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M7 Class Profile (Class of 2025)
Here is an overview of M7 Business School class profile (Class of 2025) that provides a comparison of key statistics across the top seven business schools (Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Chicago, Kellogg, MIT, and Columbia). Having attended Columbia, I added my personal commentary on how I think about each attributes based on my experience. Hope you find it helpful!
Here’s a summary of the data:
Class Size: Harvard has the largest class (938 students), while MIT has the smallest (409 students). The average class size is 674. Having personally attended Columbia which is the second largest with ~900 students, it was great to meet people from all walks of life.
Average Work Experience: All schools have an average of 5 years of work experience among students. Most of my friends had 3-7 years of experience. I'd personally advocate attending business school as soon as possible given the huge pay gap (4x for me).
Average GPA: GPAs range from 3.5 (Columbia) to 3.8 (Stanford), with an overall average of 3.6. Anecdotally, a lot of my friends at CBS had low 3 GPAs, some with GPAs as low as 2.X. It made me think adcoms don't put too much emphasis into GPA and there are ways to overcome if you didn't do well in undergrad.
Average GMAT Score: Scores vary between 728 (Wharton) and 740 (Harvard), with an average of 732. Compared to GPA, my impression was that schools do care about GMAT. I had rarely seen people with 600s GPA. It was common some of my international friends having 750+ GMAT scores.
Average GRE Score: The GRE score ranges from 324 (Wharton) to 328 (Stanford), averaging 326. Having personally taken the GMAT, GRE isn't my domain of expertise. There were only a couple of people who took GRE, mostly because they didn't score too well on GMAT. If you are having a hard time with GMAT, GRE is a great alternative.
Gender Distribution: Women make up 42% to 50% of the class, averaging 46%. CBS was really diverse in terms of gender and ethnicity. It truly felt like a place where everyone, regardless of their background, was welcomed and treated with respect.
International Students: The percentage of international students varies from 31% (Wharton) to 47% (Columbia), with an average of 38%. Personally, it felt like we had more international students in my cluster than domestic. However, a lot of them were fluent in English (born and raised in English English-speaking country or have lived there temporarily). If English isn't your first language, it's likely that you will face some difficulties in social settings, but not as much academically.
How Much Do MBAs Make? (Class of 2023)
This table provides a snapshot of compensation and job offer data for the Class of 2023 from M7 business schools, based on data from school websites. Here are the key takeaways:\
Median Salary: The average salary across the M7 schools is $176K. Stanford GSB has the highest median salary at $183K, while MIT Sloan reports the lowest at $170K. Although there is some variability between schools, it's worth noting that the range is very narrow. The same applies when you look at T15, with most schools' median compensation being $175K. If you are focused on ROI, this is something to consider when you decide on a school.
Median Signing Bonus: The average signing bonus is $31K. The amount differs by job, but Investment Banks provide ~$60K and consulting firms provide less, around ~$30K. Among Investment Banks, boutiques (i.e., Evercore, Moelies, PJT, etc) tend to pay higher signing bonus.
Median Performance Bonus: Not all schools provide the data and performance bonus varies too much by profession, so it is hard to make a generalization here. From what I've seen, Investment Banks pay the most, followed by Tech and Consulting.
Total Compensation: The total compensation, including salary and bonus, averages to $200K, excluding performance bonus. Including a performance bonus, an average M7 MBA grad will make north of $225K. Therefore, it's fair to consider $225K as a hurdle when you calculate ROI/opportunity cost.
*Job Offers within 3 Months: On average, 91% of M7 graduates receive job offers within three months of graduation. Most of the offers are given after summer internships, so the majority of students go into the second year with an offer under their belt. However, it wasn't uncommon to see students recruiting during the second year, especially for Tech where an offer isn't common post internship. From what I've observed, it's safe to say that you will most likely end up with a well-paying job offer somewhere, as long as you put in the effort and hours to network and prepare for interviews.\