At the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University, their motto is: “be attentive, responsive, and kind.”
Jones offers a small program—and proudly. Just 118 students matriculated for their Class of 2020, and the school boasts class sizes at 40 students and a 9 to 1 student to faculty ratio. Just under a third—31 percent—of the class is comprised of women. Fifteen percent are U.S. underrepresented minorities and 36 percent are U.S. minorities. Approximately a quarter of the Class of 2020 are foreign nationals, and altogether the class represents 17 countries.
In regards to academic achievement, the Jones MBA class averaged 706 on the GMAT with the 80 percent range falling at 660 to 740. Their cumulative average undergraduate GPA was 3.30. During their college years, most—47 percent—had studied science, technology, engineering or math (STEM). Business or economics were chosen by 35 percent of the group. Eighteen percent had majored in liberal arts during their undergraduate studies. Between college and Rice Jones, the Class of 2020 averaged 5.4 years of work experience from 107 different companies.
Rice has a strong reputation in the energy sector given its location in Houston, the oil and gas capital of the world. Most leading business schools report that 3 percent or fewer of their graduates join the energy industry; at Jones, just under 20 percent of the Class of 2018 had joined the field. This figure is also far ahead of fellow Texas program UT Austin / McCombs, which reported that 7 percent of 2018 graduates secured careers in energy. Houston is also a hub for biomedicine, aeronautics, finance and international trade as 26 Fortune 500 firms are headquartered in the metropolitan area, including firms such as Phillips, Sysco, Haliburton, and Waste Management. This concentration of high players combined with the Texas Medical Center (the world’s largest medical center) and the Port of Houston (the second largest American port) means that students are connected to an abundance of resources for future networks and lucrative ventures.
We got a chance to chat with individuals from the Jones Class of 2020 as they reflected on what drew them to this program and how they made the decision to join the Rice Jones family.
