Top colleges are incredibly competitive. This is a well known phenomenon, as is the fact that certain majors and fields of study are more competitive about others. We鈥檝e written before about the most popular majors, but there is a question that comes up again and again from students who seek to pursue them: how should they prepare in high school to showcase their desire to pursue these majors at top colleges.
For some majors, this is straightforward, even if it isn鈥檛 necessarily easy. There are many research programs for students interested in medicine, competitions for students passionate about engineering. For students interested in business, however, things are trickier. There are far fewer easy pathways to get involved at the high school level, and far fewer simple ways to demonstrate their passion.
In this article, we鈥檙e going to explore how high school students can build their profile to apply to business programs at top colleges. We鈥檒l look at what extracurriculars they should pursue, how they should spend their summers, and what these universities are looking for specifically. Let鈥檚 jump right in!
What a Good Business Profile Looks Like
Admissions officers are looking for certain things from applicants. Some of these are general; all applicants should have strong grades and high standardized test scores. Others, however, are more specific. Top colleges want to see that you were passionate about something in particular. If you are applying to a competitive major (such as business) that passion should be tied to your intended major.
We also want to note that many top colleges don鈥檛 have official business majors; out of the Ivy League, only Cornell and Penn do. This advice holds true for students interested in studying economics, applied math, or statistics with an eventual interest in a career in the business world as well.
For any students in this position, here is what top colleges expect to see when they examine your application:
- High grades. They are particularly looking at your math scores. You should take calculus in high school; you can take statistics as well, but if you have to choose one, take calculus.听
- Test scores. These are a standard requirement for these schools. Exceptional scores won鈥檛 get you in, but they are expected for all serious applicants.听
- Essays. You should be able to clearly articulate your passion for a certain field, and be able to show (with examples and evidence) how you have engaged with it in the past. Colleges do not care about your future dreams of being a business leader, they want to know why you want to learn these principles now.
- Extracurriculars. Admissions officers want to see how you have actively pursued your passions in high school, through whatever opportunities are available to you, and the values you have developed by doing so.听
The last of these is the most difficult, and this is what we are going to spend most of the rest of this article discussing.
High School Extracurriculars for Business Students
There is no singular correct extracurricular you can take part in to wow admissions officers and secure your place as a business major. We will go through some of the options available, and detail what each of them requires, so you can see which most appeals to you. Note that unlike many other potential fields of study, there are far fewer preset options for business students, and pursuing these will often take far more work and creativity on your part.
High School Clubs
Joining or starting a high school club related to business is a good low-level commitment, a way to dip your toes in the water and see if this is the kind of thing which interests you. This is a good way to build community in your high school, and can lead to interesting opportunities, such as hosting speakers or networking events, or leading seminars for your fellow students. As far as activities go, this is a good way to show community commitment, and is a good choice for freshmen to get involved with.
Stock Trading
Trading in stocks as an amateur has a much lower barrier of entry than it used to, but this isn鈥檛 necessarily a good idea for a budding entrepreneur. We advise simulations first, and learning all you can about the market, before jumping in without knowing what you are doing.
There are a number of online courses you can take on stock trading; we advise focusing on those offered by universities on reputable platforms, such as or . There are many self-proclaimed gurus on Youtube and elsewhere who claim to have mastered the secrets of the market, but their advice is rarely worth much.
Building and maintaining a small portfolio of stocks over time can be impressive if managed well. The goal here is to show your interest in understanding the market and the deeper principles at play. Making money is good as well, but that serves mostly as a demonstration of competence, an external validation of what you have learned.
Competitions
There are a small and limited number of business competitions available, and these are much less impressive than their counterparts in the sciences or engineering. You can partake in these, and they add a nice note to a profile, but they are not where you should focus your main efforts, for they are not terribly impressive for universities. We discuss a number of business-related competitions here.
Internships
Internships are one of the best ways to build a business profile for college admissions; the trick is finding a good one. You can read our general guide to finding an internship here, but we want to elaborate on what makes one particularly suitable to build the profile of a business student.
You do not specifically need to be working in finance or accounting or other strictly market-focused fields in your internship. Working at a startup or in an industry you find interesting works just as well. What鈥檚 really important is what you learn from doing so, the soft and hard skills you acquire. You should also be able to show off your contributions to the company, how things there were meaningfully improved by your presence and efforts.
Quality internships can be hard to find; these are generally set up through personal connections and networking. Standardized internship pathways generally only exist for college students, with little available for high schoolers. This is part of what makes a significant internship so impressive to colleges, for they know the work required to land one. You can pursue an internship during the school year or the summer, but longer term commitments do more to raise your profile. You should aim for an accomplishment of this caliber by the summer after your junior year.
Starting a Business
Starting a business is hard, but if you have an entrepreneurial spirit, it can be a great way to demonstrate your drive and passion to admissions officers. Starting a full business can be a complicated affair, and we don鈥檛 suggest going into this blindly; begin with a concept, plan carefully, and get advice and input from your parents. You don鈥檛 want to waste your time or money, or worse yet, end up on the wrong side of the IRS.
Starting a business is impressive because it is a practical thing, and often teaches you many lessons outside of what you can expect. Hard work and resilience are traits colleges look for in students, along with the drive to create something new. Most students will struggle with this, but if you have a solid idea and can make a good business plan, this can be something worth pursuing.
Doing Research
This is more applicable to students who are interested in economics, but it is a good way to showcase your intellectual vitality to colleges, your desire to pursue knowledge for its own sake. Economics is a particularly tricky discipline for high school students to enter, even amongst the other social sciences, but publishing your work in a high school journal still shows a depth of understanding and commitment.
Working
Having a job isn鈥檛 usually thought of as an ideal way to impress colleges (though many do appreciate students who have done an honest day鈥檚 work), but it is particularly useful for students interested in business. After all, what better way to understand how a business operates than by being inside one as it operates, what better way to understand the value of money than by working for it?
The benefits come regardless of the work you do; waiting tables and flipping burgers can give you valuable insights. This is particularly true because high school students generally can鈥檛 get hired to do accounting or manage sales; if you get an internship covering those topics, excellent, but otherwise, a simple job can grant many of the same benefits.
A Note on Hospitality
As a final note, if you are looking at a program which focuses on hospitality management (notably, Cornell鈥檚 ), then your profile will need to include experience in hospitality specifically. This generally takes the form of working experience, though internships are also common.
The summer after your junior year is often the best time to pursue these opportunities; child labor laws make doing so earlier in high school quite difficult. This is something you should think about when deciding on your future goals in business. Note that working in hospitality does prepare you for other business-related majors, but the reverse is not true.
Final Thoughts
There is no single 鈥漴ight鈥� profile to have as a student interested in applying for a business major, but many different pieces you can put together into a unified whole. You can and should have extracurriculars outside of business as well, but we hope this article has given you insight into what admissions officers expect to see from competitive applicants, and how best you can give that to them.
If you鈥檙e looking for help finding the right activities for you to pursue in high school, or aren鈥檛 sure how to get started on your path to a business degree, 吃瓜官网 can make your life easier. Our mentors are experts at every aspect of the admissions process, from finding the best activities to crafting the best essays to tell your story. Schedule a free consultation today to learn more, we鈥檙e always happy to hear from you.
