The McDonough School of Business made a strong showing in two recent lists ranking the nation’s top business schools.
In The Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive ranking of America’s national business schools for 2006, Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business graduate program rose into the top 20 based upon the proficiency and marketability of its graduates.
photo courtesy MSB
McDonough was also ranked 13th out of 61 schools in a ranking measuring overall academics, teaching quality, and job placement in an annual survey by BusinessWeek.
George Daly, the Dean of the MSB, was described by The Wall Street Journal as having “made speedy progress in producing more polished, marketable graduates.”
Daly said in an interview Tuesday that he has continually stressed the teamwork necessary to propel Georgetown’s undergraduates into successful careers, and credits most of Georgetown’s recognized improvements to his predecessors and colleagues.
“The ranking tells the people at the school that their hard work is paying off,” he said. “We are encouraged to work harder and smarter and get the best people to do the right things.”
According to The Journal, the rankings are unusual in that they do not measure academic programs, but rather gauge the personal qualities of business school graduates, such as work ethic, integrity and teamwork orientation as viewed by recruiters in the financial services sector.
The rankings were based on the opinions of 4,125 recruiters, one of whom, Mark Huson, a management consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton, is quoted as describing Georgetown MBA students as “confident and proficient at their work without being cocky.”
MSB Academic Councilmember Elizabeth Reahard (MSB ‘08) said that a liberal arts background sets MSB students apart in the job market.
“One of the strengths of the MSB is that MSB students get a very strong liberal arts core in addition to a business education,” she said.
The University of Michigan topped The Journal/Harris Interactive list, closely followed by Dartmouth, while the academically renowned business schools of Harvard and Stanford failed to rank in the top 12.
BusinessWeek Online published two surveys of undergraduate National Business schools, one of which focused on student opinion of their schools. Ranked 12th for academics in that survey, Georgetown MSB students ranked their academic experience at an “A.”
Tom Carroll (MSB ‘09) referenced the school’s quality of instruction and exposure to internships as paralleled only by the opportunities offered in the School of Foreign Service.
“A lot of people have the impression that that it is a joy ride for four years,” said Carroll, speaking of the school’s rigorous academics. “It’s on par with the School of Foreign Service; people just don’t seem to realize that.”
Both Carroll and Daly discussed the need for a building dedicated solely to the business school, an aspect which received a low student rating in the BusinessWeek survey.
Although unable to offer specific statistics on the percentage of MSB grads who secured solid financial jobs, Daly expressed admiration and confidence in his students.
“Most leading business schools, including Georgetown, expect their students to go directly into the work force. The companies want to know why they can’t hire more of them,” he said. “I think that’s a very good problem to have.”
CORRECTION: This article originally carried the sub-headline “Business school tops Harvard & Stanford in survey” which was incorrect. While Harvard and Stanford each failed to place in the the top-twelve schools in the WSJ/Harris survey, they were still ahead of Georgetown. Georgetown ranked 19th in that survey. We regret the error.
