Quality Assessment (weighted by 0.40)

• Peer assessment score (0.25): In fall 2018, business school deans and directors of accredited MBA programs were asked to rate programs on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding). Those individuals who did not know enough about a school to evaluate it fairly were asked to mark "don't know." Forty-five percent of those surveyed responded.
 

A school's score is the average of all the respondents who rated it. Responses of "don't know" counted neither for nor against a school.
 

• Recruiter assessment score (0.15): In fall 2018, as in previous years, U.S. News asked corporate recruiters and company contacts, whose names were supplied in summer 2018 by MBA programs previously ranked by U.S. News, to rate all full-time programs on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding). Those individuals who did not know enough about a school to evaluate it fairly were asked to mark "don't know."
 

A school's score is the average of all the respondents who rated it in the three most recent years of survey results. Responses of "don't know" counted neither for nor against a school.
 

This year for the second time, MBA programs that received fewer than a total of 10 recruiter and company contact ratings in the three most recent years of recruiter survey results received the lowest score in this indicator achieved by any ranked MBA program for the purposes of calculating the rankings. These MBA programs display an "N/A" instead of a recruiter assessment score published on usnews.com.
 

U.S. News collected both the peer assessment and recruiter assessment score data.
 

Placement Success (weighted by 0.35)

The U.S. News MBA statistical survey section on employment statistics uses the MBA CSEA Standards for Reporting Employment Statistics as the basis for defining how MBA programs should report full-time MBA employment statistics and other career information, including starting base salaries, signing bonuses, and what proportion of MBA graduates have jobs at graduation and three months after. Using these industry standards has helped U.S. News ensure prospective students have accurate and comparable employment information for each school.
 

• Mean starting salary and bonus (0.14): This is the average starting salary and bonus of 2018 graduates of a full-time MBA program. Salary figures are based on the number of graduates who reported data. The mean signing bonus is weighted by the proportion of those graduates who reported a bonus, because not everyone who reported a base salary figure reported a signing bonus.
 

• Employment rates for full-time MBA program graduates: This is the employment rate for 2018 graduates of a full-time MBA program. Those not seeking jobs or for whom no job-seeking information is available are excluded.

If the proportions of graduates for whom no job-seeking information is available and who are not seeking jobs are high, then the information is not used in calculating the rankings. Employment rates at graduation (0.07) and three months after graduation (0.14) are used in the ranking model.
 

Student Selectivity (weighted by 0.25)

• Mean GMAT and GRE scores (0.1625): This is the average GMAT score and average GRE quantitative, verbal and analytical writing scores of full-time MBA students entering in fall 2018. U.S. News uses both GMAT and GRE scores in the ranking model for MBA programs that reported both scores. Using the GRE scores allows U.S. News to take into account the admissions test scores of the entire entering full-time MBA class. This year for the first time, U.S. News included analytical writing scores as part of the methodology.

For the second consecutive year, MBA programs that reported that less than 50 percent of their full-time fall 2018 entering students submitted average GMAT scores and average GRE quantitative, verbal and analytical scores received less credit for those test scores in the rankings.

Specifically, their weighted percentile distributions were adjusted downward by the proportion of the percentage of the student body that submitted test scores in relation to the 50 percent threshold. For example, if 25 percent of the entering class submitted test scores, then the test scores were reduced in value in the ranking model by 50 percent. For the purposes of determining the proportion of full-time fall 2018 entering students with scores, the percentage submitting GMAT and GRE were totaled.

Scores on the GMAT range from 200 to 800. Only GMAT scores are shown on the ranking table. These GMAT and GRE data are only available via a U.S. News Business School Compass subscription.
 

• Mean undergraduate GPA (0.075): This is the average undergraduate GPA of those students entering the full-time program in fall 2018. This year for the second time, schools that reported that less than 50 percent of their entering students submitted average undergraduate GPAs received less credit for those GPAs.

Specifically, their undergraduate GPA was adjusted downward by the proportion of the percentage of the student body that submitted GPAs in relation to the 50 percent threshold. For example, if 25 percent of the entering class submitted undergraduate GPAs, then the undergraduate GPAs were reduced in value in the ranking model by 50 percent.
 

• Acceptance rate (0.0125): This is the percentage of applicants to the full-time program in fall 2018 who were accepted.

Source: https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/mba-rankings