美国最好的商学院：依旧是哈佛

    社交网站Poets&Quants对本年度美国最佳MBA院校的排名再次证明，最好的商学院往往固定不变：在我们最新发布的2013年全美最佳MBA院校综合排名中，前8名与去年完全一致，没有丝毫变化。更重要的是，去年跻身全美十强的商学院今年依然稳居前10名。

    最稳定的一家仍然是连续第四年拔得头筹的哈佛商学院(Harvard Business School)。尽管《纽约时报》(New York Times)一篇关于哈佛商学院性别不平等现象的特写报道造成了不那么轻微负面效应，但这所商学院的MBA学位依然是闯荡工商界的硬通货。没有哪位竞争对手能够与哈佛商学院带给这项游戏的强大资源相媲美：数不胜数的超级明星教授、课程设置的多样化、学生的出众素质、校园的规模和范围，以及校友的杰出成就。

    此外，今年进入哈佛商学院的新生堪称有史以来最令人印象深刻的一级。申请者多达9,315人，较去年同期增加了3.9%。哈佛商学院精挑细选，仅欢迎其中的941位学生攻读该校MBA学位，女生在新生的占比也上升到了41%，创下历史新高。GMAT（研究生管理专业入学考试）的平均分数高达720分，而这批MBA新生在本科阶段的平均绩点（3.67）同样令人叹为观止。

    从《商业周刊》(BusinessWeek)到《美国新闻与世界报道》(U.S. News & World Report)，美国最有影响力的5项MBA排名均在我们的综合排名中占据一定权重。但值得注意的是，上榜商学院的基本指数评分非常接近。前四名【依次为哈佛大学、斯坦福大学( Stanford University )、芝加哥大学(Chicago University )和宾夕法尼亚大学(University of Pennsylvania)】的分数差距非常微弱；哈佛大学仅比其位于西海岸的宿敌斯坦福大学高出区区0.35分。

    这也是芝加哥大学在Poets&Quants榜单上连续第四次领先于宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿商学院(Wharton)，从而让人们更加相信一种观点：哈佛、斯坦福和沃顿长期傲居美国商学院前三强的格局已不复存在。全美十强中，只有沃顿商学院2015届班级的申请人数出现了下降。过去一年，这所商学院的申请人数下跌了5.8% ，而芝加哥大学布斯商学院(Booth)的申请人数则猛增了9.9%，增长幅度高居十大商学院之首。事实上，这种增幅也使得布斯商学院的筛选性首次超过沃顿，尽管只是略高一点。

    尽管稳居前8名的商学院在规模、地区和文化等诸多方面存在差异，但这些院校确实存在一个相同点：它们都是学费高昂，极具声望，拥有强大全球品牌的私立院校。毕竟，这是商学院。

    相较于最好的法学院，这些发放MBA学位的顶级院校表现得尤为出色。首先，在十大商学院中，有9家的申请人数进一步增长，从而使大多数商学院变得比以往更加挑剔。其次，在9家商学院中，2015届学生的GMAT平均分数高于去年，有几家甚至创造了新的纪录。GMAT分数向来位居榜首的斯坦福大学报告称，今年入学新生的GMAT平均分达到创纪录的732分，比去年的729分略高一些。只有加州大学伯克利分校(UC-Berkeley)哈斯商学院(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。

    沃顿商学院和西北大学(Northwestern University)凯洛格商学院(Kellogg School of Business)的GMAT平均分涨幅最大：尽管申请人数有所下降，但沃顿的GMAT平均分达到创纪录的725分，高于除斯坦福和哈佛之外的其他任何一家商学院。与此同时，凯洛格商学院的GMAT平均分也创下历史新高（715分）。沃顿和凯洛格的GMAT平均分均在一年内猛增了7分，去年的平均值分别为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.