University of California, Berkeley – Haas School of Business
Full-time MBA program – LOR Prompts
We require two letters of recommendation and prefer that at least one come from a current employer. Select individuals with whom you have had considerable professional interaction, such as your supervisor or a major client. The title or status of those you select is not important. What does matter is how closely your letter writers have worked with you and whether they can attest to your value as an employee, your professional accomplishments, and your personal qualities and interpersonal skills in an organizational context.
For this reason, we strongly discourage academic references.
Letters of recommendation from co-workers, someone you have supervised, relatives, or personal and family friends are inappropriate and can be detrimental to the review of your application.
- Please provide a brief description of your interaction with the applicant and, if applicable, the applicant’s role in your organization.
- How does the applicant’s performance compare to that of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? Please provide specific examples. (E.g. what are the applicant’s principal strengths?)
- Describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response.
- In the Berkeley MBA program, we develop leaders who embody our distinctive culture’s four key principles one of which is “confidence without attitude” or “confidence with humility.” Please comment on how the applicant reflects this Berkeley-Haas value.
- (Optional) Is there anything else we should know?
Please give us your appraisal of the applicant in terms of the traits listed below. Compare the applicant with others whom you know have applied to business school or with individuals who are being groomed for leadership positions within your organization. It should be extremely rare for any candidate to receive “truly exceptional” in all areas.
2015 Rank | School | 2014 Rank | 2012 Rank | 2010 Rank | 2008 Rank | 2006 Rank | 2004 Rank | 2002 Rank | 2000 Rank | 1998 Rank | 1996 Rank | 1994 Rank | 1992 Rank | 1990 Rank | 1988 Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Harvard Business School | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
2 | Chicago Booth | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
3 | Northwestern Kellogg | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
4 | MIT Sloan | 14 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 15 |
5 | The Wharton School | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
6 | Columbia Business School | 5 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 14 |
7 | Stanford GSB | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 9 |
8 | Duke Fuqua | 1 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 10 |
9 | UC Berkeley Haas | 19 | 14 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 17 | 13 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 17 |
10 | Michigan Ross | 9 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 6 |
11 | Yale SOM | 6 | 21 | 21 | 24 | 19 | 22 | 14 | 19 | 20 | 22 | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | 19 |
12 | Virginia Darden | 20 | 10 | 11 | 16 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 7 |
13 | UCLA Anderson | 11 | 18 | 17 | 14 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 16 | 10 | 16 |
14 | Dartmouth Tuck | 15 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 3 |
15 | Emory Goizueta | 18 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 20 | 22 | 28 | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. |
16 | Cornell Johnson | 13 | 7 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 5 |
17 | UNC Kenan-Flagler | 12 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 18 | 15 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 10 | 12 | 8 |
18 | Carnegie Mellon Tepper | 10 | 11 | 15 | 19 | 16 | 15 | 19 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 14 | 17 | 9 | 13 |
19 | Rice Jones | 25 | 34 | 29 | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. |
20 | Washington Foster | 37 | 37 | 31 | 27 | N.A. | 23 | 24 | 23 | 17 | 17 | N.A. | 20 | N.A. | N.A. |
21 | Austin McCombs | 23 | 19 | 25 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 21 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 17 | N.A. | 18 | N.A. |
24 | NYU Stern | 22 | 16 | 18 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 15 | 17 | 18 |
25 | USC Marshall | 21 | 28 | 26 | 25 | N.A. | 27 | 17 | 24 | 25 | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. |
28 | Indiana Kelley | 16 | 15 | 19 | 15 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 12 |
31 | Notre Dame Mendoza | 29 | 20 | 24 | 20 | 26 | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. |
32 | SMU Cox | 32 | 29 | 12 | 18 | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. |
33 | Maryland Smith | 17 | 24 | 42 | 26 | 25 | 28 | 25 | 27 | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. |
34 | Vanderbilt Owen | 30 | 25 | 37 | 30 | N.A. | 30 | 28 | N.A. | 24 | N.A. | 19 | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. |
53 | Purdue Krannert | 43 | 41 | 41 | Second Tier | N.A. | 21 | 26 | 25 | 24 | N.A. | 20 | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. |