Program Enrichment

Your program experience goes well beyond coursework through a wide range of opportunities to enhance your learning and sharpen your analytical and soft skills. Fisher’s SMF program offers a customized professional development workshop, an Applied Finance Speaker Series, as well as opportunities to participate in field trips and case competitions. Students also engage in several of the student organizations on Fisher campus, such as the SMF Leadership Council and Fisher’s Graduate Finance Association. Our SMF Alumni Mentor program will pair you with an alum who will provide guidance and advice as you navigate your studies and employment search. Visit the My Fisher Grad Life blogs to keep up with what our SMF students are doing this year.

SMF ALUMNI MENTOR PROGRAM

Students are assigned a mentor from the extensive SMF alumni network in the U.S. and abroad. Mentors offer guidance and advice throughout a student’s studies and assist students in growing their alumni and professional network as they explore employment opportunities.

ENGAGEMENT WITH FISHER CENTERS

To broaden your understanding of finance and learn from professionals, you will be encouraged to affiliate with Fisher’s Centers, such as Risk Institute, Center for Real Estate, and National Center for the Middle Market. By participating in their conferences, panel discussions, and speaker events, you will network and learn from experienced professionals about the recent trends and policy debates occurring in finance. View the annual report(s) to see what our Fisher Centers have accomplished over the past year.

CFA MEMBERSHIP

If your goal is to pursue a career in investment management, you can join the CFA Society of Columbus as a student member. Membership gives you access to more than 400 members representing all major institutional investment firms in the Greater Columbus area and opportunities to attend speaker and networking events organized by the local society.

APPLIED FINANCE SPEAKER SERIES

Bridge the gap between theory and practice through the SMF Speaker Series. Experienced professionals from all areas of finance present in our monthly series and interact with small groups of students in a lunch meeting following a presentation. Learn from CFOs, portfolio managers, investment bankers, equity analysts, and others from a growing professional community in Columbus and regular visitors from New York, Chicago, and other major cities.

CASE COMPETITIONS

You can put your skills to a test by participating in a case competition. SMF students participate in the annual CFA Research Challenge, an international event where teams from schools around the world compete in presenting equity analyst reports to finance professionals. You can also join Fisher MBA and students from other colleges in the ACG Mergers & Acquisitions Case Competition, the Fisher Risk Management Association Case Competition, the ULI Hines Case Competition in Real Estate, or the Rotman International Trading Competition.

FIELD TRIPS

Expand your horizons by participating in one of several opportunities offered to Fisher graduate students to visit New York City, Silicon Valley, Chicago, or take a trip to Omaha, Nebraska to meet with Warren Buffett. If you are interested in an overseas experience, you can participate in one of several Global Business Expeditions during spring break to places such as Israel, Brazil, Singapore or Cuba.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Through SMF’s customized Professional Development course, you will develop soft skills in areas such as communications, networking, and project management. Opportunities to apply these skills through projects and customized networking events, such as the annual SMF Alumni Reception, allow students to build confidence as they prepare to start their careers.

STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

The Ohio State University provides over 1,300 student organizations with a wide range of opportunities for students to get involved. Within the Fisher College of Business community, the student activities are as varied as the students themselves. With Fisher's 20+ student organizations, you can join a variety of associations based on business focus areas, service to the community, and other common interests. You are sure to find a group that suits your interests and aspirations.