ohhhHHHHHH!

So imagine my dismay when Forbes didn’t even put Ross in the top 56 in its latest rankings.  Have we truly, FINALLY, found ourselves inferior to Ohio State in something other than gymnastics?  (I kid, I kid….)

Ah, perhaps not.  To the emailbox!

Dear m@,

You may have noticed that Ross is not included in this year’s Forbes ranking of MBA programs. There’s a simple reason for that: We declined to participate in the survey.

Unlike surveys managed by such publications as BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, and The Financial Times, the Forbes survey is concerned almost exclusively with a financial calculation of return-on-investment. We are certainly aware of the financial commitment that you make to attend our School. We also recognize that ROI is a factor to consider when evaluating an MBA program. However, we don’t believe that an ROI calculation, by itself, is the most meaningful way to measure the full value of an MBA program.

The excellence of our full-time MBA program manifests itself in many ways: the distinctiveness of our action-based learning programs; the quality of instruction; the breadth and depth of our research; the esteem in which top recruiters hold our graduates; and, of course, the talent and commitment of our students.

I’d pretty much agree with this: ROI is an incredibly subjective way of ranking programs…but then again, what system isn’t?

Here’s my abridged opinion on rankings: about 24 hours into arriving on campus, neither you nor your classmates will discuss the “R” word unless it involves prospective students and/or finding a job.  Granted, both of these stages of life are important [especially the job part 🙂 ], but you won’t likely be lamenting about your school’s ranking as you swig a Guinness with one of your section mates.  I’m just sayin’.