Finance, entrepreneurship, marketing, management: there are so many different parts of business and chances are, you’re interested in at least one of them. With so many potential business-y paths for you to go down, you’re probably overwhelmed on just exactly how to build an application that proves you’re cut out for business school. We’ve got your back, just keep reading.
Some bad (well, not bad bad) news, business programs are among the most competitive ones to get into at all colleges, not just at the tippy-top tier. Popularity = competition, so it's time to start crafting an academic profile that screams, "I'm the next Mark Zuckerberg minus the whole dropping out of college thing." Colleges like to see that you’ve taken steps to realize your academic dreams, so let’s jump right in on how to do exactly that:
Learn Everything You Can
It’s time to crack some spines (books) (don’t snap your laptop in half, please) and enroll in some extra classes Platforms like Coursera, The Great Courses, and Yale Open Courses are treasure troves of business basics and even more advanced topics. Thankfully, every business leader seems to have written a book these days, so that’s an easy list of reads for you to start working on. Don’t forget to get plugged into business news: newspapers, magazines, trade publications, podcasts, etc. are all good ways to keep on top of the happenings in your future field. You can also look into summer programs that cater to business-student-hopefuls (there are a ton out there).
Build a Niche
Once you've absorbed a treasure trove of business knowledge, it's time to narrow your focus. It’s not enough to be just “business”, you need to pick something and go a little deeper. If you’re interested in finance, take it a level deeper. Maybe you’re mostly interested in investing, but after some research you think real estate investing is more your thing. More research might lead you to a convergence of public policy and real esate investing and how that works hand in hand with affordable housing initiatives. Create your funnel and start getting deeper!
And a word to the wise: entrepreneurship is more of a personality trait than a studyable topic. We find that students who want to start businesses will just, like, go do that, so we recommend diving deep into something like marketing or management to help you learn the skills you’d need to get further along.
Join or Start Clubs
If your school has any business clubs, join them. If they don’t, or don’t have ones tailored to your niche, start them. This could be Female Entrepreneurs, Future Investment Bankers, or Accounting Afficianados, it’s all about proving that you’re exploring your niche the best you can and building off that base.
Feel free to find other extracurriculars that aren’t strictly business, like writing small biz profiles for the school/local paper, getting a paying job, or getting super involved in student government.
Internships
“Duh”
Stop sassing us, teens. Look, we know there are a million and one businesses you could intern for, but you need to get specific. Look at your niche, look at what you’re passionate about. If you love marketing and cars, be a social media intern for the local car dealership or snag a summer gig at Toyota. If you like numbers and finance, go for something with an investment focus. Let your career dreams steer you toward the ideal internship.
Start a Company
If you’re that passionate about entrepreneurship, prove it! Start a business! Think about problems in your life that you’d love to solve. A past student told us how much he hated the parking situation at his favorite restaurant, so we told him to start a valet company. After a few weeks of figuring out how to actually run a business, he was fully operational and quickly learned so much information that can be hard to just glean from books. Hands-on experience is crucial!
Business is a crazy popular major, and there’s no one exact right way to land a spot in a top business program, but this guide is a good place to start. You need to discover your passion, build on it, create evidence, and execute plans to prove that you actually want this. Not only will you see great results with your applications, you’ll be able to figure out what you want to do and take actionable steps to make it happen.
If you need help building your own business (undergrad) plan, reach out to us today.