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US News MBA Ranking 2023 - Change in Acceptance Rate & Salary Ranking Factors

Booth jumped three spots to grab the lead in the US News Best Business School Ranking for 2023-24. The publication polled 496 schools.

Kellogg and Wharton have swapped places at second and third, respectively, while Harvard and MIT Sloan have risen from sixth and fifth to fifth and fourth, respectively.

Stanford dropped from first to sixth place.

2023 Ranking Methodology – US News Best Schools

The employability rates of graduates from the institution after three months post-graduation and wages (including sign-on incentives obtained by graduates) are given the most weightage in the US News Best Schools ranking methodology.

The average GMAT and GRE scores are given the second most weightage.

The third aspect contributing to the rankings is recruiter assessments based on the institution's employability and peer ranking, which introduces a qualitative ranking factor - the perceived value of universities among AACSB-recognized deans and directors - into the ranking.

The needed undergraduate GPA was the fifth criterion.

The sixth component - employability immediately after graduation, covered 10% of the overall weightage - half the weightage of employability three months after graduation.

The weightage for institutions whose data was based on last year's responses was decreased using statistical regression methods. Finally, the acceptance rate accounted for only 2% of the total score, reducing the risk of schools using selectivity manipulation to boost their rankings.

Ranking FactorWeightage
Peer assessment score12.5%
Recruiter assessment score12.5%
Employment rates at graduation10%
Employment rates three months after graduation20%
Mean starting salary and bonus20%
Mean GMAT and GRE scores13%
Mean undergraduate GPA10%
Acceptance rate2%

Rankings by Specializations

Executive MBA

The rating of Executive MBA programs is similar to the ranking of full-time MBA programs, with the exception that Stanford and Harvard that are not included in the list because they do not provide an executive MBA program.

Leaving this variance aside, Wharton surpassed Kellogg, Booth, Columbia, and Duke to claim the Best Executive MBA ranking for 2023.

RankingSchool Name
1Wharton
2Kellogg
3Booth
4Columbia University
5Duke University

Part-time MBA

The part-time MBA program is likewise similar to the full-time MBA program, with a median age range of 35-40 and a class composition strongly oriented towards local candidates. Those who already have a definite career path but want the 'MBA' brand to increase their prospects of promotion or acquire cross-functional exposure can benefit from Haas, Booth, Kellogg, Stern, and UCLA Anderson's distinct location advantages and functional ranking.

RankingSchool Name
1HAAS
2Booth
3Northwestern University (Kellogg)
4New York University (Stern)
5University of California - Los Angeles (Anderson)

 

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About the Author 

Atul Jose

I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.

 

For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.

 

My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.

 

I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.

 

The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.

 

Contact me for school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative development, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing, or guidance documents for recommendation letters.