Below you will find the top ten business schools in the US and Europe. All top ten business schools in the US have acceptance rates of <25% and average GMAT scores of >700.


Top ten business schools:

United States:
  1. Harvard Business School: HBS (along with Stanford) has been the most prestigious full-time MBA program since decades. It is known for its general mangement education and 100% case method (meaning that all courses are taught using real life business cases). Only 10-15% of applicants are accepted each year which is remarkably low given its class size of 900 - the largest of all US business schools. Together with Stanford, HBS attracts the youngest students (the school also introduced the 2+2 program a few years ago, which accepts top college Juniors and guarantees them admission to HBS if they work for 2 years after graduation).
  2. Stanford Graduate School of Business: Stanford boasts the lowest acceptance rate of all business schools (<10%) due to its small class size (~300 students). With its location in the bay area (California), it has strong ties to Venture Capital, start-ups, and tech companies. In terms of rankings, Stanford is easily on par with HBS.
  3. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania: Wharton has traditionally been the #3 b-school in the US, though it's feeling some pressure from Chicago Booth lately. If you're interested in a career in Finance then you can't go wrong with Wharton. Unlike HBS and Stanford which have relatively younger students (26-27 years at matriculation), Wharton students are a bit older with more years of work experience.
  4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management: From here on there are no clear rankings, but MIT Sloan has always been a top 5 school. A large share of students has an engineering or tech background, but post-MBA many move into Finance or Consulting. Due to the small class size of 375 admission rates are <20%.
  5. Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University): Kellogg is THE school known for its marketing program and its collaborative non-competitive students. However, aside from Industry, Kellogg students also place well in Consulting (much less so though for Finance).
  6. University of Chicago Booth School of Management: Like Wharton, Chicago Booth is primarily known for Finance. But again, the school also places well in Consulting and Industry. With its recent $300m donation from Mr. Booth (hence the school's name) it is slowly catching up to the top 5 schools.
  7. Columbia Business School: Another Finance focused school (which is no surprise given its location in New York). Similar to other top schools it has a large class size of 700+.


8.-10. In no particular ranking order:
  • University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business: Known for its laid back, collaborative and philanthropic students. Haas' class size is amongst the smallest (similar to Stanford or Tuck) with 200+ students per batch. The school is particularly strong in placing students into Consulting and Industry, much less so though for Finance.
  • Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth: The oldest MBA program in the world with a strong focus on general management. Due to its location in the middle of nowhere in New Hampshire, students surely have ample time to bond.
  • New York University Stern School of Business: Like its big brother Columbia the school also is a top feeder for New York's investment banks.


Check out US News' MBA rankings for more information. Outside of the US it is harder to rank the top ten business schools. Therefore, below are the two schools which are equivalent to the top 7 MBA programs in the US.

Europe:
  • London Business School: With its location in London the school is primarily known for Finance, though LBS also places well in Consulting and Industry around the globe. 90%+ of students are international. LBS is also one of the few 2 year MBA programs in Europe (though students have the option to graduate within 15 or 18 months as well).
  • INSEAD: For long time the only top MBA program outside of the US until LBS caught up. Due to its large class size (900+) and highly international student body INSEAD probably has the largest MBA alumni network of all business schools outside of the US. The school is known as a prime feeder for Consulting, though INSEAD also places well in Finance and Industry. Like most non-US b-schools, INSEAD is a 1 year program.

The following two schools in Europe are more equivalent to top 15 MBA programs in the US.
  • IMD: Located in Lausanne, Switzerland, the 1 year IMD MBA attracts students with 7+ years of work experience and hence is almost like a hybrid program of full-time MBA and executive MBA. IMD places especially well in Industry.
  • IESE: Founded with the help of Harvard Business School, it is not surprising that IESE is also 100% case method. Along with LBS, it is one of the few 2 year MBA programs in Europe. IESE students on average have 4+ years of work experience and are hence a bit younger than their counterparts at LBS or IMD. Some applicants are a bit surprised when they find out that IESE is run by controversial Opus Dei, but IESE's location in sunny and vibrant Barcelona, Spain, easily makes up for this.