????社交網站Poets&Quants對本年度美國最佳MBA院校的排名再次證明，最好的商學院往往固定不變：在我們最新發布的2013年全美最佳MBA院校綜合排名中，前8名與去年完全一致，沒有絲毫變化。更重要的是，去年躋身全美十強的商學院今年依然穩居前10名。

????最穩定的一家仍然是連續第四年拔得頭籌的哈佛商學院(Harvard Business School)。盡管《紐約時報》(New York Times)一篇關于哈佛商學院性別不平等現象的特寫報道造成了不那么輕微負面效應，但這所商學院的MBA學位依然是闖蕩工商界的硬通貨。沒有哪位競爭對手能夠與哈佛商學院帶給這項游戲的強大資源相媲美：數不勝數的超級明星教授、課程設置的多樣化、學生的出眾素質、校園的規模和范圍，以及校友的杰出成就。

????此外，今年進入哈佛商學院的新生堪稱有史以來最令人印象深刻的一級。申請者多達9,315人，較去年同期增加了3.9%。哈佛商學院精挑細選，僅歡迎其中的941位學生攻讀該校MBA學位，女生在新生的占比也上升到了41%，創下歷史新高。GMAT（研究生管理專業入學考試）的平均分數高達720分，而這批MBA新生在本科階段的平均績點（3.67）同樣令人嘆為觀止。

????從《商業周刊》(BusinessWeek)到《美國新聞與世界報道》(U.S. News & World Report)，美國最有影響力的5項MBA排名均在我們的綜合排名中占據一定權重。但值得注意的是，上榜商學院的基本指數評分非常接近。前四名【依次為哈佛大學、斯坦福大學( Stanford University )、芝加哥大學(Chicago University )和賓夕法尼亞大學(University of Pennsylvania)】的分數差距非常微弱；哈佛大學僅比其位于西海岸的宿敵斯坦福大學高出區區0.35分。

????這也是芝加哥大學在Poets&Quants榜單上連續第四次領先于賓夕法尼亞大學沃頓商學院(Wharton)，從而讓人們更加相信一種觀點：哈佛、斯坦福和沃頓長期傲居美國商學院前三強的格局已不復存在。全美十強中，只有沃頓商學院2015屆班級的申請人數出現了下降。過去一年，這所商學院的申請人數下跌了5.8% ，而芝加哥大學布斯商學院(Booth)的申請人數則猛增了9.9%，增長幅度高居十大商學院之首。事實上，這種增幅也使得布斯商學院的篩選性首次超過沃頓，盡管只是略高一點。

????盡管穩居前8名的商學院在規模、地區和文化等諸多方面存在差異，但這些院校確實存在一個相同點：它們都是學費高昂，極具聲望，擁有強大全球品牌的私立院校。畢竟，這是商學院。

????相較于最好的法學院，這些發放MBA學位的頂級院校表現得尤為出色。首先，在十大商學院中，有9家的申請人數進一步增長，從而使大多數商學院變得比以往更加挑剔。其次，在9家商學院中，2015屆學生的GMAT平均分數高于去年，有幾家甚至創造了新的紀錄。GMAT分數向來位居榜首的斯坦福大學報告稱，今年入學新生的GMAT平均分達到創紀錄的732分，比去年的729分略高一些。只有加州大學伯克利分校(UC-Berkeley)哈斯商學院(Haas School of Business)的平均分有所下降，但今年的平均分（714分）也只是比去年（715分）下降了1分而已。

????沃頓商學院和西北大學(Northwestern University)凱洛格商學院(Kellogg School of Business)的GMAT平均分漲幅最大：盡管申請人數有所下降，但沃頓的GMAT平均分達到創紀錄的725分，高于除斯坦福和哈佛之外的其他任何一家商學院。與此同時，凱洛格商學院的GMAT平均分也創下歷史新高（715分）。沃頓和凱洛格的GMAT平均分均在一年內猛增了7分，去年的平均值分別為718分和708分。

????This year's Poets&Quants' ranking of the best full-time MBA programs in the U.S. proves that the best business schools tend to stay put: There isn't a single difference between the top eight MBA programs in our new 2013 composite ranking and the top eight in 2012. What's more, all top 10 schools remained firmly in the top ten this year.

????The steadiest institution is still Harvard Business School, which took the top spot for the fourth year in a row. Despite less-than-flattering publicity generated by a New York Times' feature on gender inequality at Harvard, an MBA from the school remains the quintessential credential in business. No rival beats Harvard in the formidable resources it brings to the game: the outsize number of superstar professors, the diversity of its course offerings, the stellar quality of its students, the size and scope of its campus, and the achievements of its alumni.

????This year's entering class at Harvard, moreover, is one of school's most impressive ever. Drawing from an applicant pool that was up 3.9% last year to 9,315 hopefuls, Harvard welcomed just 941 incoming MBA students, with the highest percentage of women ever at 41% of the class. The median GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) score was a hefty 720, while the average undergraduate grade point average for the newest crop of MBA students was an impressive 3.67.

????Yet, it's worth noting that the underlying index scores in our composite ranking -- which annually weighs the five most influential MBA rankings, ranging from BusinessWeek to U.S. News & World Report -- are especially close. The scores of No. 1 Harvard, No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Chicago, and No. 4 University of Pennsylvania are fractions away from each other; a mere 0.35 separates Harvard and its perennial West Coast rival Stanford.

????This is also the fourth time in a row that Chicago has ranked ahead of Wharton on the Poets&Quants list, giving slightly more credence to the view that it is no longer Harvard-Stanford-Wharton at the top. Wharton was the only Top 10 school that saw a decline in applications for the class of 2015. Its applicant pool shrunk by 5.8% this past year, while Chicago Booth reported the biggest percentage boost in applications of any Top 10 school -- a healthy 9.9%. The increase actually made Chicago slightly more selective than Wharton for the first time.

????The immovable top eight differ in many ways -- size, region, culture, and so on. But the schools do have one feature in common: They're all private, pricey, highly prestigious institutions with powerful global brands. This is business school, after all.

????And compared to the best law schools, the top schools that hand out MBA diplomas are doing exceptionally well. For one thing, nine out of the ten reported an increase in MBA applications, allowing most to be even more selective than usual. For another, Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) averages for the class of 2015 also rose at nine of the ten schools, reaching record levels at several MBA programs. The historical GMAT leader, Stanford, is reporting a record 732 average GMAT this year, up from 729 last year. The only school to report a decline was UC-Berkeley's Haas School of Business, where the average fell by just one point to 714 this year from 715 last year.

????Wharton and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Business scored the largest single increases in GMAT averages: Despite a fall in applications, Wharton hit a record 725, higher than any school other than Stanford or Harvard. Kellogg, meanwhile, reported a record average of 715. At both Wharton and Kellogg, the mean GMAT bumped up seven points in a single year, from 718 at Wharton and 708 at Kellogg.