Wall Street Journal Guide to the Top Business Schools 2004

Introduction Who wants an M.B.A. degree in this wretched job market?Quite a few folks, actually. About 100,000 newly minted M.B.A.s are still flooding the workplace every year. Granted, many of them are struggling to find jobs, but most still see long-term value in the traditional passport to the executive suite. They still value the skills they mastered and the high-powered network of alumni they plugged in to.Questioning the degree's value is certainly understandable, though. After reaching record levels in 2002, the number of people taking the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) has started trailing off. Even some business school academics have raised doubts about the degree's worth.During the go-go economy of the 1990s, applying to business school wasn't such a risky decision. Many M.B.A.s were netting multiple job offers, six-figure salaries, and an embarrassment of riches in their packages of bonuses and perks. The days of such instant gratification are long gone. Deciding whether to invest $100,000 or more to earn the degree today requires much more careful thought and planning.That's where the new edition ofThe Wall Street Journal Guide to the Top Business Schoolscomes in. It will help prospective students decide whether it's the right time to head back to campus. And if so, it will be an invaluable guide in picking the program that's the best fit, with its detailed profiles of the 100 business schools that received the most ratings in the third annualWall Street Journal/Harris Interactive survey of corporate recruiters. We cut through the hype by providing only the most important facts about the M.B.A. programs and by telling you what corporate recruiters -- the buyers of M.B.A. talent -- think of the schools and their students.This year's ranking is sure to attract plenty of attention because there's a new No. 1 school. After two years in the top spot, the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College is no longer the favorite of recruiters. They have warmed instead to the Wharton School, the finance powerhouse at the University of Pennsylvania.While rankings are but one criterion in the selection of an M.B.A. program, they are a very useful way to distinguish one business school from another. The book includes extensive data about the 50 top-ranked business schools in TheWall Street Journal/Harris Interactive survey, plus information about the 50 runner-up schools. It is a global mix of schools, with six international M.B.A. programs among the top 50 and 20 more in the runner-up list. What's more, we tell you which schools are best in which academic disciplines.The essays in the book provide up-to-the-minute insights about the M.B.A. world from the application process on the front end to the job market at graduation. We also cover the hot-button issues on campus: the M.B.A. value question, curriculum changes, job-hunting tactics, and diversity.Rather than dwell on the dismal nature of the M.B.A. job market, we focus on how some students not only survived it, but succeeded in reaching what they thought would be an impossible dream -- changing careers. You'll learn how they did it through a combination of pluck and plain old hard work.To gain an edge in the application process, read the advice of admissions directors at some of the top business schools. We asked them for tips on how prospective students can stand out. Among their suggestions: write knockout essays that tell what makes you so special (creativity is a plus, but please don't bring pizza to the interview), don't play back information from the school catalog in your admissions interview (your interviewer probably wrote it), and don't make silly excuses for your mediocre GMAT score (instead, give the test another try).Once admitted, students almost certainly will find themselves studying ethics and working on leadership training. Many schools are revamping their curriWall Street Journal Staff is the author of 'Wall Street Journal Guide to the Top Business Schools 2004', published 2003 under ISBN 9780743238823 and ISBN 0743238826.