and must be differentiated to continue attracting the best candidates. “Prospective MBA students are searching for value for money,” Taylor adds. “You are not just buying an MBA as a way to get you the next job. You have to really think about what you want.”

Students in the Ross School of Business Winter Garden

University of Michigan, Ross School of Business

Sometimes, it doesn’t pay to be first. Let’s face it: would you rather be Netscape or Google? It’s a story as old as business. The early birds perform the design and distribution dirty work…only to be outflanked by younger, faster, and better-funded upstarts.

In the part-time online MBA space, the market is dominated by Indiana Kelley, Carnegie Mellon Tepper, and North Carolina Kenan-Flagler. They’re great programs, but they’re not Top 10 business school brands. That’s about to change in 2019, when the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business enters the market. You can bet this entry is bound to create a ripple. Question is, will it spawn a wave that deluges the market (SMU’s Cox School of Business and UC-Davis’ Graduate School of Business will also debut online MBAs this year) -– or encourage bigger players to make their jump into this space too?

“Ross isn’t the only school innovating on the online frontier — everybody’s doing it to some degree,” says Wally Hopp, Michigan’s associate dean for the part-time MBA and director of the new Part-time Online MBA. “The question is, What’s going to shake out to be the right way? What are the best practices? And here at Ross, we’re committed to finding the best practices to serve our students, to train future business leaders.”

Chances are, it won’t take Ross long to crack the code. A pioneer in experiential learning, Ross is best-known for across-the-board excellence – with the full-time MBA program again ranking near the top of every MBA specialization according to U.S. News. Looking back on 2018 leaves the impression that Ross will enjoy a banner new year.

Take rankings. Last year, Ross rose to the 7th spot in March’s U.S. News MBA ranking – the first time it has cracked the top 10 in 14 years. At the same time, it jumped from 12th to 7th in The Economist ranking. The school could continue its climb in 2019 as well. For one, the Class of 2020’s GMAT scores rose four points. For another, the graduating class’ starting pay inched up as well. On top of that, the percentage of women in the incoming class reached an all-time high of 43% – a 10% increase in just the past four years.

Numbers rise and rankings fall, however. What really matters is philosophy and its execution. It is here where Ross truly shines. Dean Scott DeRue is fond of comparing the Ross full-time MBA to a teaching hospital – a place where students and employers alike can “try before [they] buy.” The program centers around project-based learning, with the program offering over 200 different consulting projects a year to students. While Ross is best known for MAP (Multidisciplinary Action Project), it has expanded into a new track, one DeRue calls “building businesses into the business school.”

The program is called LBLE, short for the Living Business Leadership Experience. Think of it as Ross’ biggest investment on its “mission to really reinvent the student experience.” Here, students partner with companies to launch and operate new business units.  Currently covering seven companies, the LBLE program enables students to shoulder the full responsibilities of running a business, including marketing, finance, and operations.

“One of the coolest things about it is that students get to see and experience first-hand how tough decision-making can be,” says Soojin Kwon, managing director of full-time MBA admissions at Ross. “You don’t always have complete information or buy-in from all stakeholders. How do you manage in the face of ambiguity? These are the kinds of challenges that students work through in a real business.”

In other words, Ross MBAs don’t just read cases, they live them – and are responsible for how they turn out. “One of the great things about Ross is that students get to work with and for real organizations that have a challenge – while they’re students, not just read cases or identify solutions for challenges that have already happened,” Kwon adds. So they’re not only gaining exposure and experience, they’re also able to make an impact.”

Thanks to its innovative ideas, courageous commitment and relentless execution, you can expect Ross to leave a major impact on business education in 2019, too.

The University of Washington’s Foster School of Business benefits from its location in Seattle, home to two of the world’s biggest tech companies

University of Washington, Foster School of Business

“It’s not about strategy. It’s about execution.”

That’s the advice that Dean Jim Jiambalvo once received from a former Starbucks CEO. By that measure, you could say Jiambalvo’s 14-year run as dean of the Foster School has been a smashing success.

It is stunning to look back at Jiambalvo’s accomplishments as he rides off into the sunset. When he took the reins, Foster’s full-time MBA program wasn’t even ranked by U.S. News or The Financial Times. And it was an afterthought with Businessweek too. Fast forward to today and Foster consistently ranks among the Top 25 programs in nearly every major ranking.

What happened? Let’s just say Jiambalvo laid the blueprint for building the modern business school. During his tenure, he placed a heavy emphasis on luring and developing the best faculty. In fact, the school’s per capita research output rivals programs like Wharton and Stanford. A prolific fund-raiser, he also worked the phones to generate over $380 million dollars from alumni and friends. This prowess enabled him to construct two state-of-the-art buildings covering 200,000 square feet during his term. That doesn’t even include the 100,000 square foot Founders Hall is slated to open in 2021. On top of that, he launched a torrent of centers, covering areas like sales and marketing strategy, entrepreneurship, global business, and leadership and strategic think.

Get the point? Alas, that’s the past. These days, Foster’s “We > Me” culture has yielded serious dividends. The incoming class featured 42% women, one of the highest rates among major business schools. Last year, the school notched a 99% placement rate for graduates, with 60% of students heading into technology – where they pulled down $118,355 bases and $38,695 sign on bonuses to boot. The reason? For one, the school offers Applied Strategy projects – mini internships if you will.  The Foster difference? Students can take up to three of them.

When you’re good, luck simply puts you over the top. That lucky ingredient at Foster is Seattle itself. The “Emerald City” nickname is now more reflective of economic green than Pacific Northwest shrubbery. The Seattle market has exploded, thanks to a vibrant startup scene and a powerful Fortune 500 presence. Yes, the Pudget Sound is home to iconic brands like Amazon, Microsoft, and Starbucks, not to mention climbers like Rover and Zulily. This perk, coupled with a wealth of outdoor excursions (and coffee houses), makes Foster an increasingly covet seat among business school applicants.

“If you want to build a network of people who are currently at Amazon or Microsoft, the Foster School is a terrific environment,” Jiambalvo adds. “There are also all kinds of small companies in Seattle. And a lot of students want to be at a startup. The Bay Area is in a league of its own and then there is Boston and then Seattle. So entrepreneurship is something we also pay a lot of attention to. We have a very, very strong center, great coursework, and great experiential learning.”

Columbia Business School

Columbia Business School

You won’t find a business school with more inherent advantages than Columbia Business School. That starts with its New York City locale, where nearly every Fortune 500 company is just a cab or subway ride away from its Morningside Heights campus. Indeed, the Big Apple boasts every industry and every stage imaginable. That makes it all the easier for CBS MBAs to build a robust rolodex of contacts from company leaders to specialty practitioners. With flexible schedules and Fridays off, students can easily take on internships during the school year.

In its tagline, CBS hails itself as being “at the very center of business.” What they don’t tell you is the school is also at the very center of the arts, fashion, and media too. While Wall Street and a booming startup scene are major enticements, the campus life is equally alluring. A large MBA program par excellence, students can also choose from over 200 electives. Thanks to being just a few miles from Midtown and Wall Street, the school attracts the most coveted speakers and executives-in-residence…not to mention adjunct faculty like Barry Salzberg, the former Deloitte CEO who runs the school’s consulting immersion. Let’s not forget clubs. The school sponsors over a hundred, which range from banking, consulting, and fintech to cycling, sailing, and squash.

Despite being an Ivy in “The City that never sleeps,” Columbia remains a bit underrated as a whole. You’d never know it by the numbers posted by the Class of 2020. As usual, the admissions department was awash in applications, accepting just 17% as students – with nearly three-quarters ultimately accepting their offer. At the same time, the class posted an all-time high in average GMATs at 732, higher than even Harvard Business School. Whatever you do, don’t dismiss CBS as a “finance school.” That’s so 2007, with consulting firms now drawing more graduates than banks.

What’s holding CBS back? That’s easy: Uris Hall – with a charmless exterior that was seemingly inspired by 1950s-style public housing. That’s about to change, as the school is opening a new building in Manhattanville in 2022 that promised to be among the most state-of-the-art in the industry. That’s not the only big news. In June, Glenn Hubbard will step down as dean after 15 years in the role. While Hubbard’s tenure was unquestionably successful, this change represents an opportunity for new ideas to take root at the school.

Unfortunately, these advantages aren’t the only reasons why CBS is a school to watch. Let’s just say school administration wasn’t sad to see 2018 go. In July, the school was assigned to pay $1.25 million dollars in damages to Enricheeta Ravina, a former assistant professor, in a sexual harassment and retaliation case against Geert Bekaert, an award-winning finance professor. That comes on the heels of several harassment cases involving faculty being investigated at the school. In November, another bombshell dropped, when a first-year claimed she was drugged and raped by a classmate at an off-campus gathering.

Are these events indicative of a certain culture at the school – or is CBS just reflective of what happens more discreetly on other MBA campuses? Even more, how will the school react to these events to better protect students and faculty? The answers may just determine how CBS will be viewed in the coming years – and that makes it truly a school to watch.

Vanderbilt Owen students visited 11 different banks and financial firms over fall break, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase. Vanderbilt photo

Vanderbilt University, Owen Graduate School of Business

Here’s a stat to remember: Healthcare now accounts for 18% of American GDP…or $3.5 trillion dollars annually.

Impressed? Just wait until you get a load of this next number: Over half of all private hospital beds are managed out of Nashville.

Cha-ching!

Indeed, the region is home base for over 500 health care companies, which generate over $92 billion a year and account for over a half million jobs. That includes giants like Hospital Corporation of America and Community Health Systems. Together, they operate nearly 300 hospitals and surgical centers in the U.S. and U.K. It isn’t just the big players reaping the rewards. Nashville-area healthcare startups attracted $1.6 billion dollars in investment from 2005-2015. One such startup, Intermedix, made a $460 million dollar exit last year.

Get the picture? The Owen School certainly does. Each year, 16% to 20% of their students enter the healthcare field after graduation – more than double the rate of any full-time MBA program. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the Vanderbilt Medical Center, one of the nation’s largest hospital complexes, is just five minutes down 21st Avenue from Owen. Such connections are just one of the inherent advantages enjoyed by Owen grads who complete a healthcare concentration.

“It’s just the place to be,” says Owen’s Christie St. John, Owen’s MBA admissions director in an interview with P&Q. “Why would you want to be anywhere else? Because you’ve got personalized attention — personalized services. All the alums, all the companies are right here at your fingertips.”

Indeed, the healthcare industry is changing rapidly in ways that are particularly attractive to MBAs observes Owen Dean Eric Johnson. Notably, it has grown increasingly “professionalized,” he says in a 2018 Q&A with P&Q. By that, he means that they now involve more complexity, where an MD doesn’t cover the specialized training in areas like finance to run a large organization. At the same time, Johnson adds, healthcare delivery is pivoting more towards MBA strengths.

“The U.S. health care system is in a constant state of churn, and it’s creating a lot of opportunities to roll up all kinds of specialties. For example, anesthesiologists, emergency room doctors, whatever, they get bundled up as a service sold back to hospitals. It’s very much a roll up kind of industry right now, and that’s an MBA sweet spot. MBAs love conquering the world, rolling up an industry and a very fragmented industry at that.”

Such opportunities leave the school poised for a major jump in prestige and value in the coming years. Of course, an Owen healthcare concentration isn’t your standard classroom fare. If MBA candidates want to study healthcare at Owen, they’ll need to get their hands dirty. That’s why the program opens with an immersion, where students shadow doctors, nurses, and patients, witnessing everything from surgeries to check-ups. In the process, they gain an understanding of the daily routines that stakeholders follow and the issues they encounter. Such exercises give Owen graduates the tools to sharpen their decision-making and provide the know-how needed to truly adapt and innovate in a fast-moving industry.

“Owen allowed me to come in with somewhat of a head start,” adds Jameson Norton (’15), CEO at Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital and Clinics and executive director at Vanderbilt Behavioral Health. “We’re talking a lot about how things are evolving and you’re able to learn about some of the potential disruptors and the ways that things are transforming. That helps you anticipate where things are moving. It gives you a vision for where we’re headed.”

Scheller College of Business at Georgia Tech University

Georgia Institute of Technology, Scheller College of Business

Every business school lauds “technology.” It is the differentiator, the means to stay ahead. Case studies are devoted to how it helps companies reach more consumers, boost productivity, and enhance communication. At the same time, technology is viewed as a culture setter, one that alters corporate structures and partner relationships in its wake.

Just one question: How exactly do you leverage technology to maximize its potential?

Finding the answer is the cornerstone of the Scheller MBA. In fact, the program’s curriculum is designed to train students on how technology impacts every corner of industry and company operations. That’s one reason you’ll find concentrations and immersive tracks like Technology Commercialization, Managing Innovation & Technology, and Innovating for Sustainability being offered. Despite the quant calculus in the program, Scheller is hardly a finishing school for engineers and computer scientists.

“You don’t have to have a technology background to be successful at Georgia Tech, says SaVona Smith, a first-year MBA and a former regional sales manager who is transitioning into brand management. “They teach you all you need to know!”

Alas, technology is the soul of the larger Georgia Tech University, a top-flight research institution that features one of the world’s best engineering programs. That creates opportunities for MBA students to partner with students from various schools. This is exemplified by TI:GER, where MBAs partner with graduate students in the sciences, law, and engineering to commercialize Ph.D. research breakthroughs.

In fact, Scheller MBAs are surrounded by innovation and technology. The business school is literally encircled by the Tech Square district, 1.4 million square feet of space that’s home to 100 startups and 50 accelerators and incubators – not to mention research facilities and offices for Fortune 500 darlings like AT&T, Coca-Cola, and Home Depot. Of course, learning how to network with and bring value to these organizations takes practice. Thankfully, Scheller boasts one of the world’s top career services centers – and faculties – according to surveys conducted by The Economist.

“We feel it is Scheller College’s time to shine,” says Katie Lloyd, executive director of MBA admissions, in an interview with P&Q. “We’re well-positioned to be the MBA program for the 21st century, from practical application, to our position at the intersection of business and technology and emphasis on business analytics. MBA programs worldwide are trying to move this direction, but we’re already there.”

The MiM student population at IE Business School in Madrid, Spain is about 25% Spanish — and 75% international. IE photo

IE Business School

IE Business School is proud to flout the rules. They were founded by entrepreneurs, so what would you expect? This brashness – which stems from an openness to new ideas and an obsession with delivering an education that truly matters – has produced a culture and curriculum far different from the mainstream.

IE was among the first schools to integrate the humanities into their classroom teaching. The school was also among the first to recognize the intrinsic value of experiential learning. Blessed with an entrepreneurial spirit and steeped in technological know-how, IE is a champion of diversity, not just in terms of nationality but background, temperament, and philosophy. One example of the school’s rebel spirit? The program opens with two entrepreneurship courses! Oh, and it also boasts an intensive “fitness” regimen, replete with coaching and programming geared towards personal and career development.

Intriguing, no doubt. That isn’t enough to make IE an MBA program to watch. This year, the designation stems from two developments. First, the program is investing heavily in itself. For one, IE is pouring €50 million over the next five years into enhancing technological immersion, with a special emphasis on AI, blockchain, and fintech. What’s more, the school is on a building spree, with its Campus IE expected to double its current Madrid space by 2020.

That’s the good news. In IE’s case, 2018 could also be described as taxing at best and scandalous at worst. The reason? The school was removed from the Financial Times’ 2018 full-time MBA ranking. Just one ranking, you say. Maybe, but a year earlier, IE ranked 8th in the world on the FT list, higher than such programs as Chicago Booth, Northwestern Kellogg, and MIT Sloan. In fact, IE became the first Top 10 program ever booted from the FT ranking.

What happened? While fraud was initially suggested, the reason turned out to be garden variety mismanagement. Simply put: The team responsible for updating alumni data and managing the flow of survey responses failed on both counts. Considering that survey data accounts for a 59% weight for FT school rankings, the mistake was catastrophic.

“In this case, the quality of the data we received was not good enough,” wrote an IE spokesperson in response to a P&Q inquiry. “We received surveys completed by people who were not who we thought they were. We alerted IE to this issue and we have asked them to urgently tighten their data collection procedures so that they can be included in future rankings.”

Although the school initially downplayed the errors, the bad publicity resulted in heads rolling. Most likely, the school leadership realized that alumni pride translated to big contributions – and rankings act as the equivalent to a homecoming victory in the MBA world. A week after the news broke, the school responded forcefully, firing two staffers and demanding the resignation of a third. The soul-searching also resulted in tightening data management processes – with anything rankings-related now funneled through the dean himself.

An embarrassment? No doubt, but there is a precedent. In 2016, NYU Stern dropped nine spots to 20th in the U.S. News ranking after failing to submit a key piece of data. Sure enough, the school rebounded the next year and all was forgotten (though not necessarily forgiven). A momentary blip or a harbinger of things to come? You can bet prospective applicants will be watching how this plays out as intently as administrators in the coming month.

Members of USC Marshall’s vaunted Trojan Network

USC, Marshall School of Business

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.”

This opening line from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities would be an apt description for how 2018 went for the Marshall School of Business.

Let’s start with the worst of times, since one event darkened what was otherwise one of the best years ever for an MBA program.

In late November, Dean James Ellis was told he would be removed as dean of the Marshall School. The reason? The university appears to be blaming Ellis for what it believes is an inordinate number of complaints (roughly 70 in 11 and one-half years) lodged by either students or faculty at Marshall with the university’s Office of Equity and Diversity (OED). Although Ellis himself was never cited for any misconduct himself, such accusations are basically a career death sentence in today’s #MeToo climate. Just two problems with the situation. First, only 10% of the complaints were ever forwarded to Ellis (and the ones that reached him received immediate action). Second, in due process worthy of the communist East bloc, the university won’t even let Ellis read the charges levied against him. So much for transparency.

Not surprisingly, faculty and students alike have rallied to Ellis’ cause, with a petition demanding his reinstatement generating 3,000 signatures by Christmas. The issue also includes sharp political dimensions, beginning with an overzealous (and largely unqualified) interim dean seeking to undo the damage of harassment and bias issues being largely ignored at other schools on the USC campus. While pointed letters and negative press coverage have left the decision-makers unmoved, Ellis’ supporters may still hold the leverage. One USC development officer expects the school to lose $30-$40 million dollars in support from alumni and friends over the action against Ellis.

That’s bad news for a program that has been on a major roll as of late. In a down year for student interest across the board, Marshall was one of only Top 20 MBA program to receive more applications than the previous year. It wasn’t just the quantity of applications that stuck out during the 2017-2018 cycle. Anne Ziemniak, assistant dean and director of the full-time MBA program, described the Class of 2020 as “the “highest quality applicant pool in Marshall’s history.”

The numbers bear out her assertion. The median GMAT reached 705 – an all-time high and a 32 point jump over the past three years. Average undergraduate GPAs also surged from 3.3 to 3.5. However, the number that truly stuck out was 52% – the percentage of women in the Class of 2020. It was the first time that a Top 20 business school had more women than men in the class – thanks to a grassroots effort launched by first-year students and supported wholeheartedly by administration. If the school can achieve this milestone consistently, it will make the program all the more formidable among recruiters, says Mark Brostoff, assistant dean and director of MBA career services.

“As we go to market with internship opportunities and full-time jobs, employers are going to be very happy that we have a 50-50 split in the class,” he noted in a 2018 interview with P&Q. “They want more women in their pipelines. The resumes requested most often in the last couple of years are of female candidates.”

If student quality and demographics don’t sell the program, the Trojan Network will. An alumni base of 88,000 members strong, the Trojan Network is a philosophy as much as people. Their chief tenet: Look out for opportunities to help future Marshall MBAs – just as alumni looked out for us. It is a natural extension of the Marshall culture — where students enjoy a strong voice in decision-making – that carries over into their roles as Marshall MBA graduates. “Students see that our alumni are engaged and they themselves pick up on the cue that it is important to be engaged once you graduate as well,” Ziemniak tells P&Q in a 2018 interview.

Alongside stronger recruits and a rabidly-supportive alumni, the Marshall School also rolled out a new curriculum this fall. The difference: It offers a stronger analytical focus with more holistic programming that better reveals the synergies between various organizational functions and levels. It was a heavy investment, no doubt. Now the question being asked is whether Marshall’s momentum and assets be enough to overcome the dissension roiling the campus. To be continued…

University of Texas, McCombs School of Business

How do you stir up excitement in your MBA community? A new dean? Meh, their triumphs usually happen behind-the-scenes and take years to realize. Free coffee? Only if it isn’t the cheap stuff…and caffeine buzzes wear off pretty quick. A new building? Yeah, now you’re talking.

Yes, christening a new building presents a fresh start, where the furniture is new, the space is open, and the walls and floors sparkle. More than that, they are a statement about a school’s purpose and capabilities. Few buildings made a bigger splash in 2018 than the new Rowling Hall at the McCombs Business School.

Everything is bigger in Texas – and that includes business schools. Rowling Hall rises five stories and covers 497,500 square feet in downtown Austin. According to Tina Mabley, the assistant dean and director of the full-time MBA program, the building’s wide spaces and state-of-the-art extras were designed as a space to spark conversation and idea-sharing, and experimentation. More than that, Rowling Hall serves as a bridge to the larger Austin community. Nicknamed “Silicon Halls,” Texas’ capitol has emerged as a startup engine and corporate powerhouse, thanks to 18.4% job growth over the past five years coupled with a 2.9% unemployment rate. Home to 85 accelerators and incubators – with areas startups drawing nearly $800 million dollars in investment in 2017 alone – the region also bustles thanks to a large corporate presence from standard-bearers like Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple. With Rowling Hall, Mabley believes that McCombs can further tap into the area’s rich expertise and connections.

“Our unparalleled location places us at the intersection of The University of Texas campus and downtown Austin, which serves as a vibrant business laboratory right outside our doors, explains Mabley in a 2018 statement to P&Q. “The University of Texas and the city of Austin have grown and evolved together. Austin has been the fastest-growing city in the country for three of the last five years and Rowling Hall allows us to capitalize on all the richness that growth has brought to the area. We appreciate a synergistic relationship with the city, which enhances the experiential applications and interactions we can offer our students every day. Being a major hub for tech, healthcare, energy, and a variety of other industries, we continue to find ways to bring these elements into our curriculum and community.”

A new building and an enviable location aren’t the only things that McCombs has going for it. In 2018, the full-time MBA population grew from 265 to 289 students at this “famously friendly” business school. In December, the school received a “transformative” $20 million dollar gift from alum Phil Canfield, with a heavy dose going to scholarship to further attract the best students. The McCombs MBA also benefits from an embarrassment of riches, including a top tier undergraduate business program; a faculty that prides itself on teaching excellence as much as research prowess; and a larger research university flush with resources and avenues for partnerships. Let’s not forget a 450,000 member alumni base who aren’t shy about throwing up a “Hook ‘em Horns” everywhere from the Great Wall of China to the White House lawn.

“This depth at the university allows us to create innovative programs that connect collaborative teams across campus,” Mabley adds, “whether that’s public policy students, med students, and MBAs finding solutions for child poverty; architecture students and MBAs working on sustainable design ideas; or law students, computer science students, and MBAs teaming up to work with early-stage companies and start-ups to help raise series one financing.”

MBA students at the University of Rochester’s Simon Business School

University of Rochester, Simon Business School

When you’re small, you need to be smarter. That means identifying trends sooner and executing programs better. That has always been one of the Simon School’s strengths.

A program long known for delivering a curriculum that fused quantitative analysis and economics-based thinking, Simon made headlines in 2015 by cutting tuition by nearly 14%. That action served as the proverbial shot across the bow against ever-rising tuition. Now, Simon is tackling a different issue. As political rhetoric on immigration has heated up in the United States, international students have grown increasingly wary of studying there, helping to drive a slump in MBA applications during the 2017-2018 cycle. At the same time, legislative gridlock has left the Optional Practical Training (OPT) work visa stuck at one year This creates a paperwork-intensive nightmare for potential employers that makes international students less competitive for U.S.-based jobs than their American counterparts.

Rather than following this lose-lose model for international students and employers alike, Simon made a bold move. This year, the MBA program earned a STEM Designation, a government program designed to head off a shortfall in technical talent in the coming decade. In a nutshell, the school revamped its curriculum so that 50% of its coursework involved science, technology, engineering, and math topics. Here’s the radical part: the revamp was extended to cover all 10 of its specializations, rather than simply cherry-picking one specialization or master’s program.

By doing so, Simon will be able to extend international graduates’ OPT by 24 months. This enables them to work in the U.S. for three years, giving them three shots at a green card. This designation also cuts the costs and paperwork associated with company sponsorships, making international candidates all the more attractive to American employers.

“Getting 36 months on an OPT work visa is trivial compared to the exercise you have to go through for an H1b visa,” says Dean Andrew Ainslie in a 2018 interview with P&Q. “A company doesn’t have the massive expensive of a lawyer and paperwork…Right now, for any foreign student, it’s been something of a scary moment. Quite a few companies have pulled back from offering foreign students jobs. This will open a lot more doors for our students.”

This change also represents a major win for Simon, which expects to draw more applications from the international student pool and gain greater credibility from recruiters seeking more tech-savvy and data-minded candidates. However, the STEM designation wasn’t the only wrinkle at Simon, whose curriculum is grounded in its patented FACT model (Frame, Analyze, and Communicate). This year, the program implemented a semester system to better coincide with recruiter schedules. It also rolled out an Integrated Student Experience (ISE), a customized development and coaching plan that unifies the academic, extracurricular, and social sides of the MBA experience. Such alterations simply strengthen an MBA program known for its intimate size, student-run consulting firm, and world-renowned pricing programming.

Still, the STEM designation is expected to be a game-changer, an innovation likely to be copied by peer schools in the coming years. “Everything has been oriented around what the recruiters need,” Ainslie adds. “Recruiters have been saying to us that it is very hard to find talent in the U.S. and very hard to employ foreign students because of the uncertainty around the H1b visa. This is a big win for both of us.”

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