I was just admitted today into the Farmer School of Business as well as the University Honors Program. I plan to pursue a double major with finance and mathematics. What is Miami’s reputation throughout the state of Ohio for such fields and how does that reputation compare with that of Ohio State or Ohio University? Any input is greatly appreciated.
@hecbdeyh - My son is a sophomore engineering major at Miami. His roommate last year in the Honors dorm is at Farmer and has four job offers already for internships or co-ops, one on the west coast and three in Ohio. My son is a bit jealous.
I’m a Farmer alum having lived in Ohio for many years. Here’s my take on Miami’s reputation. Within the state of Ohio, both Farmer and Miami’s Honors Program are generally perceived as equal to OSU Fisher and OSU Honors, but not better (even though Farmer tends to rank a bit higher in certain surveys.) Farmer does have great name recognition and a very positive reputation in Ohio and beyond; and Farmer is clearly Miami’s marquee undergrad program. Due in part to the cult-like following of OSU sports teams, I have noticed many OSU alumni and fans project this loyalty to OSU undergraduate academic quality, even if not justified; with the assumption that OSU has the best undergrad programs in everything. Of course, this assumption is not true. Don’t get me wrong, OSU is a very good school with high admission standards; but I could quickly name many undergrad programs where another school in Ohio (public or private) is consistently ranked higher. (This applies to Miami as well.) Based upon my experiences in Ohio, if you are interviewing for an entry level business position with equally qualified Farmer and Fisher candidates, the interviewer with an OSU loyalty will predictably lean OSU; the interviewer without an OSU loyalty will lean Farmer - overall split about 50/50 across the state. Outside of Ohio, I would give Farmer a slight reputation edge. In regard to Ohio U, the business school is generally perceived to be a tier lower than Miami or OSU, as are overall admissions standards. I’ve heard positive things about Ohio U’s honors programs, but don’t have any details. The marquee undergrad programs at Ohio U are journalism and communications (Scripps); both of which are considered the best in Ohio. I just don’t hear much about their undergrad business program, although I work with a few Ohio U business alums, and they are successful. I honestly can’t comment on mathematics program reputations. Not my forte. Best of luck with your decision.
My take on it is that Farmer’s reputation is solid, and graduates get good jobs, but Miami’s reputation as a whole is going down when compared to OSU. Bloomberg’s ratings put OSU’s undergrad b-school at #14, OU at 38 and Miami at 40. All are still top-50 for undergrad business, but Miami is no longer ranked as highly as it once was. (And honestly, I’m really surprised to see OU’s program rank that highly.) US News has Miami at 48 for business, compared with 19 for OSU and 133 for OU. OSU is the only one to make it onto Forbes’ 2015 list of the top 65.
My husband’s employer looks to OSU these days. He’s had discussions with coworkers (with respect to sending kids to school, not with regards to recruiting) and the general feeling is that Miami is not as good - relatively - as it once was compared to OSU. That said, it’s still a good school with a lot to offer and is a much smaller, prettier campus than OSU.