2021 In Review: Poets&Quants’ 10 Most-Read Undergrad Stories Of 2021

8. Business Schools Where Students Get Their Desired Jobs

If college is about launching a student’s career, then business schools that help students land jobs in their preferred industries should be in the highest demand. 

As part of the annual Poets&Quants’ Best Undergraduate Business School Ranking, we ask recent alumni if their first jobs after graduation were in a desired industry and if they were at a desired company. While recent graduates told us they were landing desired jobs in preferred industries, some schools did better than others. But it might not be the schools you expect. 

Click the link above to see the full ranking. 

Top consulting firm logos

7. Top 50 consulting firms to work for in 2021  

It should come as no surprise that the big three consulting firms – McKinsey, BCG and Bain – again topped the Vault Consulting 50, the gold standard ranking of the industry. Together, the three firms have their own acronym: MBB. 

The only surprise is which of the firms would come out on top. The list also showcases some lesser known but prestigious firms aspiring consultants should look at in the coming year. 

Vault’s annual ranking typically rolls out in August but was pushed back to January this year. Think of it as a “State of the Industry” assessment of roughly 130 consulting firms in which consultants score employers and competitors on a variety of measures using a 10-point scale (with a 10 being exceptional). 

Our coverage of the Vault Consulting 50 includes in-depth analysis on how the MBB landed where they did, a ranking of boutique firms, and a look ahead to 2022.

Students from New York University’s Stern School of Business

6. Business Schools With The Best College Experience  

What makes the most memorable college experience? Ask most students, and they’ll tell you that the best moments take place outside of the classroom. 

As part of the annual P&Q alumni survey, we ask recent graduates if they had a  signature experience – “project work, simulations, global immersion, experiential learning, senior thesis, or capstone project” – or an impactful international experience as part of their time at business school. The average responses from those two questions combine for our experience ranking. 

“The study abroad/global immersion program at The University of Minnesota was imperative to my business education,” a 2018 Carlson graduate said in the alumni survey. “Requiring that students have a global immersion experience is the much-needed push students need to grow. Experiencing other cultures, business practices, and ways of life is vital to one’s education. In my case, studying at Hitotsubashi University, Japan was the single most defining moment of my business education. Studying at Hitotsubashi University was what gave me the soft skills that are vital to succeed in the workplace and in life.”

Read the full story to see which schools came out on top, and which schools definitely didn’t, for best college experience. 

5. Acceptance Rates At The Top Undergraduate Business Schools 

Every aspiring student to a top-ranked business school starts their journey with the same question: What are my chances of getting in?

That question led many students and founders to our analysis of B-school acceptance rates. 

Each year as part of our Best Undergraduate Business Schools ranking, we ask schools to report their latest acceptance rate data. This data is specific to the business school and doesn’t include students applying to other majors. Across all 93 schools to be ranked this year, the average acceptance rate was 51.88%. That’s up a bit from last year’s average of 47.06%. Some 18 schools this year had acceptance rates lower than 25%.