Each year, as MBA admissions season heats up, a familiar flurry of headlines appears: Wharton claims the #1 spot, Stanford tumbles, Haas breaks into the top 10. From U.S. News and Financial Times to Bloomberg and QS, MBA rankings are everywhere – clickable, quotable, and often confusing.
It’s easy to assume rankings can shortcut your school selection process. But the truth is more complicated. Rankings rest on the flawed assumption that there’s a single way to judge business schools. That oversimplifies one of the biggest – and most personal – decisions of your professional life.
So how can you make rankings work for you, rather than letting them distort your perspective? At Fortuna, we’ve guided thousands of MBA applicants through the ranking maze. Here’s our advice on how to use MBA rankings thoughtfully and effectively.
Take Rankings With a Grain of Salt
Rankings wield influence, but they’re just one lens – and often a blurry one. Many rely on school-supplied data, alumni or recruiter surveys, and subjective measures that may not be independently verified. Because many top schools have very similar stats, even a small tweak in methodology can cause big jumps or drops in the rankings.
Consider this: in the 2024 Financial Times ranking, Stanford GSB dropped to 23rd – largely because the FT couldn’t get sufficient alumni satisfaction data, so that metric was zeroed out. Anyone familiar with Stanford knows that result says more about the ranking than the school. As we’ve seen time and again, wild swings in year-over-year placements don’t reflect reality at complex, well-established institutions.
Read the Fine Print
Changes in methodology have a huge impact. U.S. News revamped how it evaluates graduate salaries, weighting them by industry to account for sector-based pay differences. That boosted schools like UC Berkeley Haas, where fewer grads enter high-paying finance or tech roles.
The FT, on the other hand, adjusts salaries for purchasing power. That’s helpful in theory, but only if you understand how it impacts results. If you’re comparing schools across regions or currencies, that nuance matters.
Rankings also reflect macroeconomic cycles. If a ranking heavily weights job placement, it may unfairly penalize schools placing grads in industries facing temporary downturns.
“Is your MBA ranking impacted because your school sends people into tech careers and the sector is laying off?” asks Fortuna Co-Founder Judith Silverman Hodara. “That’s not about the quality of the school – it’s about the market.”
Know What They’re Ranking
Different rankings prioritize very different things. The Financial Times blends 21 factors, including the percentage of faculty with PhDs and board diversity – interesting data points, but not necessarily aligned with your goals. LinkedIn, meanwhile, ranks programs based on outcomes like hiring rates, career advancement, network strength, leadership potential, and gender diversity.
While data-driven, these rankings often rely on simplified formulas or focus on a narrow set of outcomes. They may overlook important factors like scholarships or intangible benefits such as alumni networks and industry access. For example, how do you put a dollar value on Wharton’s global community – or the access to recruiting connections you gain by studying in New York at CBS or NYU Stern?
“No list can tell you how it feels to be in a classroom or how supported you’ll feel,” says Fortuna Director Patty Keegan. “Fit matters more than any rank.”
MBA Rankings Comparison Table
| Ranking | Main Focus | Key Metrics | Best For |
| Financial Times | Global career outcomes, diversity, and research | Salary increase, international mobility, diversity, value for money, research output | Evaluating international schools & 3-year ROI |
| Bloomberg Businessweek | Feedback from employers, alumni, and students | Recruiter and alumni surveys, compensation, student satisfaction, diversity | Gauging reputation, satisfaction & hiring potential |
| U.S. News & World Report | U.S.-centric, career outcomes and selectivity measures | Employment rates, salary & bonus, salary by profession, peer & recruiter ratings, GMAT/GRE, GPA, acceptance rate | Comparing top U.S. programs & post-MBA employment potential |
| Career acceleration and network outcomes | Hiring demand, promotions, leadership roles, alumni network strength, gender diversity | Assessing career growth, leadership potential & network impact over time |
Dig Into the Data Behind the Ranks
The real value of rankings isn’t the number next to a school’s name – it’s the wealth of data underneath. Most major rankings collect and publish detailed stats that can help you compare programs on the dimensions that matter most to you. This includes:
- Average salary and bonus – A useful proxy for immediate ROI, especially when segmented by industry or function. But don’t forget to account for geography and cost of living.
- Industry and geographic placement – Look at where graduates are going, not just how much they’re earning. Are alumni landing jobs in the sector, function, or region you’re targeting?
- Class profile and diversity – The makeup of a class can shape your peer learning experience and your network. Consider factors like international representation, gender balance, and industry backgrounds.
- Alumni career outcomes – Some rankings (like LinkedIn) track long-term success, including promotion rates, entrepreneurship, and leadership roles. These can help you gauge the staying power of a school’s network.
Use these data points to assess how well a program aligns with your post-MBA goals. Want to pivot into venture capital or social impact? Launch a startup in Asia? Break into consulting or tech in Europe? The rankings themselves won’t tell you which program offers the best platform – but the underlying data might.
Look for trends across multiple rankings and dig into school employment reports, not just the headlines. The more granular you get, the clearer the picture becomes.
Rankings Can’t Capture Culture
There’s no metric for the classroom vibe or the strength of peer relationships. No ranking will reveal how collaborative your classmates are or how inspired you’ll feel. That’s why we urge clients to talk to current students and alums, sit in on classes, and attend virtual or in-person events. Those experiences matter.
“The premise of a ranking – that there’s a single order of business schools we should all agree on – is false,” says Caroline Diarte Edwards, Fortuna Co-Founder. “What matters is how well a program fits you.”
Use Rankings as a Starting Point, Not the Final Word
Rankings can be a helpful starting point. They may even surface schools you hadn’t considered. But once you’re deeper into research, step back. Look at several rankings to spot consistent trends – schools that regularly appear in the top tier. Then dig into what really matters to you, whether it be career outcomes, specific program offerings, alumni network strength, and cultural fit.
Often, the difference between schools ranked #1 and #10 is negligible. In reality, they’re all excellent. What’s important is how the school aligns with your aspirations.
Final Thoughts
Rankings are hard to ignore – and they can offer useful data. But don’t let them dictate your school choices. A top rank means little if the school isn’t the right fit for your goals, interests, and personality.
Instead, use rankings as one tool in your decision-making process. Understand their limitations. Go deeper into the data. And most importantly, start with your goals – not the criteria defined by the journalists behind the rankings.
Need help making sense of it all? That’s what we do. In a free consultation, we’ll help you think strategically about your career goals, decode the rankings, and choose the programs that fit you best.