The top MBA programs offer you the best starting salaries upon graduation–if you can get in. You’ll need to have good undergraduate grades and nail the GMAT. Typically, the top MBA programs are some combination of Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, Dartmouth, NYU, Chicago, Duke, Northwestern, Wharton (U Penn), and UC Berkeley. While there is some discussion about the ROI on the top programs versus middle-tier programs, the top MBA programs simply open more doors and provide a better network.

There are a few different rankings out there that offer slightly different results–check out our MBA Rankings page for more information on the different rankings systems.