Editor's Note: BusinessWeek collected graduate comments in 2000 during its ranking of full-time MBA programs. The next ranking is scheduled for fall, 2002.
Fisher College of Business facilitated a very good MBA experience for me, however there is room for improvement in the areas of entreprenuership and in minority recruitment and retention. Throughout my tenure at Fisher College, the program was responsive and proactive to the concerns of the students and I believe that the program will continue to improve based on these two qualities. -- Operations
GO BUCKS! I credit the Fisher College of Business with doing a fine job of instilling the confidence and business foundation that I needed in order to boost my career and get out of the glass-ceiling pigeon-hole rut that I was stuck in. I got a $40,000 raise thanks to OSU/FCOB. I will tell EVERYONE that I know who is interested in business studies that OSU is the best investment they could possibly make for their lives -- especially considering the quality of the program one gets for the low price tag! --Marketing
For the money, Ohio State is one of the best MBA programs in the country. Great facilities, faculty and teaching. --Finance
The program needs a lot of work on the placement service front. Most international students barely get any service from this office, although the school's average GMAT, number of years worked before school etc. are boosted higher mainly due to admittance of these students. The school needs to enroll a diverse variety of American students since majority of the American students are either from Ohio, or the Midwest region. --Consulting
Ohio State seems to have a good faculty but not everyone is good at actually teaching and many of the faculty, it is widely believed, do not want to even teach the MBAs. In the first year the students placed far too much emphasis placed on grades and not enough on learning and that hurt the classroom experience. The core curriculum really needs to be integrated better so students can get a feel of the interrelations between subject areas, e.g. finance and accounting and operations. The administration is well-intentioned and very responsive but they are far too bureaucratic and disorganized. Career services glad-hands the students when it comes to resume and interview preparation compared to other schools I am aware of. They also seem to pad their recruiting statistics by telling students that companies X, Y, and Z recruit on campus when in fact only Company X wants to interview MBAs while companies Y and Z are there for undergrads only (the career services office serves both the undergraduate and graduate schools of business). The school is only just putting together a database of alumni who would be willing to help students in their job searches. I got much more help in this regard by going directly to faculty members than I did from career services. --Anonymous
Dean Alutto is doing all the right things to make Fisher a top program. The core classes had inconsistent teaching and the dean addressed this concern. The best teaching from the core classes came from a visiting professor that taught the finance class. The professor and the students both expressed wishes to the administration for him to stay. The finance department overruled the offer on the grounds that his research didn't coincide with the school's. Dean Alutto, who was unable to convince the finance department to agree with him and keep this professor, found an alternate way to keep this professor teaching at Fisher. In addition, the school has hired an unprecedented number of top professors to provide the Fisher school with its best teaching it has ever had. --Investment Banking
I really believe that the administration and the school are heading in the right direction. The new classroom and office buildings help to attract higher quality professors and higher quality students. We've seen GMAT scores and the quality of applicants go up in recent years. The administration has made an effort to listen to students' needs. They've introduced more than nine new electives based upon student input (i.e. e-commerce) and this is because our MBA Programs Director Jay Barney really wants to improve the MBA program. They've even hired a lot of new, diverse talented faculty. If anything, the program needs to bulk up on its international business and e-commerce course offerings. The program is lacking in these two areas. --Human Resources
I believe strongly that the new facilities contributed significantly to the success and strength of the program. Having gone to Ohio State for my undergraduate degree (studying business in the old business school) I can appreciate the impact our building has had on many areas. With classes all in one building (which includes a large computer lab) interaction with fellow classmates has been enhanced, as well as the quality of speakers, and the general atmosphere. Additionally I believe that the class size is another plus for our program. Total enrollment for my class, the full-time program, averaged about 145 students. This strengthened interaction between professors, students, speakers and the administration. Overall, I was very pleased with the 'bang for the buck' that I received. --Entrepreneurship
Ohio State also has one of the best international travel programs. This past year I was able to visit South Africa through an emerging market field studies class. Ohio State's biggest strengths is not cranking out business plans, but being able to perform tasks in a team environment. I learned more about how to work with teams using analytical, presentation, and [organizational behavior] skills. These are a solid foundation for me to obtain my career goals. --Operations
Ohio State offers a small, intense program that will give you the best bang for your buck of any of the Top 25 business schools. The small program enables you to know everyone, and the finance and strategy faculty are second-to-none. The small program makes Ohio State a good laboratory for interpersonal skills because everybody knows you and news travels fast around the program. Funding opportunities are also available for everyone. I received a great job at a Fortune 100 company and have no debt! I couldn't have had this experience anywhere else. --Finance
It elevated my views and at the same time, provided solid tools to manage where the rubber meets the road. --Investment Banking
I believe that The Ohio State University provides a good value for the tuition spent. The instruction was outstanding, and the professors, for the most part, genuinely cared about preparing students. I was part of the first entrepreneurship class, which was an outstanding experience. --Finance
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Copyright 2001 , by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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