HBS Gets Ranked Eighth in Poll

Harvard Business School (HBS), usually touted as one of the top business programs in the nation, received an eighth-place place ranking from the Wall Street Journal in a poll released Monday. The study cited a lack of "humility" and poor teamwork skills as major flaws of HBS graduates.

Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business finished first, followed by Carnegie-Mellon and Yale Universities. In addition, the business programs of the Universtiy of Michigan, Northwestern and Purdue Universities, and the University of Chicago all finished above Harvard.

HBS officials refused to comment on the rankings yesterday.

HBS students, however, were less reticent.

Many declared themselves shocked to find that the institution, often viewed as the gold standard of business schools, had fared so poorly. However, they were quick to play down the significance of the findings.

"It doesn't really change things, as Harvard Business School still has a superb general management program and a great reputation," said Michael Shangkuan, a second-year HBS student. "These rankings need to be taken with a pinch of salt."

Nayantara Hensel '97, a first-year student, said she agreed.

"There are so many different dimensions to evaluate. One should not judge a school entirely by its ratings," she said.

The poll was explicit in its criticism of Harvard. While acknowledging Harvard's outstanding academic reputation and teaching quality, the report said that Harvard achieved "very low scores in terms of meeting companies' needs in terms of...overall value for the money invested in the recruiting effort."

The report advised HBS to "teach better team and interpersonal skills" and "instill humility."

But Aman Verjee, a seond-year HBS student, said Harvard students' infamous arrogance could be viewed as a strength as well as an "Achilles' heel."

"It means that students here are confident enough to start their own companies, take risks with their careers that graduates of other schools don't, and on the whole achieve things that are remarkable," he said.