Undergraduate Programs
Finance Honors Program
Questions to Ask Yourself
Do you want to take a step toward becoming a financial leader that's ready to handle tomorrow’s challenges and shape the future of global markets?
Do you want to work with and learn from world-class faculty while surrounding yourself with tremendous peers who share and will contribute to that same mission?
About the Program
Finance Honors is a two-year holistic program that educates and develops future business leaders. The program attracts high-performing, driven, and diverse students in the finance specialization. Students expand their qualitative and quantitative skills, while sharpening their abilities in areas such as data modeling and analysis, real-world business problem solving, critical thinking and influencing, global markets, and service driven leadership. The Finance Honors Program will prepare you to land – and thrive in – the highest-quality internships and prestigious post-graduation employment.
Students are selected through a competitive application process during Spring semester of their sophomore year.
A Diverse and Dynamic Community
Have exposure to and benefit from diversity in classmates and alumni’s background.
- Smaller class-size with highly motivated peers
- Challenging coursework with experiential learning
- Exclusive networking opportunities
- On-site visits with business leaders and engaged alumni
- Multiple opportunities to strengthen leadership skills
- Unique opportunity to be mentored by financial professionals
- A rare Wall Street experience to gain insights into the financial industry plus exposure to a multitude of cultures
- Community service opportunities through a Capstone Project
Languages
- French
- Hindi
- Urdu
- Turkish
- Mandarin
- Spanish
- Italian
- Marathi
- Chinese
- English
Minors
- Economics
- Chinese
- History
- Computer Science
- Mathematics
- Business Analytics
- Political Science
- Nonprofit Management
- Entrepreneurship & Innovation
- Professional Writing
Guest Speakers
Honors Finance students will be provided many opportunities on campus and in the classroom to hear and gain real world knowledge from financial career professionals. These professionals span from both the private and public sector.
Mentoring Program
The goal of the Honors Finance Mentor Program is to foster a successful mentoring relationship between students and finance professionals. The program matches students and volunteer mentors based on areas of expertise and students’ particular needs and career interests. Mentors will be tasked with the following throughout this program:
- Use their knowledge /career expertise to guide a student.
- Share/discuss career tracks and career lessons learned.
- Help students understand the relevance of their academic studies.
- Teach students what tasks and issues executives face.
- Discuss attributes/experiences companies are looking for in potential candidates.
Experiences Beyond the Classroom
Finance Honors Students are provided the opportunity to travel to domestic financial centers such as to Wall Street in New York City. Students will gain insights into the financial industry, its unique culture, how different roles and functions work together, and meet with local Ohio State Alumni.
Capstone Project
Students will be tasked with a final project that highlights their skills as a future leader in finance as well as
analytical thinking and a problem solving. In the finance honors program’s Capstone project, you will work
with a non-profit organization to learn how they define their mission and make their mission work.
Core Finance courses
- Tailored academic curriculum with hands on experience.
- In-depth application using Bloomberg and other leading financial software (i.e. Excel).
- Learn with the world-class instructors.
- Case-based teaching.
- Group projects/simulations with real-world
Seminars with industry guest speakers and consulting work for nonprofit organizations to sharpen skills in following areas:
- Analytical Reasoning
- Business Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking and Communication
- Developing Leadership and Influence
Fall Semester of sophomore year, students majoring in Finance with at least a 3.5 GPA are sent an e-mail from the director indicating that they are invited to apply to the Finance Honors Program. If you did not receive this invitation but believe you meet the qualifications for the program, send an e-mail to Finance Honors Director, Prof. Pirim.
Spring of the students Sophomore year, students will submit an online application that is available on through the Fisher College of Business website to the Finance Honors program. Students must indicate that their first choice is Finance Honors, if that is their intent. The student must accept their first choice, if the Director of that program admits them.
Applicants must complete the following prerequisite classes (by the end of Spring semester) in order to apply. Honors versions recommended when offered.
- Math 1131, 1151, or 1161
- Econ 2001.01 or 2001.03H and Econ 2002.01 or 2002.03H
- ACCTMIS 2200 or 2200H and ACCTMIS 2300 or 2300H
- BUSMHR 2292 or 2292H
- CSE 2111
- Stat 1430 or 1430H (or 1450/2450 EM credit)
- BUSOBA 2320 and BUSOBA 2321
- *BUSFIN 3220 (required for Finance Honors) with a minimum grade of A- required.
*BUSFIN 3220 can be taken during Spring Semester of Sophomore Year and your acceptance will be conditional that the minimum grade requirement is met.
Additional Application Requirements:
- Current Resume
- Current Advising Report
- 250-500 word response to an Essay Prompt
- 1-2 minute Personal Video response to a provided question
To graduate with Honors in Finance, students must complete each of the following:
- Completion of Finance Honors Curriculum
- Complete the nine (9) courses in the curriculum while maintaining at least an overall GPA of 3.5, a 3.5 GPA in your specialization area, and a 3.5 in your Finance Honors classes.
- Complete at least 3 additional honors or upper-division (4000-level) courses.
Finance Honors Curriculum and Graduation Requirements Sheet (Before Au 2023)
Finance Honors Curriculum and Graduation Requirements Sheet (Since Au 2023)
Finance Honors Contact Information
Questions?
Birsel Pirim, Ph.D.
Finance Honors Faculty Director
Fisher Hall 242
pirim.1@osu.edu
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2100 Neil Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210