Anyone preparing an MBA application will have seen the phrase “M7” crop up in their research. Time and time again “M7” will be thrown in a comparative article, a “best-schools” listicle, or an employability review. Each article references them as the pinnacle of business-school prowess, the ultimate application goal, the top-of-the-game MBA offering.
So, what actually is an M7 school? The short answer is that the M7 are a super-elite, informal group of private business schools in the U.S. The “M” stands for “magnificent” or, occasionally, “magic.”
The long answer involves decades of careful program-tailoring, academic research and network-building to create the high quality programs that are regularly deemed world-leading.
Read on to discover which schools comprise the M7, how they got their status, and what they can offer you, an MBA candidate.
The Who: The M7 Business Schools
The M7 Schools Are…
- Columbia Business School (CBS)
- Harvard Business School (HBS)
- MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan)
- Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern Kellogg)
- Stanford University Graduate School of Business (Stanford GSB)
- University of Chicago Booth School of Business (Chicago Booth)
- University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School (Wharton)
Where Did the M7 Come from?
To answer this question, it is important to understand one fundamental feature of the M7 schools: that they are a collective, defined by the fact that their deans meet biannually to discuss their programs and progress (we’ll explore exactly how this works in the next section).
As for where this practice came from—it has existed for decades. Initially, deans of the schools listed above began to gather informally to discuss their various schools, a process which grew, grouping the schools together as it did so that they formed their own distinct category.
Do the M7 Schools Ever Change?
The schools included in the M7 group never change. They are a group that is totally distinct from and unaffected by annual rankings, maintaining their elite and respected status year on year.
The What: What Does It Take to Be in the M7?
The business world widely regards the M7 schools as having the industry’s best programs. But how did they earn this status?
Collaboration and Mutual Recognition
At the core of the M7 group is collaboration and mutual recognition. We touched on this earlier—in effect, this means that the seven business schools work together to continuously elevate and improve their MBA programs, recognizing as they do so the elite status and educational excellence of their collaborators.
In practice, this occurs through a biannual meeting of the M7 deans, in which they discuss insights, developments, news, trends and in the MBA space. In fact, not only the deans meet, but also the admission directors and career management directors, facilitating exchange of information across the entirety of each school.
It is this continuous communication and collaborative effort that allows this group of schools to maintain their excellent reputation, even outside of their ranked program positions.
High Quality Programs
The M7 schools offer MBAs that are renowned to be rigorously taught and robustly structured. They are, worldwide, considered to be some of the best in the field.
This comes down to a few key features of the M7 MBAs:
- The presence of world-leading and influential professors. Professors are drawn to the M7 schools because of their status and in turn enhancing it.
- The influential research conducted within the M7 schools.
- The exceptional professional networks maintained by the schools, which connect MBA students with real world opportunities, both professional and educational.
Highly Selective Admissions Process
With prestigious academic reputation comes tough admissions processes; the M7 MBA programs are considered some of the trickiest to get into. The acceptance rate at Stanford GSB, for example, was 8.4% for the 2023-2024 admissions season. HBS had an acceptance rate of 13.2% for the same year.
A strong GMAT score is needed (averages hover around the 730 mark), and the average work experience of successful candidates sits at approximately five years. Grades and experience aren’t everything, however, and candidates are favored who can demonstrate their resilience, collaborative skills and determination.
Consistently High Ranking
As described earlier, M7 MBA rankings do not affect their consideration as part of the M7 group. That is not to say, however, that their rankings are low. Instead, the M7 schools tend to dominate rankings due to their high quality programs, impressive faculty, excellent connections with the business community and production of employable and qualified graduates.
Take a look at how the M7 MBAs were ranked by the Financial Times in 2024 and 2023:
| School | Ranking 2024 | Ranking 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| The Wharton School | 1 | n/a |
| Columbia Business School | 3 | 1 |
| Kellogg School of Management | 6 (tie) | 9 |
| Chicago Booth | 10 | 11 (tie) |
| MIT Sloan | 6 (tie) | 11 (tie) |
| Harvard Business School | 11 | 4 |
| Stanford Graduate School of Business | 23 | 7 |
The Why: Why Consider an M7?
Consistent, Continuous Quality
The M7 MBA programs maintain their academic excellence through their biannual, dean-led review. These meetings ensure that the programs offered by the M7 schools aren’t just top-tier, they are continuously and collectively improving. They respond to industry-wide insights and developments to ensure that students are always provided with the best possible MBA education.
Plus, no matter their ranking, they are always considered to be at the top of their game. That means you, with an M7 MBA on your resume, are more likely to be considered the top of your game.
Employability
High quality programs means higher employment opportunities for graduates. Post-graduation employment offers are exceptionally high at the M7 schools, for example, 95% at Northwestern Kellogg and 96% at Chicago Booth (within three months of graduating).
High employability is bolstered by both the status of the M7 programs, which attract top-tier employers, and the strong professional networks the schools collectively lean on. These strong connections span popular sectors such as consulting, finance, and technology, promising multiple career opportunities for their graduates.
Earning Potential
As might be expected with high quality programs and high employability, starting salaries for M7 MBA graduates are pretty impressive.
Six-figure offers are generally a given, and median starting salaries for the MBA Classes of 2023 range from $170,000 at MIT Sloan; $175,000 at CBS, Northwestern Kellogg, HBS and Wharton; and $180,000 at Chicago Booth. At Stanford, the average starting salary for the MBA Class of 2023 was $189,010. In addition to that comes an average signing bonus of $30,000, plus a considerable spike after three years of employment to hit new average ranges of $190,000 to $222,000.
Should You Apply for an M7 MBA?
With high employability, consistent quality, impressive earning potential and renowned status listed as their attributes, the M7s are certainly appealing. There are, however, some points to consider when deciding if an M7 school is the one for you.
Costs, for example, are high, averaging at around $227,000 per year. Admittance to the schools, as we saw, is also extremely competitive. Also, in some cases, the M7 schools don’t actually reach the high rankings that other schools achieve.
Given these points, it’s important to realize that other schools are out there. MBA programs vary, and your educational goals may be more aligned with, say, a more global business school, or one which offers career networks in a more specific industry. Whether an M7 school is the right fit for you depends entirely on—well, you!
