The latest US News rankings are out. Here are the top 10 in a few categories:

 Business:

1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. Wharton
4. Sloan (Tied with Kellogg)
   
5. Kellogg (Tied with Sloan)
   
6. Chicago
7. Columbia (Tied with Haas)
   
8. Haas (Tied with Columbia)
   
9. Tuck
10. Anderson
    

Law

1. Yale
2. Stanford
3. Harvard
4. Columbia (Tied with NYU)
   
5. NYU (Tied with Columbia)
   
6. Chicago
7. Penn
8. UC Berkeley (Tied with Michigan and Virginia)
   
9. Michigan -- Ann Arbor (tTed with UC Berkeley and Virginia)
   
10. Virginia (Tied with UC Berkeley and Michigan)

Medicine

1. Harvard
2. Johns Hopkins
   
3. Penn
4. UCSF (Tied with Washington U)
   
5. Washington U  in St. Louis (Tied with UCSF)
   
6. Duke
7. Stanford (Tied with University of Washington)
   
8. University of Washington (Tied with Stanford)
   
9. Yale
10. Baylor
    

As always when using the rankings realize that they are best viewed as data banks and surveys, not universal measures of educational quality or even objective measure of reputation. Please make sure you understand US News methodology.

If you want to hear experts discuss how you should use the rankings, please mark you calendars for a new chat scheduled for may: How to Use the Rankings Right with Dean Paul Danos of Tuck Business School and Della Bradshaw, Business Education Editor for the Financial Times on May 4 at 9:00 AM PT/12:00 PM ET/5:00 PM GMT.

Stanford GSB's Virtual Reporter recently interviewed Stanford admissions director, Derrick Bolton. I found it noteworthy how much Mr. Bolton values the interview relative to the essays. Also noteworthy is the importance he places on Essay B.

GMAC published yesterday the results of its annual survey of MBA recruiters and the results should bring smiles to the faces of anyone in business school. Here are a few highlights:

• Corporate recruiters said they plan to hire 18 percent more MBAs this year than in 2005, on average, with finance and marketing expertise in particularly high demand.
• Recruiters are planning to visit an average of ten schools next year, up from nine in 2005.
• MBA graduates this year can expect to earn an average starting base salary of $80,809, with total compensation hitting an estimated $99,737.
• Nearly 40 percent of recruiters said they place significant weight on soft skills (leadership, communications) when judging people they interview.

While all the above should make those of you in b-school business very happy, MBA wannabes should take particular note of the last point. Those soft skills are the very qualities you should spotlight in your application, especially if you want to transition from a technical role to a general management or business role.

Accepted.com hosted the CMU Tepper chat with Laurie Stewart yesterday.  Here are a few nuggets from that chat:

• CMU Tepper currently has waitlisted approximately 100 candidates.
• Last year CMU Tepper admitted roughly 40 from the waitlist, but that number can vary enormously from year to year.
• Application volume this year to Tepper's MBA program is up roughly 10% over last year.

Laurie Stewart, Tepper's Director of Admissions, welcomes updates from candidates and letters of support. Obviously, make sure that whatever you submit adds positively to the adcom's picture of you.

 What is the biggest mistake on the CMU Tepper waitlist?

"I'd say when we don't hear from someone on the waiting list--we assume that they may have made alternative plans."

If you are interested in getting accepted from the waitlist, that could be a fatal error at Tepper. 

The University of Pennsylvania announced on Thursday that it will give grants to cover the cost of undergraduate tuition, room, and board, to students whose families earn less than $50,000 per year.

 According to Inside Higher Education, Penn is joining a number of top universities, including Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, and MIT,  in easing the financial burden on talented low-income students.