@Hanna 14K plus postings? That is one incredible statistic!
Isn’t that the truth? Thirty years ago all you needed was a pulse to get into many of these schools How things have changed. Where would you put Miami today? and compared to OSU?
HELLO! I have made it! I have lived in Columbus for 12 years and I am at a high school where both Miami and OSU are some of the top schools applied to. Definitely choose OSU. The alumni connections are insanely better and it’s much more reputable for job sources in and out of Ohio.
Both very different campus vibes. One thing to consider is that yes, OSU is harder to get into as a freshmen, only. They encourage many students to go to satellite campuses for their freshman year but after that, everyone can be part of main campus. This suddenly affects how ‘elite’ the college’s reputation is. (yes, back in the day, anyone with a pulse could get in. And as a transfer student coming from a satellite OSU campus, basically ANYONE can get in) We live close to OSU and my husband and I are both alumni. However none of my kids would even consider OSU. They have many practices in place that will make students stay on campus for as long as possible…closing kids out of classes, closing kids out of majors and forcing them to choose a different major with no real tangible skills. I hear countless frustrations from the parents of current OSU students. (i.e. The required textbooks were written by an OSU professor, so can only buy it through OSU bookstore…for $400!) There are some major pros going for OSU IF you can get into your selected major. But since many majors you cannot apply until sophomore or junior year, keep in mind many students never get a degree in what they are actually interested in. Just my two cents. My son just got a nice merit scholarship for Miami. The party atmosphere scares me there, but not sure it’s much different than any other campus. He was invited to join the Honors program, which I will strongly encourage him to do!
@Momto3smartkids Since my original posting back in late December, I was admitted and offered a very generous scholarship from Miami University as well as their Honors Program. I was directly admitted to my program of choice at both schools. After everything is said and done, it seems that Miami would cost about $17K more per year. This is way too much of a number to overcome… Diversity is also higher at OSU.
Miami Freshmen retention rate 91%
Miami 4 Year Graduation rate 66.3 %
Ohio State Freshmen retention rate 94%
Ohio State 4 year Graduation rate 62.4%
The sign of a greatfuture businessperson - take the $17k/year and run 
If you are choosing between OSU and Miami in Ohio, you are picking between the flagship school in Ohio and a really nice state school in Ohio. One school may be better in the quality or availability of majors. However, I would expect a quality education at both, but OSU more prestigious.
Prestige for close to $70,000 difference a at a top 50 school is a win win situation. If the numbers were closer between these two, then you would a good reason to try to nick pick, but that is just not the case. As a bonus you get Buckeye Football.
Agreed…the money makes this a no brainer for you, plus you got into your major directly! Awesome! Have fun, make memories and absorb it all! It goes fast!
As a local I agree with @fedten and I have no loyalties or kids at either school. You’d also have the benefit of a way huger alumni network which will be important for a business major. That’s what I see as the general opinion, and we’re in the thick of it, one recent HS grad student and one junior…lots of talks of college selection and preference. But you have lots to consider including $ and size is a huge factor…these two schools have way different atmosphere and setting.
As another person from B10 country, OSU’s prestige is pretty recent around these parts (football has helped). Indeed, not too long ago, it was open admissions. But OSU does have programs that it is known for and offers a ton of opportunities.
@zannah: OH is interesting/weird in that the flagship hasn’t always been the best public in the state. Go back a generation, and both MiamiU and UCincy (as well as various programs at other OH publics) were perceived to be better.
The fact that OHIO STATE has become extremely competitive to get in, it has raised its ranking. What you used to be an automatic is no longer the case. The common app has plenty to do with this and not just at Ohio State but at other highly public schools. It is much more difficult to get into Ohio State than Miami University. The way merit works at both institutions, they are competing for similar mid to high stats applicants. But it seems that Miami has to do more or give more to attract those students. The Ohio State brand is known just about everywhere whereas the Miami brand always gets confused with the University of Miami in South Florida. Considering that the original poster received a major scholarship making OSU the much better financial option, the decision is really easy. Actually Ohio State compares very well to even the top major public Universities. It is ranked at 16 and it is usually in the same conversation as Illinois, Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, and Penn State which are all very good schools
University-wide, this is true, but Farmer has significantly higher selectivity for direct admission than does Miami per se, and it it very difficult to transfer in to Farmer. Not sure about direct admission to Fisher.
Miami’s sticker price is higher, so it has to offer more merit (or need) aid to match OSU on an apples-to-apples basis.
For football and basketball. That’s not necessarily a good thing.
Agree completely.
Log into your Buckeye email to see if you have a decision on honors yet. I’m not sure they snail mail that.
“It is ranked at 16 and it is usually in the same conversation as Illinois, Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, and Penn State which are all very good schools.”
It is ranked at 16 and it is usually in the same conversation as Florida, Georgia, and Penn State which are all very good schools.
Fixed it for you.
@rjkofnovi ???
@BasicOhioParent “For football and basketball. That’s not necessarily a good thing” That is part of the brand, but academics as well. Pretty much every major is well ranked… From Engineering to Business to Computer science and on and on…I can see someone moving to Florida or California and recognizing OHIO STATE. Not so sure that would be the case with Miami.
Also direct admission to Fisher is just as competitive.
Apples to Apples, I would think that Ohio State is the better choice. However, it does not mean the better fit. Both are excellent schools.
@Boomer1964 This appears to be @rjkofnovi attempt at humor 
He does not believe Ohio State belongs in the same conversation as Illinois and Wisconsin. The inference is that Penn State, Georgia and Florida are peers. IMO they are all deserving of being in the same conversation. All of these are excellent schools. USNews&World Report 2018 editon lists these 6 schools in the Top 30 Public National Universities and range from #9 to #16. Ohio State’s perception amongst some appears to be hampered by the old open admissons policy of 30 years ago, where anyone with a pulse got in. But tOSU has come a long way since then-admissons selectivity, better students with large merit aid to attract high stat out-of-state students who wind up paying roughly equal to their home state flagship, but get so much more bang for the buck. As a Michigan alum from the northeast I never would have imagined sending my high stat son to arch-rival tOSU but so glad it was made affordable and that he has this opportunity now to experience a similar college experience that I had 30 years ago at that now unaffordable (for out-of-state) school up north!
Ohio State has come a long ways that’s for sure. It still is, in my opinion, not quite at the level of Wisconsin or Illinois.
There is little that separates all these schools as far as rankings goes. These are all tier 2 schools when it comes to Public Universities and both Illinois and Wisconsin are having budget issues.
@collegisago I know your original post is old, but I’m curious to know which school you chose? My daughter was actually attended Miami last year for her freshman year but transferred to OSU this past fall. Both are very good schools; however, Miami just was not a good fit for her at all.