The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business came in at No. 80 in this year’s rankings. The Fisher College improved seven spots from last year’s 87th-place finish with an acceptance rate this year of 61.13% and an average SAT score of 1308.
Employment-wise, Fisher College saw a slight dip with 81.82% of its Class of 2020 securing full-time employment within three months of graduation, down roughly four percentage points from last year’s 85.19%. Internship outcomes remained strong with 96% of the Class of 2020 landing business-focused internships before graduating, unchanged from last year. The B-school also received high ratings from alumni who gave a strong 9.0 average rating when asked if they believed their business degree assisted them in climbing to a new socioeconomic status. However, Fisher did not meet the minimum alumni response rate, so it did not receive a full score in the academic experience methodological category.
Fisher College offers a business education that emphasizes real-world learning. The B-school’s quality faculty, strong honors program, and unique experiential learning opportunities are a few of the aspects that make Fisher College worth considering.
QUALITY FACULTY
Fisher College offers one degree: a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. Students, however, can choose from 14 different specializations including Accounting, Business Management, Aviation Management, Economics, Finance, Human Resources, Information Systems, Insurance, International Business, Logistics Management, Marketing, Operations Management, Real Estate, and Special Area.
Faculty received positive remarks from surveyed alumni who rated the quality of teaching in business courses an 8.6 average rating. Alumni also rated faculty availability for informal discussions and mentoring outside of class a strong 9.1 average rating.
“I felt that the undergraduate professors challenged us in a way that few schools did, and also were extremely effective at teaching material,” one 2018 alum told us.
HONORS COHORT PROGRAM
The Honors Cohort program at Fisher College is a selective leadership program for 60 select students. A two-year experience, the program focuses on four pillars including action-based learning, service, global business acumen, and leadership and teamwork.
The program is unique in that it, in many ways, offers an MBA-like experience for accomplished undergraduate students through its intensive curriculum, leadership development, and unique opportunities. The cohort experience features company consulting projects, domestic business trips to Chicago and San Francisco, community service projects, international business trips, and leadership opportunities — to name a few.
“After graduating and working for an employer that recruits almost solely from Ivy League universities, I’ve heard my colleagues’ undergrad experiences, and I strongly believe that the Honors Cohort Program is the best undergraduate Honors business program in the country,” one 2018 alum said. “The program’s ability to bring intellectual rigor, experiential learning, community service, alumni and corporate engagement, global experiences, and lifelong friendships all into one program is truly unparalleled.”
“[The Honors Cohort Program] provided countless opportunities to learn from high-achieving peers, travel to meet and network with professionals from countless different industries, hone my soft skills, and even prepare for crisis type situations that will occur within my career,” said another 2018 alum.
REAL-WORLD EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Fisher College emphasizes real-world learning with a number of opportunities, both in and out of the classroom, for students to apply their business knowledge.
The Six Sigma Green Belt project is a prime example of the type of experiential learning at Fisher College. Six Sigma, famously utilized by General Electric, is a set of techniques and tools utilized to improve a process. At Fisher College, undergraduates have a unique opportunity to learn these techniques and tools by working on projects for local companies. Upon completion, students can earn Lean Six Sigma Belt certifications.
“I was engaged in an MRP Simulation and a SixSigma Green Belt project and they were both very well run and taught a lot about project management and how to apply class learnings to the real and simulated world,” one 2018 alum recalled.
Outside of Six Sigma, a number of courses across Fisher College majors also provide strong, real-world learning opportunities for students. Surveyed 2018 alumni highlighted a variety of experiential projects that they say gave them a real-world understanding of their field — from marketing to entrepreneurship.
“For my marketing capstone course, we were tasked with creating and presenting a full-service marketing plan for Root Insurance Company,” one 2018 alum reported. “This provided a level of real-world experience that is unmatched. I have been able to take that experience and bring it to the table when working with major partners of Stewart-Haas Racing on a daily basis.”
“My minor, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, provided me with the opportunity to ideate and launch a start-up in a mock academic environment as a capstone project,” another 2018 alum said. “This project was guided by two university faculty that were venture capitalists by trade, and they taught me how to think like a scrappy start-up CEO. I now work for an exciting, high-growth technology start-up, and I owe a massive debt of gratitude to my university and its faculty for instilling in me the entrepreneurial spirit that led me here.”
Real-world learning is at the heart of the Fisher College experience. Whether it’s through the MBA-like honors program or one of the many experiential learning projects, Fisher students are masters of their trade by the time they graduate into the real world.
Alumni say:
“I was a member of the Dean’s Leadership Academy and the Fisher Leadership Initiative. Both of these were experiential leadership learning opportunities that, I believe, prepared me more for the working world than did my core courses.”
“I worked within the Business School prior to my final year of Undergrad and was given the opportunity to partner with faculty on various projects, including a research project centered around data mining of Pharmaceutical companies.”
“I was involved in the Buckeye Undergraduate Consulting Club (BUCC) through the Fisher College of Business where we partnered with real companies to solve various business problems.”
WHERE THE CLASS OF 2020 WENT TO WORK:
- JPMorgan Chase – 48
- EY – 34
- PwC – 33
- Abercrombie & Fitch – 24
- Deloitte – 28
- KPMG – 21
- Crowe – 18
- Amazon – 16
- L Brands – 15
- RSM US LLP – 14
