1.) Stanford- Private school, considered the Harvard of the West. The contacts that you can make in a school like this are as valuable as the academics. Stanford Medical Center is considered one of the finest medical facilities in the world. Medicine is big business.

2) University of Southern California-Marshall School of Business- USC is usually ranked as the top business school in California. (see link in source)

3.) University of California at Berkeley- Arguably the top state school for the arts. But, they have a very progressive approach with a “free-thinking” attitude. The campus is located in a great location in the San Francisco area.

4.) University of California at Los Angeles, aka UCLA. Anderson School of Business. There are some real positives at UCLA especially if you are considering a career in the entertainment industry. The campus is located in Los Angeles.

5.) Pepperdine University (EMBA)- Graziadio School of Business and Management- Also located in Los Angeles, this school is still ranked, but seems to be in decline.

Sources- Experience and http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/mba/brief/mbarank_brief.php

The above link to rankings is different from the one in the source field. I recommend visiting both for more details on the ranking to see what factors are most important to your plans.

Other top West Coast Schools to consider:

• Brigham Young

14 UCLA

• UC Berkeley

• UC San Diego

• California State, Hayward

• California State, San Bernardino

• UC Irvine

• UC Irvine (Health Care Executive MBA (HCEMBA))

• Claremont

• University of Colorado

• University of Colorado (Executive MBA in Health Administration)

• George Fox

• Hawaii

• Loyola Marymount

• University of Nevada, Las Vegas

• Oregon Executive MBA

23 Pepperdine

• St. Mary’s College of California

• San Diego State

• San Francisco

• Santa Clara

8 Southern California

• Southern California (Global Executive MBA Program (GEMBA))

• Utah

• University of Washington

Berkeley

UCLA

Standford

USC

There are plenty of other good schools (any of the other UC’s or CSU’s, Loyola Maramount, Pepperdine, USD, University of Redlands, etc …), but the aforementioned schools would be considered the “best.”