<p>For business school, if they have a placement rate of 92% within 6 months is that good?</p>
<p>92% is pretty good, but % at graduation is a better indicator.</p>
<p>O ok, thanks. I’ll try to find it.</p>
<p>92% is indeed impressive. Is the number coming from the school’s graduate survey? Then you’d better pay attention to the denominator that achieves that number. Does it use total students of the graduating class? Or the number of graduates that respond to the survey? If the latter, what is the graduate response rate?</p>
<p>82% responded. Does this mean they are still jobless?</p>
<p>It’s hard to say. Are you more likely to respond if you’re still jobless? Or are you more likely to respond if you’ve already have a real job?</p>
<p>But 82% is also a pretty high response rate.</p>
<p>Edit - Some people suggest that the graduates could be moved away from their permanent address that the survey is never reached in their hands. So it’s your call how to interpret the number.</p>
<p>It seems high, and I’m not surprised, because it’s a good business school</p>
<p>I believe so. 
I’ve read many schools’ survey. The response rate itself is a very good indicator already IMHO.</p>
<p>A couple of other considerations:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>I don’t like the “6 months after graduation” metrics some schools use. Most students find something after graduation, even if it’s just working in a mall jewelry store. I always try to compare placement at graduation as that gives you an idea of how well the Career Services department works.</p></li>
<li><p>Consider average salaries. 92% placement with a median salary of $40,000 probably isn’t as impressive as 80% placement with a $55,000 median salary. I can find anyone a job if they lower their salary expectations substantially. But you probably wouldn’t be happy with a $100,000 education followed by stocking shelves for Coke for $35,000 a year.</p></li>
<li><p>Check out if they include grad students as being “placed” or if they’re taken out of the data. Some schools artificially pad their stats that way. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>As a whole, I don’t think simply looking at placement statistics is a good approach to evaluating a school. There are so many factors that go into placement (location, economy, salary, etc) that it’s tough to set a limit of what is impressive. Instead, salary statistics are good to use as a comparison. Pull a school’s statistics and compare it to other schools you’re considering, other schools in the same area as that school, and other nationally recognized schools. Then make a decision based on the comparison.</p>