By SOFIA HU
For the third year in a row, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Cornell’s Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management as the third best undergraduate business program out of 132 schools surveyed in its 2014 rankings.
This year, Dyson ranked behind University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business and University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce — which were first and second respectively — according to the rankings.
Director of the Dyson School Prof. Chris Barrett, applied economics and management, said the ranking reflected Dyson’s high quality of students, faculty and alumni.
“With the renovation of Warren Hall wrapping up next winter, some exciting new faculty joining the program this summer and an even more selective group of incoming freshmen next year, we aspire to improve further in the rankings in the coming couple of years.” —Prof. Chris Barrett
Since the the Dyson program focuses on undergraduates, “they [are at] the center of attention for a world class faculty [which] is reflected in Dyson’s especially high ratings for student satisfaction,” Barrett said.
According to Businessweek, many top undergraduate business programs are separate from graduate MBA schools, and a school with a highly rated undergraduate program does not necessarily have a similarly ranked graduate program. The Johnson Graduate School of Management was ranked seventh by Businessweek in 2012.
Students majoring in applied economics and management said Dyson’s commitment to students was one of the program’s main strengths.
“Dyson is committed to its students, as it continues to innovate with a number of quality new initiatives to improve students’ experience and career opportunities,” Kwesi Acquay ’14 said. “Additionally, the respect that Dyson has among the best employers in the world differentiates our program. The top employers continue to make a concerted effort to recruit Dyson students.”
Dyson’s undergraduate focus comes from the program’s small class size, according to Lawrence Ntim ’17.
“It’s one of the smallest undergraduate business programs,” Ntim said. “The second you get in, they nurture you and focus on getting you the skills and tools to become an effective leader, communicator and innovator.”
Because of the small size of its business program — around 740 students, according to Businessweek — Dyson can foster a “collaborative, learning environment,” Don Muir ’15 said.
“Dyson’s collaborative environment more closely emulates the real world working environment and corporate culture of today’s highly successful companies,” he said.
Students and professors said they expect Dyson to continue on its trajectory and remain a top undergraduate business program.
“With the renovation of Warren Hall wrapping up next winter, some exciting new faculty joining the program this summer and an even more selective group of incoming freshmen next year, we aspire to improve further in the rankings in the coming couple of years,” Barrett said.