In a swiftly changing work environment, the dynamics of a business are ever evolving. A strong business foundation is needed to create, manage or work in a business entity in a fast-paced world.
In a world more globally connected than ever before, one decision in one part of the world can impact hundreds of lives in some other parts of it. Top schools today ensure that the students not only walk away with a prestigious degree, but also impart life lessons, practical growth of their vision and fast track their organization’s growth. The business fundamentals remain the same, however, the means to reach those have changed. Therefore, a high quality education gets you into the mold to overcome any challenge that comes your way.
Also note, most of top schools do not offer undergraduate degree in Business. They offer B.A. in Economics, but not Business. Here is a review of the top 10 undergraduate business schools. These are:
1. University of Pennsylvania: Privately owned, founded in 1740 by Benjamin Franklin and located in Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania tops our list of best undergraduate business schools. It’s undergraduate enrollment is around 10,000. The campus size is 299 acres and the setting is urban. The Wharton Business school was established in 1881 through a donation from industrialist Joseph Wharton. It boasts of 94,000 alumni who occupy top corporate positions in the largest corporations in the world. UPenn admissions are highly competitive with an acceptance rate of less than 8%. The admitted applicants had an SAT score between 1450 to 1560. UPenn has a very strong student-faculty ratio of 6:1 and more than 70% of it’s classes operate at less than 20 students. The average freshman retention rate is 98%. It has a gender distribution of 48% males and 52% female students. With every 1 in 2 undergraduates receiving a scholarship averaging at $51,000, UPenn is one of the most generous schools out there. Some of the notable alumni include former President Donald Trump, CEO of Google Sundar Pichai, Tesla founder Elon Musk, tech investor Warren Buffet etc. It’s tuition fees $60,042. Almost a quarter of students are involved in Greek life, which encapsulate 50 faculties and sororities. The leadership program is a massive part of the Wharton learning. Leadership is inculcated in each and everyone. A famous joke at Wharton says, “There are enough clubs in Wharton for student to be president of one”.
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Privately owned, founded in 1861 and located in Boston, MIT’s Sloan School of Management is one of the best business schools. It’s undergraduate enrollment is around 5000, the campus size is 168 acres and the setting is urban. The college’s motto is “Mens et manus” which means mind and hand, which emphasizes the need to find practical solutions to real life solutions. It boasts of 97,000 alumni who occupy top corporate positions in the largest corporations in the world. The admissions are highly competitive with an acceptance rate of less than 7% and an early acceptance rate of 7.4%. The admitted applicants had an SAT score between 1510 to 1570. It boasts of a student-faculty ratio of 3:1 and more than 70% of it’s classes operating at less than 20 students. The average freshman retention rate is 99%. It has a gender distribution of 53% males and 47% female students. 63% of its undergraduates received a scholarship averaging at $53,360, which emphasizes it’s commitment of upliftment of its’ student community. Some of the notable alumni include former Secretary General of United Nations Kofi Annan, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard Carly Fiorina, former Ford CEO Alan Mulally etc. It’s tuition fees is $53,082. Freshmen are required to live on campus, and almost 70% of the undergraduates stay on campus. Known for it’s entrepreneurial network, MIT entrepreneurs are estimated to generate $2 trillion in revenue, which is greater than the GDP of the 10th largest country in the world.
3. University of California, Berkeley: A public institution, which was established in 1868, situated overlooking the San Francisco cove. Its undergraduate enlistment is 31,680 and grounds size is 1232 sections of land. It uses a semester based calendar. Haas School of Business, set up in 1898, with a blessing from Flora Jana Flood is the second most seasoned business college in the USA. Haas has four characterizing standards: Question the Status Quo, Confidence without Attitude, Students Always, and Beyond Yourself. It offers the degree in numerous arrangements, zeroing in on broad administration, business and technopreneurship. It is home to probably the most celebrated clubs(1000 altogether) and faculties. Outstanding alumni incorporate Richard Blum, Shantanu Narayen, Bob Lutz, Paul Otellini and so on. It has an acceptance rate of 17%. A large portion of the candidates admitted had a SAT score between 1310 to 1530. The understudy staff proportion is 19:1 with 52.9% of its classes obliging under 20 students. The average freshman retention rate is 97%. Distribution is 46% male and 54% female students. 27% decide to remain on campus while 73% pick to remain off campus. 44% of the students get some type of need based monetary guide, which midpoints to $22,420. The university is known to have an extremely high research yield. Seven of the current Haas resources have Noble Prizes.
4. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor: Publicly founded in 1817, with a campus size of 3,207 acres and an urban setting. The total undergraduate enrollment is 31,266 with a total of 50% male students and 50% female students. It utilizes a trimester based academic calendar. The Ross School of Business, fondly called Michigan Ross, believes in the philosophy of “Learning by Doing” which is called Ross Experiences in Action Based Learning, acronym for REAL. University boasts of Ann Arbor, a 45 minutes drive from Detroit, as one of the best college towns in USA. Athletics play a major role in the University, also noteworthy is it’s fierce football rivalry with Ohio State University. They possess the second largest football stadium in the world. Football Saturdays are a real thing here with students getting dressed in maize and blue from head to toe. It has an acceptance rate of 23%. Half the applicants admitted had a SAT score between 1340 to 1530. The student-faculty ratio is 15:1 and 55% of it’s classes operate with fewer than 20 students. The average freshman retention rate is 97%. 31% of the undergrads preferred to stay on-campus. 39% of the full time undergraduates received some kind of need-based financial aid, and the average need based scholarship or grant award is $21,665. Stephen M. Ross, the largest donor of University of Michigan, with lifetime donations of $378 Million, has his name on the board. Bharat Desai, Rick Snyder, Jerry White and Gary Hamel are the other notable alumni.
5. New York University: Privately owned, established in 1831, NYU is a true city school. Located in the Greenwich village neighborhood of Manhattan. With college buildings spread with a view of Manhattan, there are no separate distinctions between the college buildings and the streets. The total undergraduate enrollment is 26,981 with 42% male and 58% female students. It doesn’t have a very active Greek life with roughly 30 sororities and fraternity chapters. NYU Stern, the highly prestigious business school, believes in removing the walls, the wall of separation between the classroom and the real world of endless opportunities. NYU Stern embodies students from 150 countries, and prides itself into being a college with no ethnical majority. It has a highly selective acceptance rate of 16%. Half the applicants had SAT scores between 1350 and 1530. The student-faculty ratio is 9:1 and the school has 60% of its’ classes with less than 20 students. Henry Kaufmann, Robert Greifeld, Thomas Dooley, Ken Langone, Lorenzo Fertitta, Nomi Prins etc.
6. University of Texas at Austin: With a campus size of 437 acres and an urban setting in Austin, the university was established in 1883. There are 40,163 undergraduate students, 46 percent of whom are male and 54 percent of whom are female. The academic calendar is based on semesters. The McCombs School of Business believes in maintaining a long-term relationship with its alumni and students. The college's mission is to promote creative thinking. It has a higher acceptance rate of 32% as compared to those in the category. The SAT scores of half of the admitted students ranged from 1230 to 1480. The student-to-faculty ratio is 18:1, with 37% of classes having less than 20 students. The overall retention rate for freshmen is 95%. Staying on campus was desired by 18% of undergrads. Freshmen are not required to live on campus. The average need-based scholarship or grant award is $9,343, and 40% of full-time undergraduates accepted some kind of need-based financial aid. The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, one of fourteen presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration, is established at the university. It contains 45 million pages from President Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency. Some of the Notable Alumni include Peter Coneway, Kovid Mehta, Donald Evans, Nate Paul and Mehmet Kutman.
7. Carnegie Mellon University: Carnegie Mellon University, a private university in Pittsburgh founded by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The average expense of tuition and fees is $58,924. The academic calendar is based on semesters. Only freshmen are required to live on campus, but the university provides accommodation for all students during their academic careers, and the vast majority of students prefer to do so. Greek life on campus is very strong, with over 25 sororities and fraternities accounting for approximately 20% of the total student population. It is undeniably one of the most selective universities in its tier, with a 15% acceptance rate. The admitted students' SAT scores ranged from 1450 to 1560, or an ACT score of 33 to 35. The student-to-faculty ratio is 7:1, and 65.6 percent of the school's classes have fewer than 20 students. Student retention rates of 96 percent show that students are satisfied with their education. 39% of full time undergraduates received some kind of financial aid, with an average of $43,475. Known for it’s qualitative focus, The Tepper School of Business merges Core Business fields like Marketing, Finance etc. to modern upcoming subjects like Predictive Modelling, Quantitative methods etc. Some of the notable Alumni include David Tepper, Francisco D’Souza, Dina Dublon, Paul Allaire, Allen Newell etc.
8. Cornell University: Privately owned, based in Ithaca, the university was founded in 1865 with a campus size of 745 Acres. Its’ setting is rural and has a semester based academic calendar. The total undergraduate enrollment is 15,043 with a total of 46% male students and 54% female students. It utilizes a semester based academic calendar. The university boasts off one of the largest Greek systems with more than 60 fraternity and sorority chapters and more than 1000 Student organizations ranging from Big Red Marching band to International Affairs Society. One of Cornell’s age old tradition is Dragon day, where a dragon built by Architecture students is paraded around the campus and then is lit on fire in the arts quad. It has an acceptance rate of 11%. Half the applicants admitted had a SAT score between 1400 to 1560. The student-faculty, ratio is 9:1 and 56% of it’s classes operate with fewer than 20 students. The average freshman retention rate is 97%. 50% of the undergrads preferred to stay on-campus. 47% of the full time undergraduates received some kind of need-based financial aid, and the average need based scholarship or grant award is $44,026. The SC Johnson Graduate School of Business, boasts of some notable alumni in John Hillen, Daniel R. Hesse, Jim Bridenstine, Mark Bertolini etc. The college describes itself as an academic powerhouse of incredible scale. I don’t think anybody can disagree either!
9. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Founded in 1789 and publicly owned, the university has a campus size of 729 Acres. It’s setting is suburban. It utilizes a semester based academic calendar. The university offers a wide range of student activities. It has a thriving Greek life with almost 20% people a part of it. Chapel hill, which adjoins the University, is one of the liveliest college towns in the country. Almost half the undergrads live on campus. North Carolina Tart Heels, Men’s Basketball team, shares a strong rivalry with Duke University. Former players of this team include Michael Jordon and Vince Carter. The college has a acceptance rate of 23%. Half the applicants admitted scored between 1300 to 1490 on SAT. The student-faculty ratio is 14:1 with 40% of the classes being operated with less than 20 students. The average freshman retention rate is 97%. Of the total 20,000 students, 41% are male while 59% are females. Belk College of Business emphasizes on integrity, knowledge and innovation, excellence, diversity and global citizenship.
10. University of Virginia: Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, it is located in Charlottesville. As you go into the campus, it is widely called Mr. Jefferson’s University. Its’ setting is suburban and has a semester based academic calendar. The total undergraduate enrollment is 17,011 with a total of 46% male students and 54% female students. It utilizes a semester based academic calendar. Only the first year students are required to live on campus. The university boasts of a thriving Greek life and every 1 in 4 individuals are a part of it. The college Lingo can get you off the track but once you get into it, you start appreciating the uniqueness. It has an acceptance rate of 24%. Half the applicants admitted had a SAT score between 1340 to 1520. The student- faculty ratio is 14:1 and 56% of it’s classes operate with fewer than 20 students. The average freshman retention rate is 97%. 50% of the undergrads preferred to stay on-campus. 47% of the full time undergraduates received some kind of need-based financial aid, and the average need based scholarship or grant award is $24,726. The Darden School of Business, aims to empower leaders with the most innovative thinking in Business and Education. Mark Sanford, Steven S. Reinemund, John Strangfeld, George David, Robert Citrone, Mark B. Templeton, William Hawkins etc.