美國最好的商學院：依舊是哈佛

社交網站Poets&Quants對本年度美國最佳MBA院校的排名再次證明，最好的商學院往往固定不變：在我們最新發布的2013年全美最佳MBA院校綜合排名中，前8名與去年完全一致，沒有絲毫變化。更重要的是，去年躋身全美十強的商學院今年依然穩居前10名。     最穩定的一家仍然是連續第四年拔得頭籌的哈佛商學院(Harvard Business School)。盡管《紐約時報》(New York Times)一篇關于哈佛商學院性別不平等現象的特寫報道造成了不那么輕微負面效應，但這所商學院的MBA學位依然是闖蕩工商界的硬通貨。沒有哪位競爭對手能夠與哈佛商學院帶給這項游戲的強大資源相媲美：數不勝數的超級明星教授、課程設置的多樣化、學生的出眾素質、校園的規模和范圍，以及校友的杰出成就。     此外，今年進入哈佛商學院的新生堪稱有史以來最令人印象深刻的一級。申請者多達9,315人，較去年同期增加了3.9%。哈佛商學院精挑細選，僅歡迎其中的941位學生攻讀該校MBA學位，女生在新生的占比也上升到了41%，創下歷史新高。GMAT（研究生管理專業入學考試）的平均分數高達720分，而這批MBA新生在本科階段的平均績點（3.67）同樣令人嘆為觀止。     從《商業周刊》(BusinessWeek)到《美國新聞與世界報道》(U.S. News & World Report)，美國最有影響力的5項MBA排名均在我們的綜合排名中占據一定權重。但值得注意的是，上榜商學院的基本指數評分非常接近。前四名【依次為哈佛大學、斯坦福大學( Stanford University )、芝加哥大學(Chicago University )和賓夕法尼亞大學(University of Pennsylvania)】的分數差距非常微弱；哈佛大學僅比其位于西海岸的宿敵斯坦福大學高出區區0.35分。     這也是芝加哥大學在Poets&Quants榜單上連續第四次領先于賓夕法尼亞大學沃頓商學院(Wharton)，從而讓人們更加相信一種觀點：哈佛、斯坦福和沃頓長期傲居美國商學院前三強的格局已不復存在。全美十強中，只有沃頓商學院2015屆班級的申請人數出現了下降。過去一年，這所商學院的申請人數下跌了5.8% ，而芝加哥大學布斯商學院(Booth)的申請人數則猛增了9.9%，增長幅度高居十大商學院之首。事實上，這種增幅也使得布斯商學院的篩選性首次超過沃頓，盡管只是略高一點。     盡管穩居前8名的商學院在規模、地區和文化等諸多方面存在差異，但這些院校確實存在一個相同點：它們都是學費高昂，極具聲望，擁有強大全球品牌的私立院校。畢竟，這是商學院。     相較于最好的法學院，這些發放MBA學位的頂級院校表現得尤為出色。首先，在十大商學院中，有9家的申請人數進一步增長，從而使大多數商學院變得比以往更加挑剔。其次，在9家商學院中，2015屆學生的GMAT平均分數高于去年，有幾家甚至創造了新的紀錄。GMAT分數向來位居榜首的斯坦福大學報告稱，今年入學新生的GMAT平均分達到創紀錄的732分，比去年的729分略高一些。只有加州大學伯克利分校(UC-Berkeley)哈斯商學院(Haas School of Business)的平均分有所下降，但今年的平均分（714分）也只是比去年（715分）下降了1分而已。     沃頓商學院和西北大學(Northwestern University)凱洛格商學院(Kellogg School of Business)的GMAT平均分漲幅最大：盡管申請人數有所下降，但沃頓的GMAT平均分達到創紀錄的725分，高于除斯坦福和哈佛之外的其他任何一家商學院。與此同時，凱洛格商學院的GMAT平均分也創下歷史新高（715分）。沃頓和凱洛格的GMAT平均分均在一年內猛增了7分，去年的平均值分別為718分和708分。

This year's Poets&Quants' ranking of the best full-time MBA programs in the U.S. proves that the best business schools tend to stay put: There isn't a single difference between the top eight MBA programs in our new 2013 composite ranking and the top eight in 2012. What's more, all top 10 schools remained firmly in the top ten this year.     The steadiest institution is still Harvard Business School, which took the top spot for the fourth year in a row. Despite less-than-flattering publicity generated by a New York Times' feature on gender inequality at Harvard, an MBA from the school remains the quintessential credential in business. No rival beats Harvard in the formidable resources it brings to the game: the outsize number of superstar professors, the diversity of its course offerings, the stellar quality of its students, the size and scope of its campus, and the achievements of its alumni.     This year's entering class at Harvard, moreover, is one of school's most impressive ever. Drawing from an applicant pool that was up 3.9% last year to 9,315 hopefuls, Harvard welcomed just 941 incoming MBA students, with the highest percentage of women ever at 41% of the class. The median GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) score was a hefty 720, while the average undergraduate grade point average for the newest crop of MBA students was an impressive 3.67.     Yet, it's worth noting that the underlying index scores in our composite ranking -- which annually weighs the five most influential MBA rankings, ranging from BusinessWeek to U.S. News & World Report -- are especially close. The scores of No. 1 Harvard, No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Chicago, and No. 4 University of Pennsylvania are fractions away from each other; a mere 0.35 separates Harvard and its perennial West Coast rival Stanford.     This is also the fourth time in a row that Chicago has ranked ahead of Wharton on the Poets&Quants list, giving slightly more credence to the view that it is no longer Harvard-Stanford-Wharton at the top. Wharton was the only Top 10 school that saw a decline in applications for the class of 2015. Its applicant pool shrunk by 5.8% this past year, while Chicago Booth reported the biggest percentage boost in applications of any Top 10 school -- a healthy 9.9%. The increase actually made Chicago slightly more selective than Wharton for the first time.     The immovable top eight differ in many ways -- size, region, culture, and so on. But the schools do have one feature in common: They're all private, pricey, highly prestigious institutions with powerful global brands. This is business school, after all.     And compared to the best law schools, the top schools that hand out MBA diplomas are doing exceptionally well. For one thing, nine out of the ten reported an increase in MBA applications, allowing most to be even more selective than usual. For another, Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) averages for the class of 2015 also rose at nine of the ten schools, reaching record levels at several MBA programs. The historical GMAT leader, Stanford, is reporting a record 732 average GMAT this year, up from 729 last year. The only school to report a decline was UC-Berkeley's Haas School of Business, where the average fell by just one point to 714 this year from 715 last year.     Wharton and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Business scored the largest single increases in GMAT averages: Despite a fall in applications, Wharton hit a record 725, higher than any school other than Stanford or Harvard. Kellogg, meanwhile, reported a record average of 715. At both Wharton and Kellogg, the mean GMAT bumped up seven points in a single year, from 718 at Wharton and 708 at Kellogg.

除了幾個值得注意的特例，本已高企的新生本科階段平均成績依然相當穩定。在斯坦福大學，新生平均績點從去年的3.69攀升至令人驚愕的3.73，為美國所有商學院的最高值。芝加哥大學布斯商學院的新生平均績點從一年前的3.52微漲至3.57。隸屬于達特茅斯學院(Dartmouth College)的塔克商學院(Tuck School of Business )報告稱，新生平均績點從3.49小幅上漲至3.50。但就總體而言，新生本科階段的平均績點與去年同期完全相同：哈佛大學、哥倫比亞大學(Columbia University)、加州大學伯克利分校哈斯商學院和杜克大學(Duke University)福庫商學院( Fuqua School)的平均績點依次為3.67、3.50、3.61和3.40。     大多數招生官員和院長表示，今年的申請者素質位居史上最佳之列。“申請者的整體素質變得更強了，”芝加哥布斯商學院全日制MBA院校副院長斯泰西•R•科萊說�！敖衲甑腉MAT成績中位數為730分，處于第96個百分位數�，F如今，GMAT成績在680分以下的申請者已經變得極其罕見。我10年前來這里時，GMAT平均分為695分，而今年達到創紀錄的723分�？瓷先ノ覀兊腉MAT分數并不遜色于兄弟院校。”事實上，芝加哥大學布斯商學院今年的GMAT成績中位數與哈佛商學院相等，是該校歷史上的第一次。     今年的美國最佳商學院排名中，前20名確實有所變化，但變化不大。加州大學伯克利分校哈斯商學院與杜克大學福庫商學院今年交換了位次：福庫位居第9名，哈斯下降至第10名。與此同時，密歇根大學(University of Michigan)羅斯商學院(Ross School)和弗吉尼亞大學(University of Virginia)達頓商學院( Darden School)也交換了名次。這所中西部名校上升到第12名，而達頓商學院則下滑至第13名。位于這些位置互換中間的，是依然穩居第11名的康奈爾大學(Cornell University)約翰遜管理研究生學院(Johnson Graduate School of Management)。     雖然它的北加州表弟有所下降，但加州大學洛杉磯分校(UCLA)的位次已經從第17名升至第14名。它甚至把紐約大學(NYU)斯特恩商學院( Stern School )從第14名擠到了第15位。同時，耶魯大學管理學院(Yale School of Management)從去年的第15名下降至第17名。實際上，在《美國新聞與世界報道》和《金融時報》(Financial Times)發布的美國商學院榜單上，耶魯大學的排名高于加州大學洛杉磯分校，但其他排名，尤其是注重投資回報率的《福布斯》(Forbes)榜單，更青睞這家位于洛杉磯的商學院。     與其他排名不同，Poets&Quants綜合排名結合了世界上最有影響力的5份商學院榜單的最新成果，這些榜單的發布者分別是《彭博商業周刊》、《經濟學人》(The Economist)、《金融時報》、《福布斯》和《美國新聞與世界報道》。Poets&Quants綜合排名并不是僅僅計算這些榜單的平均值，而是依據每份榜單的權威性和信譽，對其分別加權——《彭博商業周刊》、福布斯》和《美國新聞與世界報道》的權重皆為25%，《金融時報》為15%，《經濟學人》為10%。     綜合考慮這5份最有影響力的商學院榜單并不會完全消除每套排名體系的缺陷，但這樣做確實可以顯著弱化單個榜單的不足之處。任何一個榜單可能會因為錯誤的調查技術或帶有偏見的排名方法而出現反常情況，而把所有數據放在一起則可以抑制這種現象。所以，這項綜合排名有助于降低這些榜單的噪音，從而更加直接地向外界傳遞真實信號。     譯者：葉寒

Undergraduate grade point averages -- already high -- remained pretty stable with some noteworthy exceptions. At Stanford, average GPA crept higher to an astounding 3.73, highest of any U.S. business school and up from 3.69 last year. At Chicago Booth, GPA eked up to 3.57 this year, from 3.52 a year earlier. Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business reported a tiny increase to 3.50 from 3.49. In general, though, undergraduate GPAs were exactly the same year-over-year: A 3.67 at Harvard, a 3.50 at Columbia, a 3.61 at UC-Berkeley Haas, and a 3.40 at Duke University's Fuqua School.     Most admissions officials and deans say the applicant pool is among the best they have ever seen. "The quality of the pool is just stronger," says Stacey R. Kole, deputy dean of the full-time MBA program at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. "We hit a 730 median GMAT this year, the 96th percentile. There are very few people under 680 these days. When I got here 10 years ago, the average GMAT was 695. It's a record this year at 723. And it's not like we just shimmied under the bar on GMAT." Indeed, Chicago Booth's 730 median is now equal to Harvard Business School for the first time in the school's history.     When it comes to this year's ranking of the best, the top 20 did change -- but not much. UC-Berkeley's Haas School of Business and Duke University's Fuqua School switched places this year: Fuqua took the ninth spot, and Haas landed in tenth place. Meanwhile, the University of Michigan's Ross School and the University of Virginia's Darden School also pulled a switch. The Midwestern titan rose to No. 12, while Darden slipped to No. 13. In the middle of all the swapping, Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management remained stable at No. 11.     Though its Northern Californian cousin slipped a little, UCLA climbed from No. 17 to No. 14. It even bumped NYU's Stern School out of the No. 14 spot, sending it down to No. 15. Meanwhile, Yale School of Management finished at No. 17, down from 15 last year. U.S. News and the Financial Times actually placed Yale above UCLA, but the other rankings -- in particular, the return-on-investment focused Forbes list -- favored the Los Angeles-based school.     Unlike other rankings, the Poets&Quants composite list combines the latest results from the five most influential business school rankings in the world: Bloomberg BusinessWeek, The Economist, The Financial Times, Forbes, and U.S. News & World Report. Instead of merely averaging the five, each ranking is separately weighted to account for their authority and credibility. (The BusinessWeek, Forbes, and U.S. News lists are given a weight of 25% each, while the FT is given a 15% weight, and The Economist is given a 10% weight).     Combining the five most influential rankings doesn't eliminate the flaws in each system, but it does significantly diminish them. When an anomaly pops up on one list due to either faulty survey technique or biased methodology, bringing all the data together tends to suppress it. So the composite index tones down the noise in each of these five surveys to get more directly at the real signal that is being sent.