My son was accepted (undergrad) to both University of Iowa Tippie School of Business and Miami Farmer School to study economics. He is leaning towards Iowa because he likes the Big Ten atmosphere and found Iowa city a little more lively than Oxford. I don’t know much about Iowa’s business school - my sense is that Miami has the stronger program but my husband disagrees. Can anyone tell me what companies recruit at Iowa, what the reputation of the school is, and the overall business student experience there?
Is there a difference in cost ? Was he admitted to Honors at either university?
Yes Farmer has a stronger reputation but if Iowa is a better fit don’t worry about it.
Email career services to ask about their career fairs if the info isn’t readily available on the website.
Any career objective / goal in mind ?
Whether Miami or Iowa is the better business school is not clear to me. The last US News rankings based solely on a peer assessment survey done in 2017 ranked the undergrad business school at Iowa at #31 while Miami Farmer was ranked #45.
Business is the most popular major at both Iowa (21%) and at Miami (26%).
I suspect that Miami Farmer’s major in Business Economics is the easiest of the three econ majors offered at Miami.
https://www.miamioh.edu/fsb/academics/economics/index.html
Iowa should also offer multiple majors in the study of economics.
Does it matter whether your son attends Iowa Tippie or Miami Farmer for purposes of future employment ? Probably not as neither school is located in a thriving city with available internship opportunities such as similarly ranked SMU–which enjoys its Dallas, Texas location.
I can’t tell you how many times I searched for a thread like this before we decided. My son was going through the exact same decision. He was accepted to both in December and, up until a few weeks ago, I was sure it was going to be Miami. Out of any of the seven schools to which he applied, Miami did the best job at marketing to him. Their communication was outstanding and they really sold the school well. It looked like a spectacular place to spend four years and a terrific educational plan. After his visit, I would still say all that is true.
We had never given Iowa much of a chance. In fact, we had regarded it as more of a “safety school” than anything else. But, the day after we visited Miami, we visited Iowa and then we had some hard thinking to do. He really liked the Iowa campus and the feel of Iowa City. I was surprised at how “small” of a university it really is. Compared to most of its peers in the Big 10, Iowa is a small school. We were impressed by the low student to faculty ratio (superior to Miami) and our guide (second year business student) confirmed that he has excellent access to his professors, and teaching assistants. This is a cornerstone for the entire university, not just Tippie. Office hours are a serious deal at Iowa. Even the president of the university has weekly office hours, and students are encouraged to drop by.
So, because we had basically been lavished with wonderful marketing by Miami and had all but dismissed Iowa, we got down to brass tacks on some more research. According to USNWR, Iowa ranks 31 and Miami 66 (2020 report). Plenty of other publications rank them similarly. From an outcome standpoint, the career services websites say the same thing:
- About 35% of the Iowa students stay in Iowa after graduation
- About 35% of the Miami students stay in Ohio after graduation
- About 35% of the students at both wind up in Illinois (Chicagoland, presumably)
- Starting salaries are averaging around $60k a year. Iowa numbers are a little harder to get at. You have to go to the main career center website and do some drilling. Even then, they don’t do a very good job of presenting the information.
A couple of ideas that we kept in front of us to guide the decision making process:
- Miami is a stunningly beautiful campus, but in a month you won’t even notice. When you graduate, you can’t take the leather club chairs and chandelier from FSB with you
- You aren’t buying an outcome, but a process. Your outcome is going to depend on what you do while you are there. Both have great options and opportunities for you
- Where do you feel comfortable and happy?
We felt that the process we were buying at both schools was comparable. It really came down to feel and comfort level. I wish you well in your decision making process. Both schools will serve you well. Tippie just felt more like “home”.
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Poets & Quants does a better job of ranking/rating business programs. ROI for Farmer is in the top 10. I don’t know Iowa’s rank with P&Q, but Farmer is good, especially when you look at the “student experience” and “career” categories where they land in the low 20s. What brings their overall rank down is that they are not as selective. I know that pre-COVID, Miami had one of the biggest career fairs around, but I think most recruitment is going to be virtual.
Did he get into Miami Honors? There are some good perks. I don’t know about Iowa’s program.
Does Iowa have options for 3+1 or combined Bach/Masters like Miami?
I don’t doubt that Iowa City is better than Oxford, but how close is it to any metro? I don’t like that Oxford is so small, but at least it’s only 45 minutes from Cincy and Dayton.
Prospects do get spoiled by Miami’s communication. I will say I almost had son apply to Iowa because he got a handwritten note from one of Tippie’s professors encouraging him to apply.
College decision process is not for the weak, I tell you. So much stress and drama. Wishing you luck!
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Thanks for the great info. I agree, Miami does do a great job of marketing and it is effective! It made me wonder why Iowa doesn’t have the same effort: do they not have the same kind of opportunities and outcomes too tout? And is that indicative of the effort they will put into communicating with students once they’re on campus? Those are the issues that make me hesitate, but son loves the campus & we saw lots & lots of happy students around town while we were there. 12 days to decide! Thanks for your help
About “effort” from the school… My son was also admitted to Indiana. Their communication has been pretty lackluster - almost nothing. Based on all the rest, I would say that Miami is a standout on the communication side of things. That doesn’t make it better, not is it necessarily indicative of what you’ll get when your son is there. It really is a toss-up.
Miami’s tuition guarantee means you know what you will pay all four years ahead of time. Their policy includes out of state students as well.
“Miami’s Tuition Promise will provide all First-Time undergraduate students and their families the certainty that Tuition, Room and Board, Special Purpose Fees, and Course Fees will be frozen over the four years of a student’s Miami experience. By holding tuition and fees constant, Miami’s Tuition Promise provides the confidence students and families need to plan financially for a college education. Stability in costs also ensures that a student’s renewable scholarships and financial aid dollars will retain their value over the entire four-year period.”