Why is Rice MBA ranked so low?
I am thinking of applying to Rice for MBA as one of my options in Fall 2011. I have seen the school and I love the small class size and the facilities at the school. When I looked at the average starting salaries, they were in the high 90s..which is pretty decent. I am interested in Finance, and it seems like more than 50% of the class gets a job in the financial industry post graduation. The post graduation employment data is very similar to other top 18-25 schools. My concern is, why is it ranked so low at 39 in US News? I know rankings don't mean everything but let's get real we all look at them. FT and Economist have it ranked in the mid 20s..but in US everyone goes by US News..and that is why I am a little concerned. I want to work in corp finance post MBA.. not interested in selling my soul doing IB post MBA.
Should I ignore the low ranking and apply to Rice anyway? or is their degree just toilet paper? I would like to stay in Texas post MBA. Along with Rice, I am also considering McCombs. Just wanted to get everyone's opinion about what is the reason for the low ranking? Why are schools like ASU, Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Minnesota ranked higher in US News? Thanks!
You'll have to look at the ranking methodology to determine why the schools you mentioned are ranked higher than Rice. For one thing 90k is not very high for post-MBA...
If you want to stay in Texas then Rice will be fine. Its a regional school and should be able to get you an interview at most places in Texas. The real question is... why pay private school tuition to go to a regional school ranked 39? Unless you're going top 10, go to a public school and save money.
because in Texas then Rice will be fine
i am applying as well
Regional school I think. That being said if you're staying in TX I believe all the big TX firms recruit from both. Isn't that why UT put a campus in Houston? To compete w/ Rice students from/targeting the energy giants?
If it really matters you can figure out where Rice & UT play out on Business Week, WSJ, and FT rankings. What firms are recruiting from the schools etc.
Cans
On a slightly related topic, UT's national rank at the undergrad level is ridiculously low. #47, according to US News. But they don't seem to have a problem with recruiting.
1) do you consider #47 out of 300 some national universities to be "ridiculously low" ( I don't) 2) do you think that UT should be ranked higher? (I think the 40's is more or less a good fit) and if so, above whom? 3) UT has a very good undergrad business program and along with Rice, is basically the only other competitive school in the Houston vicinity, so naturally Houston BBs recruit there.
..
Their undergrad b-school ranking is ~10, though.
Great regional university, but not so much nationally. So depends on if you're planning on staying in the region. Otherwise, I would say go for the higher ranked and more nationally recognized MBA programs.
Yes but isn't every school outside the top 15 pretty much regional anyway? Why does a program with a higher GMAT average and lower acceptance rate, ranked so much lower than other regional schools? And only US News seems to add some kind of factor which makes Rice ranking so low.. I am just trying to understand what that particular factor is.
I would say any school outside the Top 6 (MIT gets excluded, my M7 is M6) is regional. You shouldn't go to Duke or Yale over UT and UCLA if you want to work in Texas or California, respectively. But you probably should go to h/w/b/
As for Rice, it is a great school if you want to work in Houston. I wouldn't say Texas, because SMU is superior in Dallas, but Houston definitely. That means big oil, BB banks and several F500 HQ's (second only to NYC, actually). So probably a great bet for corp fin. I can't speak to the ranking quandary other than US News considers prestige, and Rice (traditionally) isn't known as a business school.
All of that being said, I don't know why you would turn down McCombs if you got in. As a friend, currently at Rice Jones, wrote me, "The money is a wash in the end and UT is bigger, brings in more top employers, and has way more alumni in corp America."
Energy fin guy might pop on here soon to refute those facts and state that Rice should be tied for #1.
I haven't actually read over their criteria, but I know for undergrad they heavily rank dumb things like how well the school is perceived by other schools. Seeing as Rice is regional and wasn't even accredited until about 10 years ago that would be quite a big factor (assuming similar criteria is used). Either way, the fact of the matter is that if you want to be in Houston a Rice MBA should be fine for corp finance or ib.
Is there a huge difference in the way people perceive a Rice MBA compared to other higher ranked schools like WashU or Emory, which are pretty much regional too and have similar stats? Aside from the top 15 schools, would people in the "business world" really say..WOW you went to WashU/Emory/Gtown, you must be smart! Oh..you went to Rice, that is mediocre! Sorry, if that sounds silly.
Also, consider this.. if you got a huge scholarship from Rice (>60%) and if you got in to a better school ranked 11-16ish (Duke, Darden, Tepper) with no money..what would you choose? Is it better to be in the top 10% at Rice or bottome 30% at Duke/Darden? Is the ROI so much better on the schools ranked 11-16? Top 10 is another story whole together..
I think top 10% at Rice trumps being at the bottom of Duke/Darden any day. The top students at Rice get some real good jobs. I met a couple of guys who are headed to local PE shops from Rice. Now, they might not ever make it to KKR or Blackstone..but Duke/Darden won't give you a much higher chance to get there either. The other top students got in to some prestigious banks and top rotation programs in Big Oil.
I know what you mean by turning down a higher ranked school..been there done that. I turned down 3 schools in the 13-18 range, and it was hard to do so. But I am kind of poor, and Rice helped me with the money. Now, I would never turn down an admission from a top 10 school for any amount of money..but that's where I draw the line. Plus, I think I can be in the top at Rice because my average GMAT is much higher than their average, as opposed to attending the higher ranked school where almost everyone would be of the same caliber as me..making it difficult for me to stand out. Everyone has their reasons, just make sure you work hard where ever you go. Rice is not a horrible school, and if you put your 110% in..you will be successful.
PS: Rice is very generous with scholarships. I was surprised to meet so many people who turned down top 20 schools to attend Rice because of the money.
You chose Rice? I was pretty sure you weren't gonna go that way after reading crap from energy fin guy.
lol yeah that guy is a douche. But, I went to the admit weekend and really liked the people there. Plus, money was so hard to turn down. Gtown was AMAZING btw!
i have heard the same from current students
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this might help it has all the mentionable schools and the different rankings lined up
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_graduate_business_sc…
As far as why Texas is ranked 47th look no further than the top 10% rule.
Exactly! Also, the illegal immigrants get in easily at the undergrad level.
So seems like the fact that it's a young program with a smaller alumni network is hurting its US News ranking the most.. as opposed to similar schools like WashU and Emory which don't really have better admission/employment stats than Rice. Just having a hard time digesting how WashU can be ranked so high..oh well!
Washington University in St. Louis is one of the biggest gamers of rankings.
How so? How do you game the rankings? Also, isn't that kind of unethical for a top 25 Business school to do so.. how do they get by?
I'd assume the poster was referring to gaming the undergrad rankings, something which WUSTL has been accused of doing. Apparently, they have employed tactics such as sending out unsolicited marketing letters to high school seniors to increase the number of applicants and thus lower the acceptance percentage and rejecting top applicants who they fear will choose higher ranked schools over them in order to boost their yield (admitted students attending/total admitted students). I'm sure many other schools also do these sorts of things, but for some reason WUSTL is always one of the first mentioned.
Yeah, as a current student at Wash U, they TOTALLY game the rankings. The juice their application #s by not requiring a supplemental essay, and get tons of kids who will never get in to apply. Total BS, but im not complaining...
Yeah there seems to be some back-and-forth on here between urgrad and MBA. Obviously Wash U and Rice are tremendous undergrads, but we're talking MBA here. One might even make the argument that Rice isn't ranked too low, but rather too high as a result of the prestigious brand of the undergrad. Definitely never heard a peep about Rice business in the 18 years I spent growing up in Houston, but plenty about the hard science programs.
You are aware that Rice has no undergrad business program, right? Might be a reason you didn't hear anything about it. Also, not sure how old you are, but since the Rice MBA program has only existed since the mid-90s, consider that.
And the undergrad/grad debate is true with the hard science programs as well, Rice may be the best place for a science undergrad in Houston or in Texas, but if you wanted a PhD, Baylor and UT Med School top Rice for most science fields.
On the original topic, I growing up in Chicagoland, I didn't hear anything about either Rice or Wash (until a friend went to Wash for undergrad). Northwestern/UofChicago dominate as well as better-known regional schools. FYI - people in Chicagoland are way more pretentious than Texas.
cool story bro.
Did anyone not receive marketing material from Wash U 5+ years before graduating from high school??
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