Chat Transcript: Undergraduate Ranking

Bloomberg BusinessWeek editors field questions about the fifth annual ranking of the nation's top undergraduate business programs

Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business (Mendoza Undergraduate Profile) took the top spot in the Bloomberg BusinessWeek ranking of undergraduate business programs for the first time this year. Students praised the program for its values and strong alumni network. And there were many other surprises for undergraduate business programs in 2010. Bloomberg BusinessWeek editors Louis Lavelle and Geoff Gloeckler recently revealed the top 50 programs and answered questions about the ranking from reporter Francesca Di Meglio (FrancescaBW) and readers during a live chat event. Here is an edited transcript of their discussion:

Luke1234: How many schools made the final cut?

GeoffBW: We started with 139 schools, and 111 of them ended up being ranked.

AggieUndergrad: How important are the networking legacies that certain schools, such as Notre Dame, USC (Marshall Undergraduate Profile), Texas A&M (Texas A&M Undergraduate Profile), or Ohio State (Fisher Undergraduate Profile), hold for placement in your rankings?

GeoffBW: Obviously, in a job market like the one we're in now, a strong alumni network is invaluable when it comes to helping students find internships and jobs. In the ranking itself, a large (and active) network is going to help a school on the student survey because more students will have found positions. I know Notre Dame has been actively instructing students to reach out to alumni using LinkedIn, and it seems to be paying off. USC and Notre Dame clearly benefit from the connections, with both schools being ranked [toward the top].

AggieUndergrad: Typically, why do private schools place higher on an overall scale whenever it comes to Bloomberg BusinessWeek's undergraduate rankings?

LouisBW: Actually, they don't. Four of the top 10 are not private schools. Sure, they have some advantages in terms of money, etc., but it's pretty much a fair fight.

amirpuri: Has the McDonough School (McDonough Undergraduate Profile) at Georgetown improved?

GeoffBW: Student satisfaction was only down 7% at Georgetown, the smallest drop of any program. The problem is, the school still ranks 63rd on the student survey. The reason for this, I think, is that students have very high expectations when it comes to the job search. Some students complained that they didn't feel adequately prepared for interviewing. Georgetown's grades did improve considerably, though, in both teaching and placement, and it did rise one spot in the overall rankings to 23.

ferrari49: The Financial Times is reviewing the research journals being used for its rankings. Will Bloomberg BusinessWeek take another look at them?

LouisBW: We don't review academic research for the undergrad ranking, but we do for our MBA ranking that will be published in the fall. We made some changes to the list of journals we use a few years back, and we're not planning to make any additional changes soon.

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