In the US, the largest percentage increase in recruiter score between 1997 and 1999 was recorded by Emory which has transformed itself into a highly international MBA programme and has also benefited from the increased profile of Atlanta, following the Olympics. Babson College has also sprung to fame because of its highly regarded Entrepreneurship Department. Darden and Georgetown have also recorded impressive improvements in 1999, based on a firm commitment to internationalise their programmes. The only schools to record a decline in their recruiter score were Stanford and Berkeley, due largely to their exposure to the Asia crisis in 1998 and a resultant significant fall in recruiting activity. The University of Wisconsin-Madison dropped out of this top set of schools.
Recruiters continue to actively recruit from many more schools than in previous years.
Other schools have grown in popularity as many companies, especially in industry, have looked elsewhere. In Europe, schools like Bocconi, Cambridge, City, Cranfield, IMD, Imperial, IESE, Nijenrode, Rotterdam, Strathclyde and Warwick have all again done well. This top selection of European schools has been joined by the MBA programmes at Oxford University, Bath University and Edinburgh University, for the first time. This is particularly true for the Investment Banking industry, but also for a variety of industrial and consulting organisations. For the first time in many years, we have also seen some consolidation in the European MBA arena.