Which Business School Students Have the Top GMAT Scores?
A strong GMAT score is essential to a stellar business school application. Though the score is universally important to admission, certain schools emphasize a high score on the test more than others. Below, we’ve laid out a list of the 10 business schools with the top GMAT scores for incoming students.
LeBronomics: UCLA Professor Explains What to Expect in Los Angeles
When basketball ultra-star LeBron James inked his new deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, it was more than just a big move for him and fans: it was a big move for the Los Angeles economy. That’s because a star such as James can create a significant financial imprint in any city he plays, according to a study co-authored by Harvard University Associate Professor Daniel Shoag and Stan Veuger of the American Enterprise Institute.
The LeBron James Effect
“James has a statistically and economically significant positive effect on both the number of restaurants and other eating and drinking establishments near the stadium where he is based, and on aggregate employment at those establishments,” the study explains. “Specifically, his presence increases the number of such establishments within one mile of the stadium by about 13 percent, and employment by about 23.5 percent.”
It’s easy to see the difference that James’ presence can make when you take a look at the course of his career. He spent the first seven years in Cleveland, left for Miami for four years, and then returned to Cleveland in 2014, and there’s a definitive impact to the economy each time. Specifically, the effects were felt most strongly within one mile of the arena, but even within seven miles, a difference was still obvious.
As a quick example, the study put together two charts showing the number of restaurants within a one-mile radius of the stadium in both Miami and Cleveland during his presence and without.
Note: The figure shows the number of restaurants within one mile of the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland for each year between 2006 and 2016. LeBron James left Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010 and rejoined in 2014. The horizontal line represents the average number of restaurants within one mile of the stadium before 2010.
Note: The figure shows the number of restaurants within one mile of the American Airlines Arena in Miami for each year between 2006 and 2016. LeBron James joined Miami Heats in 2010 and left in 2014. The horizontal line represents the average number of restaurants within one mile of the stadium before 2010.
So, based on all this information, what can Los Angeles expect from the James effect? We talked to Jay Tucker, the executive director for the Center of Management of Enterprise Media, Entertainment, & Sports (MEMES) at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, to get his opinion. With more than 20 years of experience in the sector, Tucker was able to offer a detailed look at James and the Los Angeles economy.
The LeBron James Effect In Los Angeles
“Selfishly, I’m excited that he’s coming,” Tucker starts out. “LeBron James is a generational athlete. He’s also a champion of social causes and a shrewd businessman. His arrival will create many opportunities for Los Angeles.” Those opportunities range from easily quantifiable variables such as more local restaurants and bars to less easily definable improvements that could cover everything from better public transport to increased merchandising and new business interests.
In general, Tucker sees Los Angeles as an excellent location for James because of the city itself and the team. LA, being more spread out and without a major city center, could gain even more restaurants, bars, and hangouts than other cities. Part of the reason is because Los Angelenos are already used to driving long distances to get to games at the Staples Center.
At the same time, the Lakers have a solid brand identity that is tied very closely to the city. This will make it even easier for LeBron James to create an impact because Lakers’ fans are already ready and willing to show support for their team. The truth of the matter is that Lakers game attendance is already impressive without James, with James it will only grow.
In addition, Tucker sees many opportunities for LeBron James on the business side. “LeBron has a lot of business interests, and there’s a good possibility that he’ll bring many of those interests here to LA,” Tucker said. “Who knows what the impact could be if LeBron invests in a local talent agency or line of entertainment. There are a ton of opportunities for him to plug into the LA ecosystem and be a part of Silicon Beach, so it will be interesting to see what happens business-wise. It’s really hard to imagine someone as smart, talented, and driven as James sitting back and playing basketball without getting involved in what the rest of LA is doing.”
As for downstream effects that Tucker expects, they’re difficult to quantify but could cover a wide range. For example, studies have shown that successful sports teams improve city moral. Then there’s the fact that as more fans try to attend Lakers games from around the city, there will be a higher demand for public transportation, which could encourage updated infrastructure.
However, Tucker does warn that Los Angeles can’t just sit back and rest on its laurels if the city wants to gain the full economic impact of James. Just as the city already offers packages for individuals looking to visit all the theme parks—Six Flags, Disneyland, Universal Studios, Sea World—the city should also look into creating Lakers’ game packages. This would be a great way to partner with different initiatives around LA and bring in outside visitors.
“With respect to LeBron’s larger business interest, the Chamber of Commerce should get involved as well,” Tucker says. “It would be smart to get the team into meetings to talk about the unique business opportunities in the area.”
What MBA Students Can Learn From LeBron James
Lastly, we asked Tucker what MBA students should take away from the James effect and his overall career. One of the first things he pointed out was James’ positive reputation.
“We live in an era where the media is at your fingertips 24/7,” Tucker says. “And one of the most interesting things about James is that in an environment where anything you do for good or ill can be tweeted out, he’s managed to maintain an image of someone who is socially responsible, who handles himself professionally, and who is a family man. That is something that many people fail to do.”
In addition, Tucker feels that students should pay attention to James’ ability to be multi-faceted. Not only is he deeply invested in his basketball career, but he also has business interests, social interests, and more. James does well on and off the court.
“There’s plenty to learn from his life examples and experience,” Tucker explains. “Some of what can be learned is based on his personal choices, but it’s also about the larger environment he’s in and the scope of opportunities he represents.”
How to Find Your Role with Healthcare Giant McKesson
Since 1833, McKesson has been one of America’s most successful companies, known for its world-class health care systems including medical supplies, pharmaceutical products, medical technology, and care management tools.
Founded in New York City and now headquartered in San Francisco, CA, McKesson is a Fortune Global 500 company with the fifth highest revenue in the U.S. In 2017, the company generated $198.5 billion in revenue through its extensive network infrastructure in the health care industry. Continue reading…
USC Marshall Recognizes Alumni Success, and More – Los Angeles News
We’ve rounded up the top stories coming out of business schools in the Los Angeles metro this week.
Marshall Represents! – USC Marshall Newsroom
Graduates from the Marshall School of Business at USC have reason to celebrate this week, with the release of the Los Angeles Business Journal’s feature, “20 in their 20s,” which heavily features USC Marshall alumni. Nearly half of the list (9 out of 20) have ties to USC Marshall, and several used the feature to call out their most inspiring faculty mentors from the university, such as assistant and associate professors of clinical entrepreneurship, Tommy Knap and Greg Autry.
The list profiles young entrepreneurs already making an impact in their community, though the nature of their work can run the gamut. The organizations and products these entrepreneurs represent include real estate, fitness gear, home furnishings, and more. Laura Hertz, who encountered challenges throughout her career as a result of both age and gender, turned a Marshall class project into an agent for real change with her business gifting company, Gifts for Good.
“I tell [investors] that some of the most disruptive founders in history have been people in their ’20s with no industry knowledge—think Amazon, Airbnb, Uber,” Hertz commented.
Read more about the young Marshall entrepreneurs making an impact here.
Chapman Hosts First Shadow Open Market Committee Conference Towards the West Coast – Chapman University Newsroom
This summer, the Argyros School of Business at Chapman University served as host of the first-ever West Coast conference for the Shadow Open Market Committee. Created in 1973, the SOMC has met annually to discuss issues surrounding the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee. For the past 45 years, this conference has gathered distinguished monetary economists from both academia and private institutions in New York or Washington DC. This summer, the organization chose Chapman University as the location for its West Coast debut.
“They are very busy people and famous in the economics and finance world so we are very honored that the SOMC chose Chapman for their first meeting outside of the East Coast,” commented Argyros professor and conference organizer Marc Weidenmier. This year’s conference theme was “The Fed’s Return to Normalcy.”
You can read more about the SOMC conference at Chapman University here.
Their Future is Our Business – UCLA Magazine
This week, UCLA Magazine celebrates the Riordan Programs, now in their 31st year at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. Beginning in the early 1980s, the Riordan Programs emerged as a way to counter the unrest plaguing the South Los Angeles Area. Now-retired Anderson professor, William Ouchi, believed that getting more people of color involved in business could help inspire a new professional workforce that had the needs of diverse communities in mind. With the help of philanthropist and eventual mayor of Los Angeles, Richard Riordan, Ouchi put his ideas into motion.
The program offers students from low-income backgrounds resources such as college preparation, career guidance and mentorship. Certain programs even help prepare first-generation college students to apply to MBA programs. For students like Denise Gonzalez-Kim, the program opened opportunities that might have never been available otherwise. “I know that my life could have gone a very different way,” she commented on her childhood in South Los Angeles. Today, Gonzalez-Kim is pursuing her MBA at Anderson, after graduating in 2008 with her B.A.
Read more about the Riordan Programs at UCLA Anderson here.
The California MBA Program Guide
If you’re looking to earn a California MBA, where should you go to school? Should you choose a top MBA program in Los Angeles or San Francisco? Both cities offer beautiful weather, gorgeous beaches, and world-class business education, but is one location better than the other?
Los Angeles vs. San Francisco
To get started, it’s necessary to compare the cost of living in Los Angeles and San Francisco. According to Numbeo, the world’s largest database containing user contributed data about cities, San Francisco is far and away the more expensive place to live. You would need $7,748.24 in San Francisco, CA to afford the same lifestyle that you can have for $5,700 in Los Angeles. That’s just over $2,000 more per month needed to live in San Francisco, and here’s how that’s broken down.
- Consumer Prices:98 percent higher in San Francisco
- Rent Prices: 51 percent higher in San Francisco
- Restaurant Prices: 62 percent higher in San Francisco
- Groceries Cost: 8 percent higher in San Francisco
- Local Purchasing Power: 77 percent higher in San Francisco
Right off the bat, it’s obvious that the cost of rent (real estate) is what will eat up most of your paycheck in San Francisco, but is that offset by anything? Here are the other things to consider when choosing between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
- Industries
- Los Angeles is ranked top in the country for manufacturing with over 500,000 workers in the industry. Other top industries include banking and finance (more than 100 foreign and domestic banks), entertainment, and tourism.
- San Francisco, on the other hand, is known as Silicon Valley (with San Jose) for its technology companies and startups (Intel, Apple, Genentech, Google, Uber, and Twitter). It’s also a great city for finance, global business, medical science, biotechnology, tourism, and fashion apparel (home of the Levi Strauss & Co headquarters).
- Economic Development: According to the Center for Jobs, San Francisco far and away outperforms Los Angeles in terms of economic growth and development with the Bay Area growing year-over-year while LA has struggled with almost consistent decreases.
- Top Companies: California is home to 53 Fortune 500 companies, second only to NYC. And more of those companies are located in the Bay Area compared to Los Angeles. San Francisco is home to Apple (3), McKesson (5), Chevron (19), and Wells Fargo (25). While Los Angeles is home to Aecom (161), CBRE (214), and Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co (320).
Los Angeles vs San Francisco MBA Programs
The next step is to compare the top three MBA programs in each city. In particular, we wanted to take a look at the tuition rates (two years), GMAT averages, and post-graduation salaries at each program in each city to get a well-rounded picture.
There are a few things to note right away.
- San Francisco is home to more highly ranked MBA programs with two ranking in the top ten on every list. However, it’s important to note that both cities have programs that rank well and are considered top tier schools.
- The average tuition in each city is fairly even. However, the most expensive ($137,00) and the most affordable ($77,000) schools are located in San Francisco, whereas Los Angeles is more even regarding tuition across the board.
- You’ll need a better GMAT score to go to a school in San Francisco, and that GMAT score translates into a higher salary after graduation. San Francisco graduates earn about $11,000 more per year compared to their LA counterparts.
Here’s how it all breaks down per school.
Top 3 Los Angeles MBA Programs
Anderson School of Management – UCLA
The UCLA Anderson School of Management offers a full-time MBA, a part-time MBA, an Executive MBA, and a UCLA-NUS Global MBA (Asia Pacific) program. It’s considered one of the top business schools in the world, ranking 6th in the Economist, 15th in Forbes, 16th in the U.S. News & World Report, and 25th in Financial Times.
- Tuition Rates (two years): $117,176
- GMAT Averages: 719
- Post-Grad Salaries (Mean): $119,964
Marshall School of Business – USC
The Marshall School of Business at USC offers a full-time MBA program, a part-time MBA, an Executive MBA, and IBEAR (International Business Education and Research) MBA, and an Online MBA program. The school’s full-time MBA program is ranked: 20th in the U.S. News & World Report, 33rd in Forbes, 59th in Financial Times, and 65th in the Economist.
- Tuition Rates (two years): $116,361
- GMAT Averages: 703
- Post-Grad Salaries (Mean): $115,309
The Paul Merage School of Business – University of California, Irvine
The Paul Merage School of Business has both a full-time MBA program as well as a part-time fully-employed MBA program. In addition, the school offers an Executive MBA and a Health Care Executive MBA program. The business school is ranked highly across multiple rankings including 41st in Forbes, 42nd in the U.S. News & World Report, 56th in the Economist, 64th in Financial Times.
- Tuition Rates (two years): $87,661
- GMAT Averages: 652
- Post-Grad Salaries (Mean): $97,808
Top 3 San Francisco MBA Programs
Haas School of Business – UC Berkeley
The Haas School of Business offers a full-time MBA, part-time MBA, and Executive MBA program. Haas is ranked as one of the top business school’s in the world ranking in the top ten on every list: 7th overall in U.S. News & World Report and 7th overall in the Economist, as well as 9th overall in Forbes, and 10th overall in the Financial Times.
- Tuition Rates (two years): $117,444
- GMAT Averages: 725
- Post-Grad Salaries (Mean): $125,573
Stanford University Graduate School of Business
The Stanford University Graduate School of Business offers only a full-time MBA program, but it’s one of, if not the top two-year program in the world. When looking at how Stanford GSB stacks up to the competition, the rankings speak for themselves with all in the top ten and most in the top five, including: 1st overall in the Financial Times, 2nd overall in Forbes, 4th in the U.S. News & World Report, and 9th in the Economist.
- Tuition Rates (two years): $137,736
- GMAT Averages: 733
- Post-Grad Salaries (Mean): $144,455
UC Davis Graduate School of Management
At the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, MBA applicants can apply to the full-time MBA or the part-time MBA program. Once again, UC Davis is one of the top schools in the world, ranking 37th in the U.S. News & World Report, 63rd in Forbes, and 67th in the Economist.
- Tuition Rates (two years): $77,698
- GMAT Averages: 669
- Post-Grad Salaries (Mean): $97,695
California MBA Breakdown in Charts
When breaking down the data between MBA programs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, here’s what it looks like
California MBA Tuition (Los Angeles vs. San Francisco)
California MBA GMAT Averages
California MBA Post-Graduation Salaries
How Much Do Trade Wars Matter for Business Owners? – Los Angeles News
Happy Friday! And for our U.S. readers, happy (soon) Memorial Day weekend! Check up on the latest business news stories coming out of the Los Angeles metro this week.
Survey Finds Trade Wars Do Not Rattle Business Owner Confidence – SC Now
A recent report published in part by the Pepperdine Private Capital Market Project at the Pepperdine Graziado Business School finds business brokers optimistic about the M&A market in 2018, even during a time of economic uncertainty throughout the country.
Since the early May announcement that President Trump would be delaying steel and aluminium tariffs, many throughout the country have been preparing for a trade war. However, the Q1 Market Pulse Report, put out by the Pepperdine Private Capital Market Project, M&A Source, and the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA), finds a majority of advisers unconcerned about any impact the tariffs might have on business. According to the report, 86 percent of advisers actually believe business owner confidence is better than where it was a year ago.
“The industry as a whole is keeping a close eye on the tariff situation, but right now we do not see the trade wars impacting buyer confidence,” commented Mike Camerota, the Founder of Touchstone Advisers. “Many businesses are taking a ‘wait and see’ approach as current economic growth could make an increase in raw material pricing tolerable.”
Learn more about the Market Pulse report and the Graziado Business School here.
A Data-Driven Road to Better Public Health – UCLA Anderson Blogs
The Anderson School of Management at UCLA recently took a look at some of the ways their MBA students and graduates are already making big changes in the world. For Arash Nasibi (’14), his work would begin while still an MBA student in his core strategy class with professor Philip Leslie. After a recommendation to search for opportunity in “sleepy niche markets,” Nasibi joined Leslie as a research assistant in the field of restaurant inspection data. Over time, his research evolved into the creation of a nationwide standardized database on food safety inspection.
Eventually, this work would become Hazel Analytics, a data analytics companies that works with restaurants and food retailers focus better on food safety. By the end of 2018, Nasibi expects that at least 100 of the country’s largest food retail brands will be using the technology platform created by his company.
To read more about Nasibi’s work and the work of other Anderson MBA alumni, click here.
The Fastest MBA You Can Earn in Los Angeles – MetroMBA
Yesterday, we highlighted five of the fastest MBA degrees you can earn in the Los Angeles metro, of which include the aforementioned UCLA Anderson School of Management, as well as USC Marshall, which offers a IBEAR MBA program that can be completed in just 12 months.
Find out more about the fastest LA MBA’s here.
