I did not know this before, but US News ranks undergraduate business programs with a survey that only 45% of deans respond to. This number has to be over 80% in order for it to be somewhat reliable. Also, there is a lot of bias associated with surveying deans across the country. If you want to really know how your school stacks up against other schools, go to AACSB online, and look up the particular program’s endowment, class size, programs offered, and other important details. Match this information up with other schools’ programs, and you will get a better idea of where the school you are interested in stands. Also, if you were to get the rankings from a publication make sure its a business publication like Business Week, Forbes, Fortune, or the Wall Street Journal.
<p>Any ranking system is bogus. What you should really care about is how the school fits your wants and needs. No generalized ranking system can ever do this because it is necessary to develop subjective criteria to measure and assign weights to. Your personal criteria and weighting will be different.</p>
<p>USNWR sells magazines. Most people don't really take the rankings seriously. They are entertaining and they are a way of finding names of schools that you might not have overwise considered.</p>
<p>The reason I wrote this was due to people taking US News undergrad b-program rankings way too seriously. Some rankings or ratings are excellent, such as Forbes or Business Week. I do, though, have to tip my hat to US News, because you are right, they certainly know how to sell magazines.</p>
<p>Rankings are not 100% bogus. But I would agree with your assertion, dufus3709, that no generalized ranking can take into account ones "personal criteria."</p>
<p>Hey there Dish glad you didn't include WSJ since they apparently have a vendetta for Wharton!! HA HA They have never a good thing to say.</p>