Blog

MBA admissions committees try to identify applicants who are constantly active, challenging themselves in all spheres of their lives. As a result, extracurricular and community activities are not only powerful in showing an MBA candidate’s benevolence, but they also help create the impression that the applicant is steadily pursuing goals and is therefore predisposed to success.

With many MBAs actively engaged in job searching right now, we are fielding a lot of questions about how to be more effective in that search. One key element is knowing how to talk about yourself, including responding effectively to the prompt “Tell me about yourself” in both casual networking and formal interview settings. 

The Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) remains at the top of the Bloomberg Businessweek ranking of best business schools within the United States for the seventh year in a row. While the 2025–2026 ranking was perhaps unsurprising in that regard, the rest of the top ten saw some changes. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania was ranked second this year, up five spots from the 2024–2025 ranking. The Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, had one of the most notable leaps of the year, from 14th in 2024–2025 to third this year. The top five is rounded out by Harvard Business School and the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, which were sixth and third last year, respectively.

Bloomberg Businessweek uses five criteria for its rankings, three of which—Learning, Entrepreneurship, and Networking—are based on survey responses from students. The other two criteria—Compensation and Inclusion—are based on such school-specific data as median salaries, bonus compensation, race and ethnicity, and gender.

Stanford GSB was ranked first for Networking and Entrepreneurship, second for Compensation, and 32nd for Inclusion. Wharton, which stands at second overall, was ranked first in Compensation. Interestingly, the school that was ranked first in Inclusion, the George Washington University School of Business, received a relatively low overall ranking at 56th. Similarly, the top three schools for Learning, where Stanford GSB was ranked seventh, stand outside the top 20 overall: the Mason School of Business at William and Mary, the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia, and the Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University were ranked 36th, 23rd, and 35th, respectively, overall.

Now is the time to get ready for the HBS admissions interview, which is crucial step in your application process. mbaMission’s Devi Vallabhaneni, a Harvard Business School graduate and former HBS MBA interviewer, has more than 20 years of experience in MBA admissions and readiness. She has conducted thousands of real and mock HBS interviews with candidates across all industries, geographies, and backgrounds and with a wide range of personal stories. As mbaMission’s Managing Director and HBS Interviewer in Residence, she works directly with applicants on their business school applications. In the next two sections, Devi shares some of her insights on the HBS interview, then offers some of her best tips for performing your best.

Optimizing your LinkedIn presence requires gaining visibility among your target audience. As you create content for the platform, ask yourself, “Why would people follow me? What is my edge? What do I want to be known for?” 

Here are some simple ways to attract attention to your LinkedIn content.