The only business schools worth going to if you want a job in investment banking
The Financial Times' 2011 business schools ranking is out. London Business School and Wharton are joint first, nowhere ranks second, Harvard is third, and INSEAD and Stanford are joint fourth.
You can see the ranking in its entirety here.
If you're planning to use an MBA as a mechanism to launch yourself into investment banking, should you take any notice of this kind of ranking?
Yes.
The schools at the top of the list correspond fairly accurately to the schools banks hire from.
"In Europe, we really only focus on a few schools," says the head of recruitment at one international bank. "We go to LBS, INSEAD and IESE." (IESE ranks 9th on the FT list.)
"We also go to the top US schools like Wharton and Harvard," he adds.
The head of graduate recruitment at US investment bank confirms the pre-eminence of LBS and INSEAD in Europe. "It's a numbers game: we don't have time to go places like Cranfield, Judge and Said," she says. "We just tend to hire from those two."
A two year course is imperative
Banks struggle to recruit from most UK business schools because their MBA courses last for less than a year and therefore don't allow students to undertake an internship.
This is the case, for example, at Judge and Said.
INSEAD's course only lasts 10 months. However, if you join the January intake, you will have two months off in the summer, during which you can take an internship. If you join the September intake, you won't.
Internships are imperative because most banks recruit full time MBA hires after trialling them for 2 months in the summer.
Emerging markets business schools are not ideal for European entry
The other notable thing about this year's FT ranking, is the dramatic ascension of business schools in China and India.
Hong Kong UST Business School now ranks 6th; the Indian Institute of Management now ranks 11th.
Is it worth going to these schools if you want to work in investment banking?
Probably not. Or at least - probably not if you want to work in London.
Restrictions on visas for non EU hires mean banks' MBA recruiters are focusing their attention on schools populated predominantly by EU nationals, plus top MBA schools in the US.
"Given the visa situation, it's pretty much impossible to hire anyone from outside the EU," says one recruiter.
"We haven't made it to Hong Kong UST," says another. "We tend to focus on hiring from schools which are easily accessible."
