HBS came in at number two, followed by Wharton at number three. London Business School, meanwhile, fell from joint first to fourth, mirroring a general trend in which U.S. schools fared marginally better than their European counterparts. Falling salaries among alumni from European schools – an impact of the recent economic turmoil in Europe – account in part for this trend, the FT reports.

The FT ranking is calculated using data gathered from participating schools and alumni from the class that graduates three years before the survey. Stanford 2008 graduates had the highest sector-weighted average salary in this year’s rankings – $192,179 per year – a designation the California school has snagged eight times in the ranking’s 14-year history. Stanford also shot up this year in the ranking’s measurement of alumni career progress and “aims achieved,” helping it take the number one spot for the first time.

The top ten schools in this year’s ranking are as follow:

Stanford GSB (1)
Harvard Business School (2)
Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (3)
London Business School(4)
Columbia Business School (5)
INSEAD (6)
MIT Sloan School of Management (7)
IE Business School (8)
IESE Business School (9)
Hong Kong UST Business School (10)

For the full FT 2012 Global MBA rankings, click here.

The new Singapore GEMBA section will include both shorter modules during the week as well as weekend modules for much of the core curriculum. In addition to this newest GEMBA section centered in Singapore, INSEAD features three others: one centered in Fontainebleau, France; one in Abu Dhabi; and a joint program with Tsinghua University for Chinese executives. INSEAD Dean Dipak Jain told the Financial Times in an October 2011 interview he also intends to launch an EMBA program in the United States, probably with a partner.

In offering its own alternative to the GMAT, INSEAD is following a lead set by some other top business schools. INSEAD will still accept GMAT scores from applicants to its GEMBA program, but its new test option will be tailored specifically to the program’s more senior, global applicant pool.

“The INSEAD test allows us to maintain our long-standing commitment to testing as part of the EMBA admissions process while expanding the pool of high-quality applicants,” Peter Zemsky, deputy dean of degree programs and curriculum, said in a statement. “Our test will provide a more well-rounded way to assess our applicants and reduce the bias against some cultural and education backgrounds.”

Two INSEAD alumni launched Prep Zone in 2006 with the intention of creating an alternate test that really hones in on exactly what applicants need to deliver in a business school academic environment and tests applicants’ business sense as well as their cognitive skills. The test retains relevant questions on quantitative and verbal reasoning skills found on the GMAT, but it replaces the GMAT’s essay writing part with a case presentation section. “We felt the evolved test format was a great example of Value Innovation that we learned at INSEAD,” Mícheál Collins, one of the two Prep Zone co-founders, said in a statement.

The new EMBA test will be administered on each of INSEAD’s campuses and combined with a panel interview.

For more details on the Singapore GEMBA or the new INSEAD EMBA test, click here.

“A distinctive aspect of INSEAD’s MBA program is that language skills are an official requirement for both admission and graduation. Beyond the requirement that students possess proficiency in two languages upon enrollment, one of which must be English, students must also demonstrate basic knowledge of a third commercially useful language in order to graduate. INSEAD’s “basic knowledge” classification, equivalent to the European Council’s A2 competency level, requires an ability to communicate clearly and simply about routine matters and situations. Though students have the full duration of their studies at INSEAD to reach this level of competence, they must declare their exit language at the time of enrollment.

“Incoming students who are already proficient in a third language are permitted to certify their competence before matriculation, provided that they have passed a state-recognized language proficiency exam accepted by INSEAD or completed a degree program of which at least one year was conducted exclusively in the language in question. During Orientation Week, students may also sit for a written or oral proficiency test administered by one of INSEAD’s partner language instruction institutions.

“INSEAD offers language classes lasting from P1 to P3 for students seeking to develop competency in a third language. French, German and Spanish are taught on the Fontainebleau campus each year, with the possible addition of Arabic, Russian, Mandarin and Italian, depending on demand within the incoming class. On the Singapore campus, French, German, Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese and Bahasa Melayu are offered.”

To read more about INSEAD’s language requirement, as well as to obtain in-depth information about the school’s program and curriculum, be sure to check out the Clear Admit School Guide to INSEAD. All Clear Admit School Guides are available for immediate purchase and download on the Clear Admit shop.

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In a special report accompanying the rankings, the FT’s Della Bradshaw pointed out that European schools, which until now attracted non-European applicants with their diverse student bodies and globally focused curriculums, face several new threats that could undermine these advantages. Chief among them are the continuing euro crisis and the reluctance of European governments to award post-degree work visas to non-Europeans as well as the rapid rise of Chinese and Indian business schools.

Dipak Jain, who took the helm as dean of INSEAD this year after retiring as dean of Northwestern’ Kellogg School of Management, does not believe that European schools will feel an immediate impact from the rising number of quality Asian schools.  “There is still a very large part of the Asian world that wants a western program,” he told the FT. “That is not going to go away in the next 20 years or so.”

According to Jain, the real problem European schools face is money. He points out that European schools lack the robust endowments that many U.S. business schools boast, which limits the European institutions’ ability to fund top-level research. “The question is, how do you create shock absorbers or cushions?” he told the FT. “In Europe you can’t rely on alumni giving.”

But according to Peter Tufano, who like Jain this year traded a U.S. school for a European one (Tufano left Harvard Business School to become dean of the Saïd Business School at Oxford), there is no real difference between schools on either side of the Atlantic. “I see a lot more similarities than differences,” Tufano told the FT, noting that the issues being talked about in business and in business school are the same on both sides of the pond. Views are even converging on issues like the supremacy of shareholder value, which used to divide the teaching between U.S. and European schools. “I think everyone has adopted a more nuanced view than when I did an MBA … There are times I can close my eyes and I don’t really feel I am in a different place,” Tufano said.

For the complete 2011 Financial Times’ ranking of European Business Schools, click here.

“My first interview was with someone pretty experienced in fields completely different than my own. The interview was very conversational and friendly. Questions were typical: walk through resume, why MBA now, what are my goals. Also talked about working across cultures and where I see myself in 15-20 years on a personal standpoint (not professional) – the talk was great, he shared a lot of his experience with INSEAD. Interview lasted just 40min.

My second interview was very different, also with very experienced professional however this time in a field relatively similar to mine. He went into intricate detailed questions about my current job and role as well as my views on company’s strategy/potential + views on market as a whole. After that went back and talked about past professional experiences in detail too, why I wanted MBA now, had I considered other schools, what extra-curricular am I involved with, why I studied what I did in undergrad. Interview lasted 1h20min.

Reading through reports on this wiki, I expected that both interviews would be quite different somehow and that is definitely what I happened with me too.

Good luck to all!”

To see more MBA admissions interview reports, check out the Clear Admit Wiki – a free resource with hundreds of real, documented interview experiences from b-school applicants. Also, if you’d like to help your fellow applicants by adding your experiences, please send us your interview field report and we’ll post it to the wiki. Finally, if you’d like even more helpful hints and detailed analysis on how to ace your interview, check out our line of Interview Guides, which demystify the most common questions asked by the leading programs and offer step-by-step guidance for a successful interview.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the Clear Admit Wiki and best of luck to those undergoing admissions interviews!

Prospective applicants to Chicago Booth, Columbia, Harvard, INSEAD, Kellogg, Stanford and Wharton need to look no further for a comprehensive, at your fingertips resource that is helpful at all stages of the MBA admissions process.  Whether you are just beginning to research target schools, crafting application essays, preparing for an admissions interview or making a final decision about where you attend, the Clear Admit MBA Guide Apps are a valuable and time-saving resource.

Each of the seven MBA Guide Apps includes 30+ pages of objective information covering student demographics, academics, special programs, student life, career services, admission and financial aid among other things.  The convenient “Notes” feature allows you to record your thoughts as you peruse each page of the guide.

If you’re an MBA applicant who wants the benefits of the Clear Admit School Guides with the convince of being able to read them anywhere, the School Guide Apps are for you!

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“Through an alliance with the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the leading MBA programs in the U.S., INSEAD students can also spend one period in the city of Philadelphia taking elective courses at Wharton.

“Space in this exchange program is limited to just 35 students per period. Those who wish to spend a semester at Wharton must complete an application and bid on this opportunity using their elective points. INSEAD students in the January intake may enroll in the Wharton exchange in either P4 or P5; because Wharton’s summer vacation coincides with P5 of the September intake, however, September students may only travel to Philadelphia in P4.

“INSEAD students spend just two months in Philadelphia, about half the length of a Wharton semester, which means they may only enroll in half-length electives. While this greatly limits students’ elective choices, full access to Wharton’s Northeast U.S. network and the services of its Career Management Office makes the exchange a valuable opportunity for INSEAD students hoping to work in the U.S. upon graduation.”

To read more about other exchange opportunities, be sure to check out the Clear Admit School Guide to INSEAD. All Clear Admit School Guides are available for immediate purchase and download on the Clear Admit shop.

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All of the 2011-2012 editions feature the most current information from the programs, including the latest admissions guidelines, class demographics and placement statistics, and offer insight into year-over-year trends. This year, our guides include more student quotes, new content about school-specific special programs, exclusive Q&As with admissions directors and career services directors, and Clear Admit’s analysis of essay topics.

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• Become an expert on your target schools overnight
• Use your newfound expertise to craft essays that stand out in the admissions process
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The details of the program are not yet clear. “But we will offer some degree, either the MBA or the Executive MBA,” INSEAD Dean Dipak Jain told PandQ. “We are not sure whether we would do it alone or with someone. But definitely we want to increase our presence in the U.S.”

Through a 10-year alliance with the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, INSEAD has provided opportunities for MBA student and faculty exchanges between the two schools, and it has also offered some joint executive education programs. But that has been the limit of its U.S. offerings until now.

The PandQ report points out that an INSEAD MBA program in the U.S., especially were it to follow the model of its European and Asian format requiring just 10 months to complete the degree, would present significant competition to existing top-tier MBA programs in the U.S.

In his interview with PandQ, Jain suggested that a deeper alliance with Wharton or a standalone INSEAD campus in the U.S. were both possibilities.
Over the course of INSEAD’s alliance with Wharton, more than 1,000 MBA students have participated in the exchange program between the two schools, according to the PandQ report.

Jain, who served as dean of Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management from 2001 to 2009, succeeded INSEAD Dean Frank Brown in March. In his interview with PandQ, he noted that the partnership with Wharton has been important in allowing the U.S. school to assess the quality of INSEAD faculty and students over the past decade. “They have to feel that we have the same quality they have,” he said. “In that sense, it has been a very good thing. Now the next step is how do we take the relationship forward?”

For the complete PoetsandQuants article, click here.