Miami University’s Farmer School of Business has held strong in the rankings year after year. They placed No. 33 in this year’s 2023 rankings, down only one place from last year’s No. 32. The B-school has seen a slight increase in selectivity, with a 76.11% acceptance rate for the Class of 2023 as compared to last year’s 78.05%. The Class of 2023 had an average SAT score of 1240, down from last year’s 1273. Of the three methodological categories, the B-School did the best in Academic Experience, scoring 13th. They scored 33rd in Career Outcomes, and 55th in Admissions.
The Class of 2021 saw a higher internship rate at 90.45% for the Class of 2023 as compared to 85.20% for the Class of 2021. Although internship rates were up, employment rates went down slightly from the Class of 2021’s impressive rate of 99.32% to 94.68% for the Class of 2023.
The Farmer School of Business (FSB) offers a foundational, goal-oriented business education with a variety of hands-on opportunities for students to explore their potential. 100% of all FSB students participate in hands-on learning, starting their first year.
FIRST-YEAR INTEGRATED CORE
FSB students can choose from eight different disciplines including Accountancy, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Information Systems & Analytics, Human Capital Management and Leadership, Marketing, and Supply Chain & Operations Management.
Every first-year business student works with real business clients as part of the First Year Integrated Core curriculum. The FSB business education is designed around five key learning goals – Critical & Creative Thinking, Technology, Communication & Collaboration, Globalization and Diversity, and Ethics, which help lay the groundwork for everything students engage in during their time at Farmer.
Alumni rate their FSB education relatively well. Surveyed 2019 alumni gave an 9.2 average rating for the quality of teaching in FSB business courses and a 9.3 average rating in terms of faculty availability for informal discussions and mentoring outside of class. Alumni also gave a strong 9.5 average rating in recommending the FSB business program to a close friend or colleague interested in an undergraduate business degree.
“Every possible interview question an employer asks you, the First-Year Integrated Core sets you up to answer them – to think critically about your role in a team and how the people you work with will impact you and your development,” says a current FSB student.
Another current student said, “We are getting the opportunity to talk to people in the real world and see how our ideas actually play out and how realistic they are. They get to see what the next generation is working on, what they’re doing, how they can use our ideas to stimulate theirs. I think we both get a lot out of it.”
NEARLY 80% ENGAGE IN SIGNATURE EXPERIENCE
One of the main benefits of the FSB program is the sheer number of opportunities for students to explore their potential and apply their knowledge. Some 77.78% of surveyed 2019 alumni reported engaging in a “signature experience” that was a key part of their business learning whether through project work, global immersion trip, or capstone.
One 2018 alumni said she had three different capstone experiences during her time at the FSB. In one of the capstone projects, she drove a net-new customer acquisition strategy for a large alcoholic beverage company and had the opportunity to fly out to Napa Valley, California and present to the brand leaders. The company eventually implemented her team’s strategy four months later.
“All [capstones] were real, tangible experiences which built my knowledge, experience, and confidence to excel in a business career,” the 2018 alumni told us.
Another 2018 alumni, whose team also traveled to Napa, highlighted the real-world experience of the capstone project.
“The client interaction, high level strategic work, primary customer research, degree of teamwork, and final client presentation all provided a very realistic consulting experience that helped prepare me for the work I now do every day as a consultant,” the 2018 alumni said.
These kinds of real, tangible experiences are widespread in every business discipline at Farmer. For instance, the “Entrepreneurial Consulting” course features a full three-week client project where students use creative problem solving, design thinking and other applied creativity tools to create innovative solutions. The J-term trip includes a week in the Bay Area where students travel to San Francisco to meet with leading creatives and innovative companies and present their solutions to the client.
“It’s so important to get that real world experience early on because this is exactly what the world is going to look like once we leave,” said a current student. “The P&G Case Competition was all collaborative, and about taking existing problems and how can we think outside of the box and solve them. I think it really simulates what the real world will look like and gives us a glimpse into our professional goals and what achieving those professional goals will look like.”
“My West Monroe Partners case competition team found itself heavily relying on the inter-disciplinary curriculum we have learned throughout the Farmer School of Business. We learned more about industries and fields of study we normally would not learn about due to our specific concentrations. This experience gave us a glimpse about the analytical mindset and the intricacies required to operate a successful business,” said another current student.
“The San Francisco Digital Innovation program was life-changing,” another 2018 alumni said. “I spent a semester in SF with a cohort. 80% of the time was spent working for startups through internships, and 20% was a capstone class. I found my love of product management through this program and it launched my career.”
At the FSB, students are given a strong, goal-oriented foundation in business. No matter what path or discipline FSB students choose to pursue, they are given a variety of experiential opportunities to gain real-world experience and excel in their chosen career.
Alumni say:
“My entrepreneurship capstone was integral to my experience. The class pushed students to find compelling problems in their life and the world and to apply lean business tactics to build innovative, marketable solutions. Lastly, we were provided the opportunity to pitch our start-ups to an investor cohort of 75+ alumni, founders, and other professionals.”
“One business experience I recall specifically was a project management class with a start to finish project management exercise. One of my first assignments after graduating was managing two different system implementations. The things I learned at school were instrumental in helping me excel as a project manager.”
“I had numerous client projects throughout my time at Miami working with companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Abbott Nutrition, E&J Gallo and more. I was chosen to attend Ad Week as well as a P&G hackathon and won both competitions with the teams I was on. These opportunities gave me invaluable experience working with employers in real life settings, while also giving me the chance to expand my professional network. These experiences greatly increased my confidence as a job candidate.”
“My senior capstone was a client project with the Kellogg marketing team. It was so exciting to get that experience with one of the most well-known companies in the world and get the opportunity to interact with Kellogg executives on a regular basis as an undergrad.”
“My entrepreneurship capstone was an incredible experience, as we ended up winning our startup competition and almost pursued continuing with the concept after being funded by investors. As a finance major already having a job, I never would’ve expected this to happen during my senior year. Pleasant surprises like this, where Farmer students create their own luck in a sense, are what make Miami such an exceptional school. The tight-knit network helps tremendously, of course, and Farmer sets up its students with both interpersonal and technical skills needed to succeed.”
