Admission Rates at Ivy League Business Schools

If youre planning to attend business school in order to obtain an MBA, few universities offer more prestige than those of the Ivy League. These elite schools, all located in the Northeast, are private institutions known for their academic rigor, outstanding instructors, and alumni networks. What is the Ivy League? The Ivy League isnt an academic and athletic conference like the Big 12 or the Atlantic Coast Conference. Instead, its an informal term used for eight private colleges and universities that are some of the oldest in the nation. Harvard University in Massachusetts, for example, was founded in 1636, making it the first institution of higher learning established in the U.S. The eight  Ivy League schools are: Brown University  in Providence, R.I.Columbia University  in New York CityCornell University in Ithaca, N.Y,Dartmouth College  in Hanover, N.H.Harvard University  in Cambridge, Mass.Princeton University  in Princeton, N.J.The University of Pennsylvania  in PhiladelphiaYale University  in New Haven, Conn. Only six of these elite universities have independent business schools: Columbia Business School (Columbia University)Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management (Cornell University)Harvard Business School (Harvard University)Tuck Business School (Dartmouth College)Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania)Yale School of Management (Yale University) Princeton University does not have a school of business but does award  professional degrees  through its interdisciplinary  Bendheim Center for Finance. Like Princeton, Brown University does not have a business school. It offers business-related study through its  C.V. Starr Program in Business, Entrepreneurship, and  Organizations). The school also offers a joint  MBA  program with the  IE Business School  in Madrid, Spain.   Other Elite Business Schools The Ivies arent the only universities with highly regarded business schools. Private institutions like Stanford University, the University of Chicago, and Duke University, and public schools such as the University of Michigan and the University of California-Berkeley all regularly make lists of the best business schools by sources like Forbes and the Financial Times. Some overseas universities also have programs that are competitive internationally, including  the China Europe International Business School  in Shanghai and the London Business School. Acceptance Rates Getting accepted to an Ivy League program is no easy feat. Admissions are highly competitive at all six Ivy League business schools, and acceptance rates vary from school to school and from year to year. In general, between 10 percent and 20 percent of applicants are granted admission in any given year. In 2017, the acceptance at top-ranked Wharton was 19.2 percent, but just 11 percent at Harvard. Non-Ivy school Stanford was even stingier, accepting just 6 percent of applicants. There really is no such thing as a perfect Ivy League business school candidate. Different schools look for different things at different times when evaluating applications. Based on profiles of past applicants who were accepted at an Ivy League business school, a successful student has the following characteristics: Age: 28 years oldGMAT score: 750Undergraduate GPA: 3.8Undergraduate degree: Earned from an Ivy League universityExtracurricular activities: Alumni participation, community service in an underserved area, membership in multiple professional associationsWork experience: Five to six years of post-undergraduate work experience at a well-known firm such as Goldman SachsRecommendations: Letter of recommendation written by a direct supervisor; letters of recommendation that speak directly about leadership potential or experience (with specific examples) Other factors that can affect a persons chance of admittance include application interviews, essays, and portfolios. A poor GPA or GMAT score, an undergraduate degree from an obscure or noncompetitive university, and a checkered work history can all have an impact as well. Sources Badenhausen, Kurt. Wharton Tops 2017 List of Americas Best Business Schools. Forbes.com. 25 September 2017.Ethier, Mark. Acceptance Rates At Top 50 MBA Programs. PoetsAndQuants.com. 19 February 2018.Ortmans, Laurent. FT Global MBA Ranking 2018. FT.com. 28 January 2018.