University of Florida is now Ranked # 37 in the new US NEWS Ranking

Graduate School Business School - MBA
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<p>Working Professional MBA students ?</p>

<p>The latest US News Full-time MBA Rankings were released @ 12:01 am this morning (Friday). Of the 1,400+ b-schools that offer MBA programs in the US alone, over 400 of these MBA programs are considered for ranking by US News, with the Top 50 schools being officially recognized in these rankings.</p>

<p>This year, we moved up (4) spots to #37 overall (up from #41 last year and #42 in 2005). This marks the third consecutive year that our program has moved forward in the US News MBA rankings. Florida is also one of only 10 MBA programs to move up 4 or more slots from last year?s rankings.</p>

<p>We are #18 among all public institutions and the only ranked program in Florida.</p>

<p>Additionally, three of our academic departments were ranked in the Top 20 ?business specialties? rankings:</p>

<pre><code> #16 ?Marketing

    #18 ? Accounting

    #20 ? Finance

</code></pre>

<p>This is a strong result for us, and a testament to the great progress that our program continues to make in many areas. While we all know and understand that rankings alone do not define any MBA program, it is clear that many external constituents place a high value on these rankings (US News in particular). For this reason, our forward momentum in the US News rankings will have a positive impact on our future student recruiting efforts in all programs (full-time, executive, professional, etc). It will strengthen our ties with our own UF MBA alumni base and most importantly, continue to improve our reputation in the corporate marketplace. This is good news for all of us.</p>

<p>If you have any questions about these MBA rankings, or any other aspect of our MBA program/strategy, please do not hesitate to email or call me directly. </p>

<p>Have a great weekend and let?s hope the good news continues to flow for the Gator Nation on Saturday & Monday in Atlanta @ the Final Four. GO GATORS! AlexS</p>

<p>Alexander Sevilla</p>

<p>Assistant Dean & MBA Director</p>

<p>Florida MBA Programs</p>

<p>The University of Florida</p>

<p>(352) 392-7992 x1206</p>

<p><a href="mailto:alex.sevilla@cba.ufl.edu">alex.sevilla@cba.ufl.edu</a></p>

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<p>When I saw the rankings, I was surprised to find Florida on them. I then decided to look into Florida some more to see if there was something I missed when considering them the first time.</p>

<p>Florida has a real estate concentration, which is one of the reasons I would be interested in going there. However, all reports I've seen indicate that the average starting salary of a UF MBA graduate is 66k. I don't understand how it can be in the top 50 when a school like SMU Cox is not, yet the average salary of an SMU grad is 80k.</p>

<p>Also, consider that graduates of lesser regarded MBA programs in Dallas/Ft Worth, TCU and UT-Dallas, make 70k and 65k respectively (neither made the list), this makes even less sense to me...especially since the cost of living is cheaper in Dallas than in Florida.</p>

<p>Rice MBA grads have an average starting salary of 87k, but Rice barely made the list at #48. Does this make sense to anyone?</p>

<p>BTW, I hate to pick on UF, as I'm sure there are other schools in a similiar position (just haven't researched all of them)</p>

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<p>go to <a href="http://www.salary.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.salary.com&lt;/a> and do a comparrison, 68K in Tampa is equal to 86K in Northern NJ and ~100K in Long Island. If the salaries were adjusted geographically, UF would look MUCH more accurate.</p>

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<p>Also, for what ever reason, UF MBA's don't go into I-banking. It isn't because they aren't good enough, based on average GPA and GMAT score, the student quality is "TOP 20" MBA material (median GMAT score is 680, higher than UNC, Ohio State, Boston and near equal to Cornell). I would be willing to bet that if you adjusted the average salary of top schools by removing I-banking and then regionally adjusted the salaries, UF would "look" much better.</p>

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<p>I didn't realize the Tampa area was that cheap, so i'll throw that point away.</p>

<p>However, all the schools I mentioned were in TX which is also cheap. The one thing I considered was that Rice and SMU are both private and thus very expensive. I wonder if that is computed in the listing. Personally, I would hope that wasn't included as some students have scholarships.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Also, for what ever reason, UF MBA's don't go into I-banking. It isn't because they aren't good enough

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That could be an explanation. Another (more likely) one is that perhaps UF doesn't show up as a core recruiting school for the top banks. Why doesn't it? Hmm...</p>

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<p>Uhm...because you're not a student there?</p>

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<p>Well, and I know that this is only anecdotal evidence, but having worked on Wall St. and P/E for over a decade (and for many years involved in recruiting as well), I've come across MBAs from all the top programs (H/W/S/MIT/CBS/Kellogg/Chicago/NYU/Tuck/Ross/Yale, etc)... I never met a UF MBA grad in investment banking. That's not to say that there isn't a single UF MBA grad in investment banking (I'm sure that in the respective regional offices such as Miami - real estate groups there may be some reps there)... but as far as the core money centers? New York / London / Frankfurt / Tokyo / Hong Kong? ... sorry, but UF's got a long way to go...</p>

<p>Congrats on the back-to-back hoops championships though, this team is one for the ages.</p>

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<p>I'm not comparing Florida to top 10 MBA's. We are an up and coming school and MBA program. With the quality of students attending the full time program (last year's median GMAT score was 680, or 90'th percentile), it's only a matter of time before students who WANT to go into I-banking put themselves in that position, UF MBA or not. The drive and intellectual prowess of the students is truly top 20 (FACT). Within 5-10 years, I predict UF MBS's will start popping up on Wall Street and soon after, will earn a spot as a perennial top 25 MBA program. Not all schools start out on the top.</p>

<p>As far as starting salary, one great big weakness of this MBA ranking is not to standardize salaries geographically. Comparing a starting salary in St. Petersburg, Florida to one in Boston or Long Island is completely statistically invalid. I think US NEWS neglects doing this in order to keep big city schools at the top of their rankings. It's really ironic, if you think about it because statistics is part of the "Core" MBA curricula.</p>

<p>Oh and the Sports- It is GREAT TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR!!!!!! :)</p>

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<p>There MBA program doesnt send anyone into ibanking, their masters in finance does however.</p>

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<p>Median GMAT score is a poor proxy for MBA program quality or even student quality. Virtually any school could raise it to an arbitrarily high level by any combination of reducing the size of the program and admitting more nerds, especially foreign students. It doesn't capture important qualitative factors such as communication skills, work experience, and leadership potential. In fact, I doubt that it is even significantly correlated with them.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
It doesn't capture important qualitative factors such as communication skills, work experience, and leadership potential. In fact, I doubt that it is even significantly correlated with them.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yes and no.</p>

<p>Yes to the extent that I fully agree that some of the most important skills and attributes inherent in most successful business people are not readily measurable qualities - "the intangibles":
- ability to lead
- ability to manage
- ability to communicate
- ability to think creatively
etc.</p>

<p>That is why b-schools require work experience prior to applying. They want to see that academic success translate into "real world" success. There is a comfort level there in seeing that candidate having a measure of success working (via recommendations, etc.)</p>

<p>Now having said that, however, those "intangibles" are not necessarily mutually exclusive with "tangible" intelligence (i.e. GMATs, GPAs, SATs, etc.) ... in point of fact, at the top tier MBA programs, you are more likely to find those individuals with a healthy mix of both.</p>

<p>In other words, yes, GMAT scores can only tell you so much, but if you can identify prospective candidates that possess the "intangibles" AND who have high scores, why wouldn't you take the candidate with both? The top b-schools can and do -- and recruiters know this. That is why its so important to try and go to a top b-school.</p>

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<p>I think the problem lies with the lack of integration of "Finance" with MBA. If you want to go to UF, for I-Banking, go to thier MS-Finance program, NOT the MBA. Personally, I think they should integrate the programs and allow MBA's to "concentrate" in finance instead. This would allow a steady stream of MBA's to be fed into I-banking and increase the prestige of the UF-MBA. Don't forget that this year, the grad. business school got a $50 million gift, too, part of which will be used to improve student quality. </p>

<p>Either way, mark my words- Top 25 is comming...stay tuned...</p>

<p>Take a look at this below...the 70,000 starting salary (low end) is more like 88K in the North East... not bad. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.cba.ufl.edu/fire/programs/msf/placement/history.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.cba.ufl.edu/fire/programs/msf/placement/history.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>"Graduates of the MSF program have applied their graduate degrees to secure the following initial positions. Since the program includes students with and without prior full time work experience, mean starting salaries are not particularly informative. Students who enter the program directly from undergraduate programs typically receive starting offers between $40,000 and $60,000 while students with work experience prior to starting the program have obtained offers in the $70,000 to $160,000 range."</p>

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<p>this is good, but i feel it is laggin behind schools that may be easier to get into, like U Minn. Their corrected salary for the northeast puts them within the range of 115-130k, with an actual average of 88k. Florida is actually laggin behind the majority of midwest schools which with the exceptions of Michigan, NU, ND and Chicago, dont send a large porportion of their grads into investment banking. And if i am mistaken, much of the midwest has a low col than florida. </p>

<p>I think it would benifit greatly if they were able to leverage the success they have had with their finance program and bring it over to their MBA program.</p>

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<p>UF's MBA program is about to get 50 million dollars after the state subsidized the largest gift in the school's history. Bottom line: UF will be ranked a Top 25 program within the next 10 years. Whether that translates to placement in Ibanking firms is another story.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Bottom line: UF will be ranked a Top 25 program within the next 10 years.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Bottom line: UF could be ranked as the #1 program, but if the new graduates are only averaging 66k, then why should i care what their ranking is?</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Bottom line: UF could be ranked as the #1 program, but if the new graduates are only averaging 66k, then why should i care what their ranking is?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I know you go to UF and it's a good program. But lets not talk non sense in thinking that UF is "elite" MBA material with the likes of H/W/S.</p>

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<p>NextMikeSays,
I think you missed the sarcasm here. That being said, UF is on the way to being "Elite" by the standard of top 25. I am sorry that people just don't want to see this. The data doesn't lie. UF is already on par with Penn State, Boston College, etc. and we getting better every year. As a matter of fact, show me a school ranked between 21- 50 with students as high quality as UF. UF smokes ALL of the schools clustered around them. The only "Issue" with UF is that ~ 90% of the alumni stay in Florida where salaries are not high. Again, adjusted salaries are on par with Boston College, etc. look at and analyze the data and trends and don't be locked in a time warp of thinking that the rankings of 10 years ago are set in stone. I said before, not all schools START at the top. The fact is that Florida found a way to COMPETE not just based on name alone, and with it's competative advantage, the quality and reputation is increasing every year. The schools clustered around us better compete better or allow us to leap frog them. Time will show...</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I know you go to UF and it's a good program. But lets not talk non sense in thinking that UF is "elite" MBA material with the likes of H/W/S.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>LoL...with your reading comprehension skills, I'm assuming you didn't get into UF.</p>

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<p>I forgot an "an" before elite. My apologies, but I don't sit here all day proofreading my post. BTW, I never applied to UF nor would I apply to anything ranked lower than a top 15 program.</p>