Was looking at some older threads and it seems that OSU has become a much more competitive University in the past decade. How is it today aside from the rankings alone? I was accepted to the school of business which seems to have a very good reputation and I would be very excited to attend. I also applied to Miami University, Minnesota, and a few other schools. It is a very large school (Fisher included) , but then again so are the majority of the Big Ten schools or the other state schools. Maybe some current students or past students can comment on this.
You are asking different things.
The reputation with the general public is likely lagging behind the increased selectivity. Saying you went/go to Ohio State definitely doesn’t have the same cachet as Michigan, Berkeley, or UVa, but it might by the time you’re a middle-aged alum.
It’s possible that profs have increased the rigor of the curriculum in sync with the rise in selectivity. It is also possible that there is a greater level of intellectual ferment, i.e., student-to-student learning, within an overall brighter student body. This question will have to be answered by a current student, professor, or recent grad.
As an general observation, I believe that the university, with the support of the legislature, has an unwritten policy goal of elevating OSU’s overall academic profile to that of Michigan. They have made substantial progress towards that goal, but whether they make it all the way remains to be seen.
I think that the main point is that OSU is a very good school. I don’t think that you need to be concerned about its prestige as long as it has a good program in the subject(s) that you want to study and it is affordable. A degree from OSU should be able to get you where you want to go.
I did my master’s degree at a very highly selective university. There were other students there in the same program who had done their undergrad all over the place. A large number had gone to their in-state public university. I didn’t happen to know anyone from Ohio, but I did know some very good, very strong students who had gone to in-state public schools that are ranked about the same or even very slightly lower than OSU. Of course they had all done very well as undergraduate students.
One thing about going to a large in-state public school, there will be a very wide range of students there. Some of them will be a lot like you. You might have to look at bit to find them, but they will be there.
DadTwoGirls has the right perspective. OSU is a high-quality university with lots of opportunities for the intelligent and motivated. Don’t get hung up on “prestige” if you feel that the school is otherwise a “good fit” for you.
We honestly went into our visit with low expectations and left with OSU moving to the top three choices based on the academic strength of her program of choice (neuroscience) and the commitment we saw to academic excellence. I would also add it has a massive alumni network! I think over the coming years you will see that commitment pay off and the reputation of OSU only continue to increase.