Ranking the Best US MBA Programs According to Jobs Data | Updated for 2017

Today, we are going to rank business schools across several industry categories: finance, consulting, technology, CPG, pharma, biotechnology, health care, media & entertainment, energy, and real estate.

Instead of esoteric formulas, we rely on each schools published career center data as the basis for our business school rankings.

Why is using career center jobs data a good idea?

Quite simply, we believe recruiting - that is, who happens to be hiring – fuels most MBA programs "investment decisions" regarding allocation of capital to student programming, faculty development, curriculum and course development, experiential learning initiatives, alumni outreach, etc.

So to know to what a specific MBA program is really all about, you need to see the end result. Let's see what industries are hiring MBA graduates and from what schools.


There should be no surprises here. Wharton comes out as number one when it comes to getting a job in the finance industry. Columbia Business School, Chicago Booth and NYU Stern following close behind. 

Cornell Johnson ranks in a respectable fifth-place. This is noteworthy because the school is relatively easy to get into. For those who may have some things in their application profile, consider Cornell should you need to hedge your bets with respect to applying.

Best MBA Programs for Finance Industry Jobs (2017)


UVA Darden is the best business school for landing a job in the consulting industry. Dartmouth Tuck, Columbia Business School, Kellogg, Michigan Ross, and Duke Fuqua rounding out the top six in best schools for getting consulting jobs.

What I found to be particularly interesting is that most of the schools I list above are widely known for their collegial learning environment, heavy emphasis on teamwork, and perhaps more personable student body. I guess being a team player does bode well for getting a job at McKinsey, BCG or Bain. Who knew?

Best MBA Programs for Consulting Industry Jobs (2017)


Haas is the best business school if you want a job in technology. There must be something going on up in the Bay Area because Stanford GSB ranks second when it comes to getting a job in technology. Maybe it's a California thing – as UCLA Anderson ranks third when it comes to getting a job in tech.

Sarcasm aside, I can't say I'm too surprised about the result here. When we did this ranking a couple of years ago, Haas topped the ranking as well with UCLA Anderson being a close second.

Best MBA Program for Technology Jobs (2017)


No real surprises here based upon our last ranking, and each career center's historical data on students entering the CPG industry. Kellogg remains the best MBA program for getting a job in CPG/Retail. Tuck is 2nd best. UCLA Anderson, NYU Stern, and Yale SOM, are tied for 3rd best.     

Ranking the Best MBA Programs for Consumer Packaged Goods / Retail Industry Jobs (2017)

According to Kellogg's employment report for 2016, the top firms hiring recently graduated Kellogg MBAs are:

Consumer Product Goods

Top CPG Employers of Graduating Kellogg Students

 

 

Best MBA Programs for Pharma/Biotech/Healthcare Industry Jobs (2017)

Best MBA Programs for Media & Entertainment Industry Jobs (2017)

Best MBA Programs for Energy Industry Jobs (2017)

Best MBA Programs for Real Estate Industry Jobs (2017)


To find out more about your options and how we can help you with your business school application, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via http://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact. For an overview of our MBA admissions consulting services, visit http://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/mba-admissions-consultants-client-commitment/.


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If you are interested in seeing where we sourced our data, here are links to the same MBA career center employment reports we used to generate all these pretty graphs, and of course our rudimentary business school rankings.

Haas http://haas.berkeley.edu/groups/careercenter/hireanmba/employment-reports.html

UCLA Anderson http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/degrees/mba-program/career-services

Stanford GSB https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/organizations/recruit/employment-reports

MIT Sloan http://mitsloan.mit.edu/career-development-office/employment-reports/mba-current-report/

HBS http://www.hbs.edu/recruiting/mba/data-and-statistics/employment-statistics.html

Wharton http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/mba/your-career/career-statistics.cfm

Kellogg http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/career_employer/employment_statistics.aspx

Chicago Booth http://www.chicagobooth.edu/employmentreport/

Columbia https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/recruiters/employmentreport

NYU Stern http://www.stern.nyu.edu/programs-admissions/full-time-mba/career/employment-statistics

Tuck http://www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/careers/employment-statistics

Yale SOM http://som.yale.edu/yale-som-connect/recruiting/employment-statistics

Michigan Ross http://michiganross.umich.edu/our-community/recruiters

Duke Fuqua http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/mba_recruiting/recruiting_duke/employment_statistics/

Cornell Johnson http://www.johnson.cornell.edu/Career-Management/Employment-Report-for-Two-Year-MBAs

UVA Darden http://www.darden.virginia.edu/recruiters-companies/hire-an-mba/employment-reports/