Welcome to F1GMAT’s Ask Atul Jose series. I am Atul Jose. Today’s question is:
Q) From the M7 MBA Programs which one showed the most resilience during COVID?
For Context, M7 is a codeword for the elite 7 Business Schools – Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, MIT, Booth, Columbia, and Kellogg. A great measure of the resilience of a top MBA program is the increase in base salary compared to the previous year.
Except for MIT, Stanford and Booth, the elite schools didn’t have a great year. However, the top schools are closing on the benchmark of $150,000 base salary with Booth and Kellogg farthest while Stanford clearly exceeding the threshold with $156,000 base salary and MIT making an impressive jump of 7% increase in salary during a pandemic to reach $150,000.
A good year would have 3-5% growth in base salary. Considering the hiring freeze and the overall decline in growth in most industries, the results are pretty good. It is an overreaction from the M7 schools to opt-out of the Economist and The FT MBA rankings that have allotted 15% and 25% ranking factor respectively for the increase in salary. US News is Business School friendly with the increase in salary not considered in the ranking factor at all. On the contrary, a 25% peer assessment score and 15% recruiter assessment score are allotted to the ranking factors that favor the incumbent, in this case - the M7 schools that most applicants target.
Is MIT leading with an impressive 7% increase in salary. Can we count it as a sign of resilience?
This is not an easy yes or no answer. MIT typically attracts majority engineers to their cohort (33% from the latest incoming class are engineers). The technology industry did pretty well during the pandemic, with a conservative estimate showing an 8.45% growth in 2020 compared to 7.89% in 2019. Since the top two post-MBA industries at MIT were placed in Consulting (31.1%) and Technology (27.6%), we can safely assume that the opportunities presented in the form of digitization worked out for the school.
Still, 7% increase to reach $150,000 is an incredible feat.
I am impressed most with Stanford for its ability to keep the 3-5% salary growth going despite the economy.
Regardless of the unique advantages that the pandemic offered to each school based on their class profile, M7 schools are all closing in on the $150-$155,000 base salary. It is a positive news for anyone investing $200,000 on an MBA program.
For choosing the right school that matches your background and profile, subscribe to F1GMAT’s Career Planning service by visiting. I am Atul Jose - the Consultant, and Founder at F1GMAT. I will breakdown another trend in my next #askAtulJose series.
Till then, you can read my Research Guide, or if you are applying to the top 16 MBA programs, checkout F1GMAT’s Winning MBA Essay Guide.
