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

May 23, 2017 Paul Lanzillotti

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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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

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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/.