The Best MBA Networks for Alumni

An analysis of the top 10 business schools in the US according to Bloomberg Businessweek reveals that the size and dominant employers are the two distinguishing factors when assessing the best MBA networks for alumni.

 

When looking at the MBA networks of the top ten business schools in their 2012 Best US Business Schools Ranking, Businessweek found that that out of the available statistics, the Harvard MBA network outshone all others in terms of numbers:

 

•    Harvard Business School: 77,778 MBA alumni

•    Stanford University Graduate School of Business: 17,620 MBA alumni

•    Duke University's Fuqua School of Business: 15,605 MBA alumni,

•    Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management: 13,693 MBA alumni

•    MIT's Sloan School of Management: 11,554 MBA alumni,

•    University of Virginia's Darden School of Business: 10,358 MBA alumni.

 

MBA networks can be a very important attraction when selecting a potential MBA program to apply to - with potential career enhancing benefits coming in the form of advice, recommendations to future employers, even funding and partnerships.

 

 

However, it's not necessarily a purely numbers game - if one business school has alumni working in a particular sector, or even an employer that you'd like to eventually work for, then that could prove to be the best MBA network for you.

 

Businessweek found that, of the MBA networks they analysed on LinkedIn, perhaps unsurprisingly the majority were working in the finance sector. But there were some exceptions:

 

•    The highest proportion of Kellogg School of Management alumni were working in the marketing sector.

•    At MIT Sloan, operations, business development, and finance were all found to be equally prominent for alumni.

 

In terms of dominant employers, the business school's MBA networks appear to be quite different.

 

McKinsey appears to be the most dominant employer at the business schools analysed, appearing in the top three for six of the ten schools. Meanwhile, Businessweek found that technology companies such as Google, Cisco Systems, Microsoft and IBM were big features in the MBA networks at Stanford, Kellogg, Darden, Duke, Cornell, and MIT.