Top Five Graduate Business Schools - Nationwide Review

Attendance at graduate school is becoming more and more the norm. Bachelor's Degrees are still highly sought out and, depending on the field of study, they are sometimes all that is necessary to establish a fulfilling career. But for some, a Bachelor's Degree is only the beginning and admission to Graduate School is not only a lucrative investment, it is also essential for career and/or competitive reasons.

For those in the field of business, a Bachelor's Degree is often sufficient for career advancement. However, as competition for high- level employment becomes more and more fierce, the value of a Graduate Degree continues to grow and many undergraduates now consider Graduate School a necessary step in career fulfillment.

Once the student's mind is made up and Graduate School is a certainty, it is time to decide where to enroll. Thousands of options exist, and there is a program to satisfy most any student's needs. But for the academically advanced and highly ambitious student, an average school simply won't do. These types of students want only the best- or, they at least want to try for the best and see what happens. If you're one of those students, there are many highly rated Graduate programs to consider. Here is my list of the Top Five Graduate Schools for Business:

1. Harvard University- Located in the greater Boston area, Harvard University is probably the best- known university in the world, with a long list of distinguished alumni and a record for academic excellence. Harvard offers a full- time MBA program, as well as Ph.D programs with various business concentrates. Competition for admission is high, with only about 15 percent of all applicants gaining acceptance. The average GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) score for incoming graduate students is 707 (93rd percentile) and Harvard's graduate program consistently appears on many "Top Ten" lists for superior Graduate Schools of Business.

2. Stanford University- Located in Stanford, California, just down the road from San Francisco, The Stanford Graduate Business School is one of the leading graduate business programs in the nation. This graduate school was founded in 1925 and its many distinctions include the lowest acceptance rate of any business graduate school (only 6 percent acceptance rate), a faculty that includes three Nobel Prize winners (Myron Scholes, William Sharpe, and A. Michael Spence), and an endowment that exceeds one billion dollars, which is second only to Harvard. The average GMAT score for admitted graduate students is 720 (96th percentile), giving Stanford the distinction of having the highest average GMAT of any Graduate Business School.

3. University of Pennsylvania- Known as the Wharton School of Business, this business school, founded in 1881, is the oldest of its kind in the world. The University of Pennsylvania also has the widest academic offerings to MBA students, with almost 200 course electives, and its list of distinguished alumni includes names like Donald Trump, former Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, and dozens of CEO and CFO for major corporations. The average GMAT score for incoming graduate students is 714 (95th percentile), ranking second only to Stanford University for highest GMAT average. The admission rate to this Graduate Business School is around 16 percent, which means about one in six applicants gains acceptance. 

4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology- Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a short distance from Harvard, MIT offers a prestigious and rigorous program for graduate business students. The acceptance rate for the MBA program is a little higher than that of the other schools on this list, with about 17 percent of all applicants gaining an acceptance letter. The Business Ph.D. program, on the other hand, admits only 4 percent of its applicants and stands as one of the most difficult graduate acceptances to gain. The average GMAT score for newly admitted MIT Business Graduate students is 702 (93rd percentile), which is certainly high, but also within the reach of a determined, committed student.  

5. Northwestern University- Chicago, Illinois is home to several universities and among them, Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management is generally considered the most prestigious of the Graduate Business schools in the greater Chicago area. The school was named after John L. Kellogg after he made a generous $10 million gift to the school in 1979. Northwestern offers a Full- Time MBA program, a Part- Time evening MBA program, a Part- Time Saturday only MBA program, and an Executive MBA program. With an average GMAT of 704 (93rd percentile) and an acceptance rate of 24 percent, Northwestern's MBA program is one of the easier schools in which to gain admission (relatively speaking, of course!), offering an exceptional, quality education that is within the academic grasp of many potential students.  

Graduate Business School often represents a great leap forward for most budding or existing business professionals and it demands a good deal of time and dedication to complete a program. I have a Graduate degree myself, and I also teach GMAT test prep courses (hence my knowledge of the averages for these and other schools) to help ambitious students achieve the highest GMAT possible and improve their chances for admission to a prestigious Graduate Business School. I finished my MBA program in just over three years, taking classes during the evenings on either one or two days per week. A full- time program can often be completed in only two years- roughly half the time and half the classes/credit necessary to complete an undergraduate degree.  

A Graduate Degree in business is a desirable achievement for many reasons. Most importantly, It can provide the competitive edge that a young professional needs to gain promotions and succeed at his/her place of employment. Most employers do not require a Graduate Degree for promotion to the high levels in the company (CFO, CEO, COO, etc.), but the trend is slowly moving in that direction. Experience and (of course) knowing the right people are still strong factors that influence promotion to the highest level (officer level) in any business, but a Graduate Degree is also highly desired and can often provide an individual the edge he/she needs to convince a business to promote him/her to the level of "Chief".   

Graduate school can be quite challenging, but there is one fact that makes life a little easier for business students: Graduate School is still not essential for business success, like it is for other fields (like medicine, for example). Why does this make things easy?- Because there isn't as much pressure for business students to attend Graduate School and to complete a graduate degree. A Bachelor's Degree in business isn't an instant ticket to riches, no, but it is often good enough for most levels of employment and business professionals with a Bachelor's Degree are generally quite comfortable financially. Thus, Business students who want a Graduate Degree are fortunate because a Graduate Degree isn't an absolute necessity (at least not yet!). It is still a luxury, and that means the overall competition is not as fierce. It also means that obtaining a Graduate Degree can set a student apart from other young graduates since the majority of business professionals do not have Graduate Degrees. 

Gaining admission to any one of these "Top Five" Graduate Business School programs is often quite difficult, but not impossible. The GMAT score is just one factor considered. These and other Graduate Business Schools also take into consideration a student's undergraduate GPA, years of experience in the workforce, present employment position, demonstrated leadership ability, and other factors. As a GMAT instructor, I am often surprised at the lack of confidence displayed by many students- including those who score in the top ten percent on their GMAT. They tend to underestimate themselves, often proclaiming that prestigious universities like those listed above are for the cultural elite and that applying to any of them is a complete waste of time. I often have to lecture them to convince them to go ahead and apply anyway. Prestigious schools have to accept someone, and there is no reason why someone with a 700 GMAT and an undergraduate GPA of 3.5 shouldn't go ahead and give it a try. Remember- an average is just that. It's only an average, which means there are plenty of students who scored below the average GMAT and still got an acceptance letter. 

Even if a highly ranked Graduate Business School like those listed above isn't in your future, there are still plenty of other academically solid business schools to consider attending. We can't all possess a University of Pennsylvania MBA, but with the thousands of Business Graduate Schools in the United States, there is a program that is just right for everyone. My only word of caution is to avoid those graduate schools that have no accreditation at all. But even then, a graduate degree from a school with no accreditation is better than no graduate degree at all. Students need to consider their life goals and what it will take to achieve them before they apply to one of these "lesser" schools or to any other school.

Graduate Business School isn't a necessity for the young business professional. There are still plenty of good money- making opportunities and good job security for those with only an undergraduate degree. But a Graduate Degree in Business can help students gain an extra competitive advantage, and this is especially true for those who are fortunate enough to gain acceptance to one of the five schools listed above. These five universities are considered among the best in the world for Graduate Business Studies, and attendance at any one of them can pay off handsomely; opening business doors previously sealed shut and adding an eye- catching educational achievement to any resume.