Miami’s Farmer School of Business ranks within top 20 in nation, but do students care?

The Farmer School of Business (FSB) is on a roll.

After all, it was named the best business school in Ohio and ranks within the top 20 in the nation, according to college review site Poet & Quants.

Jenny Darroch, dean of the Farmer School of Business, said both its commitment to detail and students are a factor in the high rankings.

“FSB stands out because of the intentional way we blend academic excellence, a supportive

community and career readiness,” Darroch wrote in an email to The Miami Student. “We offer the resources and rigor of a top-tier business school with the personal attention of a smaller college.”

So why aren’t FSB students singing its praises?

Micheal Layton, a junior accounting major, is one of the students unsure if they care about the rankings.

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Layton is the vice president of new member education at Alpha Kappa Psi, a business fraternity, and the president of his fraternity’s in-house consulting firm, East Bridge Consultancy. He said Farmer ill-prepares its students for the real world's competitive job market.

“A lot of what we learn might not be the most applicable to careers, and what [students] actually are going to do,” Layton said. “In order to succeed in a lot of the jobs I would consider, that people want to go into, Farmer doesn’t really provide the resources for.”

This is a sentiment echoed by Courson Kauffman, a junior finance major and vice president of the banking club, commercial banking club and the business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi.

“Candidly, I don’t get a ton out of the classes,” Kauffman said, though he did add that his experience has been “overall positive.”

“I mean, I feel like you can always pick apart any school, but at the end of the day, it's hard to compare it to an Ivy – you're paying a third of the price,” Kauffman said.

Darroch added that FSB students “tend to thrive on [FSB’s] outcomes-based approach that favors professional development and applied learning.”

This includes a “deeply engaged faculty,” access to career coaching and global programs.

Despite all of this, both Kauffman and Layton agreed that their most valuable lessons have come from their extracurriculars.

“It takes clubs and other outside resources to prepare you [for the job market],” Layton said. “The people who really place well are placed out of clubs, because [the club] has people who know how to go through recruitment and provide you with resources needed. It certainly helped me.”

When it comes to how FSB’s rankings help them in the job hunt, Kauffman and Layton have mixed feelings. While both agree FSB is not a “target school” – an institution that top firms look to recruit undergraduates from – they differ in how that has affected their prospects.

“We’re like the opposite of a target school,” Layton said. “[FSB] is just not on these companies’ radar, and it can be a huge disadvantage.”

He adds that while it’s not impossible to get a good internship, Farmer students have to work a lot harder, often “fighting tooth and nail” for the small number of non-target school spots.

Kauffman, on the other hand, thinks that ranks matter less than personal efforts.

“[School rankings] are a stereotype that I don’t like,” he said. “We still go to a great institution that gives you great opportunities if you’re willing to go and seek them [out].”

Part of seeking out opportunities is access to professors.

Layton said while some instructors can be detached, most are open to helping their students, such as the time when his marketing professor connected him to a partner at one of his dream companies.

For new students, these mixed reviews of FSB, combined with a competitive applicant pool and general stress of adjusting to college life, can feel overwhelming.

Layton said the best advice for new FSB students is to try everything, and Kauffman emphasized making personal connections.

“Just go out and talk to people, see what you like or don’t like,” Kauffman said. “That’s the best way to find out what you want to do.”

For Darroch, advice looks like reassuring FSB students that they’re here for a reason.

“You belong here, and we’re here to help you succeed,” Darroch said. “Don’t be afraid to ask questions, take risks, or fail forward. Farmer is full of opportunities, but you must take the initiative.”

greenpt@miamioh.edu