Launched in December 2023, the 360° Ranking offers MBA candidates the chance to design their own ranking using data from top ranking sources and Unimy’s own cultural fit test.
The 360° Ranking offers candidates the opportunity to consider what matters most to them when choosing their MBA degree.
The idea behind the new tool is the same as all of the tools on Unimy’s platform: they are free to use; they help MBA candidates to personalise their journey and choices; and they provide accurate insights about business school programmes, even if a candidate and a school are on opposite sides of the planet.
The power of personalised rankings
Rankings remain of huge importance to MBA candidates and business schools alike, but many also question the extent of their usefulness. (Read about why you shouldn’t exclusively rely on rankings to make your business school choice.)
With conflicting and ever-changing lists, political jostling, and somewhat questionable or mysterious methodologies, certain MBA rankings have come in for some criticism over previous years. Covid-19 also had its impact with top-ranking schools opting out of the major rankings at the time (read more).
However, what is also clear is that candidates need some kind of system to understand the competitive value of their prospective MBA. While Rankings may not be perfectly objective, they do reveal something important and they certainly have an impact on the MBA industry.
This is why the idea behind the Unimy 360° Ranking is to take the best of rankings’ data and let the user choose which part of it matters to them. This “meta” version of a ranking reorganises the result around the needs and desires of the MBA candidate. After all, every candidate is unique.
How the 360° Ranking works
What matters most to you when choosing your MBA? Are you primarily aiming to earn significantly more, or perhaps your mind is on how internationally diverse your classroom and faculty will be? The 360° Ranking allows you to choose between such factors.
A candidate is invited to consider which matters to them out of:
- Career outcomes
- Diversity
- Academic credentials of faculty
- High acceptance rate
- Low acceptance rate
- Cultural fit between school and candidate
A personal ranking of the top 100 business schools is then produced that takes into account the candidate’s preferences. It combines data from the Financial Times and US News’ Rankings, as well as the candidate’s answers to the cultural fit questions, should they choose to include the cultural insights from Unimy’s Cultural Fit Index.
The cultural factor in business school selection
An optional part of the 360° Ranking, the Cultural Fit Index is Unimy’s tool to find a fit between the candidate’s personality and preferences and a school’s environment and community. It’s a powerful tool in itself built on in-depth research including over 5,100 survey responses from 173 business schools across the world. Using principles from organisational psychology and sociology, it allows candidates to measure how well they fit with a school’s culture.
That is if a candidate desires to consider cultural fit as part of their MBA search! The essence of the 360° Ranking is that it responds entirely to the preferences and ambitions of the candidate. In time, interesting insights about what candidates want may arise as more users make the most of the free tool.
