From the Director

Dear Prospective IBE Honors Student:

The Ohio State University Integrated Business and Engineering Honors Program is a challenging program that aims to leverage the complementary skills of business and engineering management professionals. We seek critical thinkers who are interested in devising economically and technically sound solutions to real-world problems. We value rigorous problem formulation and solution frameworks and ask our students to move beyond intuition by using these frameworks to develop and test novel solutions to complex problems. 

Our students exhibit many of the characteristics of other high-quality honors programs. In recent years, the average composite ACT score of our applicants has been over 32 and the average SAT scores of our applicants have been over 700 (average verbal over 700, average mathematics over 740, and average writing over 730). Our applicants also come to campus with several advanced placement exams— on average, our applicants have scored 4 or higher on five or more AP tests. While our students compare well on these and other standard assessments of accomplishment, the most important characteristics associated with IBE Honors students are their openness to learning. IBE students understand that aspects of many of society’s grand challenges are “VUCA” (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) and many are eager to apply rigorous business and engineering tools to address grand challenges.

Our program helps students to develop an understanding of the differences between a business and engineering mindset. Our seminars emphasize the importance of developing structured approaches to addressing business problems with “fuzzy” choice sets and unclear criteria and the importance of leading and motivating individuals who may have different preferences or perspectives. The best IBE students design solutions that balance the needs of multiple constituents. Our students exhibit emotional awareness (authenticity, self-awareness, interpersonal skills) and analytic ability (critical reasoning and judgment skills).

IBE students often exhibit an interest in interacting with other motivated and talented students. Our graduates often mention the importance of their “cohort experience.” While IBE students work independently, they push each other to participate in active discussion. Inside the classroom, this interest manifests itself in debates regarding alternative solutions to complex business problems and essay-type exams. Rote learning is simply not part of the program. Many develop deep friendships within the program and continue to contribute to the program as young alumni. Additionally, the IBE Student leadership team provides several extra-curricular activities to nurture this network of talented young professionals.  

The IBE program at Ohio State offers an attractive starting point for many talented students. Our program has historically been of particular interest to students exploring careers in management consulting, entrepreneurship, new product development, and graduate education. However, it is useful to note that IBE increases the range of career options for our graduates. As our students refine their understanding of business and engineering (and the overlap across these functions), they often perceive and explore new and unexpected career options. If what we have to offer appeals to you, I encourage you to learn more about the IBE Program. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by email or phone.

Yours truly,

Michael