The Seven Great Private Business Schools

On Thursday, I attended a forum held by Columbia Business School's dean, Professor Meyer Feldberg. He outlined the role that he plays within the school, how the school has improved during his tenure (1989 to present), and how Columbia interacts with and benchmarks against what he refers to as the 'seven self-appointed great private business schools.'

Regardless of the rankings that come out every year from Business Week, US News and World Report, and the Financial Times, the 'seven self-appointed great private business schools' (hereafter referred to as G7) remain the same group. These are the business schools that have stood the test of time. They have massive alumni networks, great locations, very impressive faculty, and receive upwards of 5000 applications each year.

When I did my MBA tour of the United States in 2000, my eventual shortlist for applications was Haas, Stanford, Kellogg, Harvard, Sloan, and Columbia. Guess what? 5 out of the 6 happen to part of the G7. Haas is public (it's part of the University of California, Berkeley), so it can never be a member of the G7. The other two members are Wharton and Chicago, which didn't appeal to me for various reasons that you can read about in my archives.

In general, the G7 b-schools have lasting appeal - they're the brand name schools. When one pays in excess of US$60,000 for an MBA at one of these schools, they're not just paying for the educational experience. They're buying a membership card into a prestiguous alumni network.

I received an email yesterday from 'Tad Holbie' who's currently going through the application process for his MBA. He's applying to seven different private b-schools in the USA. Can anyone guess which ones? ;-) You can read all about the applications process on his weblog (mbawire.blogspot.com).