US News should stay away from ranking undergrad b-programs

<p>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 it’s a business publication like Business Week, Forbes, Fortune, or the Wall Street Journal.</p>

<p>This should be understood, so I am bumping this up again.</p>

<p>Dish, not only that but the "peer review" rating, which counts towards a substantial portion of each schools final ranking on the main "Top Schools Ranking", had only a 60% response rate. </p>

<p>For the business ranking, I have always thought that including a survey of EMPLOYER views of which schools they think turn out the best prepared undergrads would be very interesting. After all, once you graduate it really doesn't matter what some dean of another business school somewhere thinks of your school --- it matters what a potential employer thinks.</p>

<p>there is only 1 good UG b-school...Wharton. No other school comes close. period. MIT,Haas, Ross, Stern...all wannabes. Those programs are mediocre at best.</p>

<p>Spoken with absolutely no bias because you happen to go there. :)</p>

<p>How so very objective of you.</p>

<p>Hey there Mr. Bern......could you have chosen a word other than mediocre for now you have caused a rain of locusts on this thread!!</p>

<p>Undergrad business programs should be avoided in general. All that matters is where you go your MBA from. More importantly, what matters is your business sense, which you can't be taught at a school of any caliber, even Wharton.</p>

<p>Why does it have to be 80%? I mean, on what basis do you set it at that number?</p>

<p>Do you know how many surveys (of any type) have that response rate?</p>

<p>Even thought US News ratings can be questionable at best, they are self-fulfilling. Students want to go to top rated schools. Parents want their kids to go to top rated schools, and employers assume that top rated schools will usually provide top applicants. It is a rediculous system that feeds on itself.</p>

<p>So if the undergrad doesn't factor in....how many applicants from the no names gain entry into, Wharton for an exammple, MBA programs?? How does one gain entry into the MBA and how do these candidates for MBA do compared to those candidates who came from a strong/well known undergrad program??</p>

<p>For MBA admissions, work experience is the primary criterion, and one's undergrad school by itself isn't really that important. I think what feenotype meant to say is that an undergrad business degree should not be viewed as a replacement for an MBA, and that to a future employer, one's most recent degree (such as an MBA) would take precedence over one's undergrad degree. So basically, it's better to have a BA/BS from a no-name school and an MBA from a prestigious school than a BA/BS from a prestigious school and an MBA from a no-name school.</p>

<p>I was wondering about the reasoning. It only stands to reason about the work because many B schools want 2-3 years of experience before MBA. I just know that in my accounting course there were newly admitted MBAs who were playing catch up.....other majors in undergrad and limited acctg. experience on job.</p>

<p>Yet you call yourself Quakerman? Are speaking of undergrad? I just think your name is kinda funny if you were/are a Sternman.</p>

<p>Wow, you guys are mean.. though I'm not sure hazmat has the experience to make that judgement about the other schools.. calling him a loser and telling him to shutup seems a bit immature for someone in college</p>

<p>I think the reference was to Bern700 post#4...at least the quote was Bern's. Whether I have the experience or not is a just challenge!! I have no MBA. Ad hominem attacks are what they are and speak more to the educational level of the person using them. So we now have Wharton v Stern on the rhetoric.</p>

<p>From what I've heard, people who graduated from undergrad business schools, while not doing badly, have a hard time dealing with their professors because they've already gone over a lot of the material (maybe in a different way). I think most graduate business schools would prefer to have students who didn't go to business undergrade, yet these school often operate undergrad business schools. Maybe they were just talking about the so-called BBAs, as opposed to people who got degrees in accounting or international business.</p>

<p>Blah, please just forget my comment. I'm an engineering student so I have no experience with business education. I'm really just repeating what a business school friend of mine told me.</p>