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After months of soul-searching and pressure from your parents, you have finally decided that you want to pursue a career in, say, investment banking. Now you have to choose a college. Easier said than done. Based on your career path, you want to major in business, but is it smart to choose a school based only on overall ranking? Probably not. One program might be very strong in accounting, but weak in areas such as marketing or economics. So how can you know which program is strong in which areas?
As part of the Best Undergraduate Business Rankings, BusinessWeek asked 100,000 business majors at 84 top universities to grade their programs on a scale of 1 to 10, in 11 specialties -- including calculus, economics, accounting, and marketing -- to come up with a rank of schools that are best in the various areas. In the end, what we found is that the specialty rankings produced very different results than the overall undergraduate ranks. Sure, the top-ranked Wharton School is strong in many areas, such as economics and corporate strategy, but in areas like calculus and accounting, Wharton ended up in the middle of the pack (see "Undergrad Specialty Rankings" table).
In the specialty ranks, the overall winner is Emory University's Goizueta School of Business. Emory students ranked their program No. 1 in the area of business law, and in the top 10 in each of the other 10 specialties -- the only school to achieve this distinction.
SURPRISING FIRSTS. Looking at the overall ranking of best schools, Emory's high specialty ranks come as no surprise, as the school was ranked No. 1 by students, with Virginia, Notre Dame, MIT, and Cornell rounding out the top five. While these schools didn't fare as well as Emory in the specialized areas, each had their strong points, with Virginia ranked No. 2 in both corporate strategy and business law, Notre Dame in the top five in both ethics and accounting, MIT tops in operations management, and Cornell leading the way in marketing.
Some surprises emerged from the specialty ranks as well. For instance, the University of Florida ranked No. 1 in microeconomics, offering specialized courses such as "Health-Care Economics." And Brigham Young University ranked at the top in both accounting and ethics. To students at BYU, having a strong moral base at the heart of each course is important.
"Ethics are a crucial part of running a sound business and creating positive business relationships in every setting," one student said. In the business core, each student is required to take a three-credit-hour course called "Ethics for Management." Beyond that, professors make a point to discuss ethics in nearly every course, using current examples involving the likes of WorldCom and Enron.
NEW INFO. Historically vigorous programs like Carnegie Mellon ranked at the top in both quantitative methods and corporate strategy. And University of California at Berkeley's Haas School of Business received high marks in core areas such as marketing and accounting.
"My accounting classes have made accounting firms of all sizes and specialties available to me, for contacts and questions," one Haas student said. "My professors have real-world experience, so they are able to give me an excellent preview of what my future work environment may be."
In the accompanying table, the results of the specialty rankings are available, along with previously unpublished information such as the size of core and elective courses at each of the 61 ranked programs, and which programs fall into the top 10 in each specialty. Also, if you would like to see the entire list of a specific area, that information is also available in table. Choosing the right college is difficult, but hopefully this will make it a little easier.
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