If you’re a Junior thinking about studying business in college, we have one big question for you: what kind of business? Because there are so many. From project management to accounting, entrepreneurship to finance, undergraduate business programs have a ton of options to consider when figuring out what you want to pursue as a college student. Because business is such a big subject with so many opportunities in college and after graduation, it’s an extremely popular major.
It’s important to remember that popular = competitive. Only two Ivy League colleges, the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell, have undergraduate business schools—and they are very different programs. Penn is best known for finance and entrepreneurship, while the Cornell program is hospitality and economics-centric. The Ivies aren’t everything, though. Universities with top undergraduate business programs, like Michigan and Carnegie Mellon, are extremely competitive, so it’s time to get serious about your college prep. Chop chop!
We often begin talking to students about their future goals and what they may want to study in college in their sophomore year of high school. Don’t worry if you’re in 11th grade - it’s not too late to begin planning for college as a junior. In fact, we consider junior year the final opportunity to significantly improve your transcript and resume before your senior year arrives.
Figuring Out Your Niche
Whether you call it your niche or your "brand," it means identifying your distinctive interests and abilities and then relating them to what you want to study. Finally, you’ll need to take all those connections between what you care about and package them in a way that catches the attention of admissions counselors. Knowing what you want to accomplish, whether it's starting your own business or being the world’s best project manager, is critical during the college prep process because it helps in identifying this niche and building the package that communicates who you are most clearly to application readers who will most likely never get to meet you.
When we start working with students, we work alongside them to determine their niche. For example, we might begin with an intro to business class, but we'll narrow it down from there. We’d explore what role you would like to have, whether you like working alone or as part of a team, and what companies you admire most. For example, if you are passionate about a brand like Nike, you’ll read Phil Nights book (you should read this no matter what) and we’ll start working towards securing an internship at a larger corporation for the summer. If you’re interested in “being on Wall Street,” we’ll start by having you take some intro to financial modeling classes and getting you a WSJ subscription. Our goal is to help figure out why you are interested in Nike or Wall Street so that we can go much deeper.
Classes and Books
To learn more about your niche and narrow it down on your own, you will have to do some legwork. When we work with students, we follow their passions and make an individualized curriculum to help them dive even deeper. This curriculum empowers them to narrow their areas of interest even further while learning more about what they care about and building up their resume. In the beginning, we specifically look into assigning books, podcasts, classes, articles, youtube videos, and online programs. Then, we start helping them coordinate internships and immersive opportunities. These are all things you should be doing, too, especially finding at least one internship with someone local who works in a field of business that you’re excited about.
Extracurriculars
While knowing a lot about your niche is useful, we also want our students to gain practical experience in their field — like the internships we mentioned just a moment ago. Colleges prefer to admit applicants who have engaged with their interests outside of the classroom, which shows commitment and proactiveness. You might do this at school by joining a business or finance club or acting as treasurer for your student government —anything to get closer to personifying passion. Most extracurricular activities will be outside of school, though, like working as an intern or getting a part-time job. If your town or city has a Chamber of Commerce, we recommend reaching out to them for potential opportunities with the Chamber, where you can engage with many different types of businesses.
We suggest that students don’t commit too heavily to extracurricular activities unrelated to their area of interest. While we won't discourage anyone from participating in chess club, playing a sport they love, landing a role in a theater production, or any other activity they are truly enthusiastic about; we do advise them to devote the majority of their ‘free’ time to activities that connect to their niche in some way, even loosely. You can define this fairly broadly, so don’t be afraid to get creative. For example, if you want to be in the c-suite of a business, being a team captain of a varsity sport could be spun to show off some of the same leadership skills you’ll need in that career path.
Summer Activities
Having more than 60 days of free time during the summer is an amazing opportunity to make a difference in your college applications while having some fun in the field you want to pursue. To make sure they make the best use of their time, we help our clients organize their summers so they can pursue their passions while enjoying themselves.
One option is a structured summer program, like a camp, immersive program, or on-campus class at a college. These are popular options for students to begin engaging with their areas of interest on a level deeper than what they can access in their normal school schedule. Many summer programs also offer you the chance to introduce yourself to institutions you are interested in and get your foot in the door at one of your top pick colleges.
If you want to go further than attending summer programs, we recommend that all the students we work with get at least one summer job, research position, or internship that connects to their prospective major. Pursuing positions like jobs and internships shows that you’ve put even more thought and effort into your potential major and that you’re really responsible. Your supervisor in one of these positions could be a great additional recommender for your applications.
College Applications
With our 11th-grade students, we start working on the Common App essay in June or July, depending on their school schedule. After polishing that up, we start with the application supplements for potential Early schools and then move down the college list in order of deadline. Spending time you have in the summer to work on your applications may not sound like the most fun, but it is a game-changer come fall. As your peers are stressing about what to write amid senior fall, you’ll already be done with your Common App essay and most likely done with those ED supplements, too.
Junior year is busy, but it’s the last big chance to progress on your niche before starting college applications. So, make the most of it!
Need help making a college plan? Reach out to us. We regularly help students get into the best colleges for their niches.