Top AA Business Schools | Asian American University

TOP AA BUSINESS SCHOOLS
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:48:21 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

CONTACT US | ADVERTISING INFO

© 1996-2013 Asian Media Group Inc
No part of the contents of this site may be reproduced without prior written permission.

WHAT YOU SAY

[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]

This is the truth about top business schools from a second-year student at a Top-5 US business school.

Be skeptical when you read the career placement statistics reported by the schools. The median salaries tend to be high because most of the companies recruiting on campus are consulting fims and investment banks that pay the highest starting salaries. To get their money worth, these firms work their associates over eighty hours per week. If you calculate the hourly rate, it often comes out to be no higher than that of an average corporate job. Very few associates can survive the grueling hours, and the turnover rates are extremely high. This is why these firms are the biggest recruiters on campus every year.

To the students, it is very obvious that school admission decisions are biased in favored of admitting applicants who will likely get offers from consuting firms and investment banks so the schools can report high starting salaries. Former consultants and investment bankers make up a disproportionate number of the admitted students in every MBA class. Despite all the talks about entrepreneurship, schools are strongly biased against applicants who express interest in start companies immediately after graduation. Entrepreneurs' low earnings will only pull down the average starting salaries the schools need to report. There are some serious doubts about the truthfulness of the placement reports. If you talk to students who are actually looking for jobs, they paint a very different picture than what the reports suggest. I personally know of one incident where all the MBA students know that the school administrators outright lied in a placement report to BusinessWeek.com, and the faculty and administrators tried to cover up the lie and retaliated agaist the stduent who uncovered it.

Giving the questionable ethics of many top business schools, I am not surprised at all that so many of the executives implicated in the recent corporate scandals graduated from these schools. The point to keep in mind is that business schools were created mainly for the benefits of the so-called "professors in management" who need high-paying jobs while doing little meaningful work. Many of them probably cannot find or keep recent jobs in the real world, let along advance to any management posiitons. Business schools are the only place where they can be so overpaid and exercise uncheckd power over students who have useful skills and achievements in the real workplace. To distract attention from their own incompetence, professors try to overwhelm students with meaningless busy work to create the perception that they must be teaching something worthwhile. Much of the organization and grading for the courses are done by second-year students working as teaching assistants who recieve some compensation from the very school that charge them ridiculously high tuition in the first place.

In summary, business schools act in their own interest often at the expense of the students who pay exorbitant tuition to keep the professors employed. Many of my classmates believe business schools are some of the biggest scams in business. For those considering going to business school, let the buyer beware.
MBA 2003 Saturday, December 28, 2002 at 01:17:19 (PST) [151.203.224.242]

Um, I have a job and I'm going to Baruch to avoid being in debt. Would love to go to Columbia but it doesn't offer my MS/MBA major. So, the other desirable choice is none other than NYU. Going there would rake a debt of $50k. No thanks. I believe that it's a person who makes an education, not an education makes a person. Personally, I've met critically non-savvy but highly qualified individuals from renowned MBA schools. I'm not impressed, to say the least.
JK Thursday, December 26, 2002 at 11:15:01 (PST) [199.2.242.186]

I am currently a second-year MBA student at a Top-5 US business school. For those considering applying to business school, I strongly recommend that you talk to alumni and sit in on some classes first. While a good MBA may further add to your credentials, I seriously question the intrinsic value of MBA programs. Classes are usually taught by professors who have little or no real-world experience. Some professors are so insecure that they are constantly looking for possible signs of disrespect from students and then attempt to retaliate. The alumni who come back to talk to students always emphasize the importance of the network but outright dismiss the value of the coursework. Most schools use case studies written and published by Harvard Business School, which are just some made-up stories with questionable educational value. By the second year, students are sick and tired of reading and paying for them. Do not be fooled by the rankings. Top business schools are famous for research, and the teaching quality is often deplorable. Professors are more interested in doing research to further their careers and view teaching more as an onus.

If you are diligent, you can learn about everything business schools teach, such as accounting and finance, by reading on your own. There is a recent research by Stanford Business School professor Jeffrey Pfeffer, available on the internet, that claims he has found little evidence that an MBA adds any value to a person's career. I am certain most MBA always knew this but had no reason to publicize it.

If you are really stuck in a dead-end job, it may be worthwhile to go to business school as a way of getting a new start. There are many MBA student have no idea what they want to do, other than they hated their previous jobs. At the end, they often end up joining companies that recruit on campus and offer the highest salary, and many students quit their jobs in less than one year and start the whole job search process all over. Business schools really are no more than high-price employment agencies, and many business schools have made an art form of doing this. If you must go to business school, make sure you have good plans for the two years and after graduation, and do not expect too much from the classes. Or consider getting it part-time. It is not worth quitting a good job.
MBA 2003 Saturday, December 14, 2002 at 16:48:52 (PST) [18.170.0.102]

Where the hell is NYU on the list?
NYU is ranked higher overall than several of the listed schools. I don't mean to trash other schools but it would be nice if my school was being represented ya kno? Anyway, NYU Stern is like #7 or #8 overall in the world (basically same as US). I'm surprised that LSE (London) is not listed either but I guess Goldsea is too Americanized. Anyway, NYU is really good for networking and finding internships during the school year since it is like a short walk from Wall Street. Stern MBA also has a pretty good alum base. Every Thursday they have a beer bash in the student lounge I believe. Overall, the people who goto Stern are old in my opinion. I would say the average age is about 30 and many people are married and have kids so its not exactly a party school. Stern is obviously the best part-time MBA program anywhere because you can work in NYC and goto school at night (I wouldn't recommend it tho). If you could get into HBS, Wharton or Chicago I would recommend going there instead of NYU since their names carry alot more weight than NYU right now. Stanford is very good too but it is kind of isolated being on the West Coast.
ABC NYU Grad Wednesday, December 11, 2002 at 19:38:21 (PST) [24.193.52.44]

Hey folks,

I would like to attend NYU or Columbia to study entrprenuership and management. I attend Cornell. My GPA has suffered a lot because of personal problems that are not related to motivation or my lack thereof. Also, my major has almost nothign to do with management or business. Will that severly reduce my chances for admission? If I score high on my GMATs and rack up 4-5 years of work experience by starting from the bottom up (I have no choice since my major is completely unrelated to the business world), can I up my chances? If so, by how much?

Ideally, I would like to attend those two schools, since they are in NYC. If I can't get in there, then I would consider UCLA or USC. How will my situation affect my chances in THOSE schools?

Thanks in advance.
Jizz-m Friday, November 08, 2002 at 03:05:06 (PST) [128.253.186.46]

Wharton mystique? I wasn't aware that there was a Wharton mystique. Are you sure you didn't mean Wharton mistake?
Cardigan Thursday, November 07, 2002 at 15:50:28 (PST) [165.123.243.13]

I am sorry but with is Dartmouth's Amos Tuck School. It was just recently voted by the Wall Street Journal as the best business school in the world.
agreen Thursday, November 07, 2002 at 13:23:25 (PST) [209.39.104.129]

hi:
i want to study an mba in new york city , however i have no idea which are the good universities..i have only heard of the 3 famous ones (cornell, columbia and nyu) but don{t know too much about the student life and education and everything else...i will totally appreciate it if someone can tell me or mention a few and their comments...thanks a lot...p.s. i do not know anyone that has gone there so i could not ask before..
m. e.g. ( asian girl -ny Saturday, November 02, 2002 at 10:17:21 (PST) [200.46.12.29]

I am surprised that the Kelley School of Business (Indiana)only has 8% of the overall votes. It has been ranked once again as one of the best b-schools world-wide by corporate executives and business grads. It's probably one of the most underated business schools that deserve more recognition.
Kelley Kid Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 18:34:30 (PDT) [206.106.120.18]

It's not a secret to the rest of the world that The Wharton School is the world's most prestigious and most selective business school absolutely packed with extremely successful people. If Wharton drops in the rankings, they really do not care. If B-Week, USNEWS and Financial Times all put them in the second tier, they would still have droves of students applying and tons of companies looking to hire them. The cachet translates to recruitability - with a diploma from Wharton you can work in MC, IB, VC, Hedge Funds, Trading, Brand Management, Startups, Ops, etc. In all honesty, there really isn't anything you won't have the opportunity to do. The opportunities are there, and there is a definite mystique to anyone who has a degree from Wharton. Unless you graduate from Wharton, the mystique of the place can't be escaped.
Scott Monday, October 21, 2002 at 10:40:58 (PDT) [128.91.99.6]

'They didn't hire him because he was Chinese.'

Yes, this might be another reason. To many Japanese Nationals, Chinese people are 2nd class people, and are also inferior to Westerners. No matter how successful and brilliant a Chinese person can be, many Japanese would still regard that person as unworthy.
LSD Friday, October 18, 2002 at 07:48:28 (PDT) [66.212.81.229]

LSD:

You've got it all wrong.

They didn't hire him because he was Chinese.

That's a whole other topic....
boba nai cha Wednesday, October 16, 2002 at 14:18:11 (PDT) [208.48.177.3]

'They hire token white people here and there to keep the natives happy and to manage the day to day of the natives abroad'

Exactly, and that is the reason why many American-Based Japanese companies prefer Whites over Asians.
LSD Tuesday, October 15, 2002 at 16:28:36 (PDT) [12.88.84.157]

LSD,

You're speaking of exception to the rule. Look very closely at asian multinational companies and you will see that 99.9+% of all executive positions are held by asian.

They hire token white people here and there to keep the natives happy and to manage the day to day of the natives abroad.
AC Dropout Monday, October 14, 2002 at 09:04:43 (PDT) [24.90.98.143]

Japanese and Chinese companies usually have Japanese and Chinese exclusively in upper management.

AC,

But usually Japanese companies based in America tend to have many White people in upper management, and even some of them are VPs or even Pres or CEOs.

Japanese companies would rather employ White people rather than Asians in their American divisions. We all know what the deal is! I know of a Chinese-American Columbia MBA graduate who speaks fluent Japanese, and he was rejected for a mid management position in a Japanese trading co. to which he applied. Instead, they took a White dude with less credentials...Hunter College grad w/MA in English, and couldn't speak any Japanese. Somehow, even to the Japanese, Asian Americans are not "Americans"...again, we all know what is going on!
LSD Thursday, October 10, 2002 at 07:16:03 (PDT) [66.212.81.229]

I think ethnic diversity has a lot to offer companies. People of different backgrounds bring different ideas and perspectives that ultimately will help a company bcome superior.
Mag Tuesday, October 08, 2002 at 05:42:47 (PDT) [165.123.243.13]

AC Dropout,

What is the ethnic composition of your company by number?
SF AM Friday, October 04, 2002 at 12:47:01 (PDT) [165.123.243.13]

Jux Rux,

What are you talking about? Japanese and Chinese companies usually have Japanese and Chinese exclusively in upper management.

It really two different issues we want to talk about. As an employee, asians are looking for better opportunities to climb the corporate ladder and break the glass ceiling. And I totally support that stance.

But that was not the point of view I was respecting in my post.
AC Dropout Thursday, October 03, 2002 at 13:09:36 (PDT) [24.90.98.143]

AC Dropout,

That type of thinking is the reason why many U.S. companies have gotten their butts kicked by Japanese and other Asian companies.

I still can't believe that you as an Asian, if you indeed are an Asian, would you argue for discrimination against Asians.
Jux Rux Thursday, October 03, 2002 at 07:09:49 (PDT) [165.123.243.13]

Political Observer,

It is just my opinion as an asian executive. That the current atmosphere of ethniticity suits my needs. Self interest is really the only interest to depend on.
AC Dropout Wednesday, October 02, 2002 at 11:01:47 (PDT) [24.90.98.143]

AC Dropout,
People are always going to try to find reasons to keep asians out of certain prime circles - power dome positions.

It's my opinion that asians tend to help these people out. If you believe that asians generally over populate business, engineering, medical and science fields, then you have to find out why they are not over populated in management and executive levels in these fields.

My opinion is that racism holds back many qualified asians but that asians help these racists out by keeping quiet and working hard without pressing for work place/promotion fairness.

I hear anti-asian banter and anti-asian jokes all the time. Sometimes away from asians but sometimes within earshot of asians. Asians don't say anything about it. Sometimes they even laugh themselves. It would be odd to for me to say something in defense of asians who are being ridiculed when they're laughing it off themselves.
Political Observer Tuesday, October 01, 2002 at 14:56:58 (PDT) [167.230.38.7]

Jux Rux,

Yeah like the all white Yugoslav team beating the All black plus one white guy USA a team in the World BBall Championship.

Like I said there is no distinct advantage or disadvantage to ethnic uniformity in group activities. That is way business will remain status quo until government intervention occurs.
AC Dropout Tuesday, October 01, 2002 at 09:51:53 (PDT) [24.90.98.143]

NEWEST COMMENTS | EARLIER COMMENTS