Want to be the next Bill Gates? Or, do you dream of crunching numbers for one of the biggest accounting firms? If so, then exploring a business major might be for you, and we’re assuming that because you’re here, you’re thinking about it. The world of business is vast, covering everything from corporations and entrepreneurship to accounting and beyond. Business is also like, one of the most popular majors, which means it’s incredibly competitive. So, how can you set yourself apart from all the other undergrad business hopefuls? Not to sound too clickbait-y, but keep reading.
We help students get into their dream business programs all the time, so we know a thing or two about what it takes to get into Wharton, McCombs, Ross, or wherever your goals lie. When we meet with new clients, one of our first steps is to help you decide on something that will shape the rest of your academic journey: your niche.
Figuring Out Your Niche
When we talk about students needing to have a niche, we're specifically talking about helping them figure out what they want to specialize in—but narrowed down to a really, really specific topic. This is important because we want you to be an expert in your field by the time you send out your college applications so you can truly wow those admission officers. Basically, the more competent you are in your prospective major, the better. And we like to kick it off by having you focus on something that really, really excites you.
Take Steve uhhhh… Work. Yes. Steve Work, our prospective finance student. He wants to do finance, but doesn’t really know what that means, or what kinds of finance there are, just that he likes finance. That's where we start to narrow down the niche. After a couple of chats with Steve, we figure out he's really intrigued by how companies raise capital. That desire to specialize in investment banking (maybe even in a specific sector!) is the start of your niche—that's the kind of focus we want you to find!
Exploring Your Niche
Putting in some legwork to learn more about your niche and put it into practice is crucial for colleges because it shows that any investment they make in your academic journey will be put to good use. For instance, they're much more likely to admit a student who started a small business or two in high school and wants to study something like marketing or management to bolster their entrepreneurial mindset than someone who just says they’d like to “be an entrepreneur”… someday… In short, they want proof that you’re actually into what you say you’re into.
You want to build a reputation and trust by proving you're worth investing in—which is why working on your niche now is so important. There are plenty of ways to start exploring your niche, and we've already mentioned one with our earlier example. As elementary steps, we have students do a number of things.
Starting your own business or at least developing a concept and doing some research is a great way to build business skills. Launch a small Etsy shop or offer a local service like tutoring or dog walking to get a feel for what it’s like to run a business. If entrepreneurship isn't your thing, consider joining a related club at school, like DECA or FBLA, or taking some online courses on Coursera or Khan Academy. You could even earn a bit of pocket money by dabbling in the stock market through investment platforms like Robinhood or Acorns.
These are all things to do in the beginning, ideally sophomore year, so that you can crystalize what it is that you’re interested in. For example, if you start a small business like an Etsy shop, it will probably fail at some point. You might hit a roadblock. You’ll have to go back to the drawing board to fix your mistakes. You might even have to take some classes to figure out what is going on. If you do that properly, your business might expand and grow. And that is a story worth telling. It is a story colleges like.
Proving Your Niche
If you take only one thing away from this discussion, let it be this: proving your passion and dedication to your niche is a massively important part of your college application. You have to show admissions counselors that you're committed to your chosen field, and you need to find ways to do it that set you apart. Think of unique ways to showcase your niche that admissions counselors might not have seen before to catch their attention. Standing out from the crowd is the biggest thing you can do to give yourself an edge over the competition at big-name undergrad business schools like UPenn, Michigan, Berkeley, NYU, UT Austin, and so many more. And we help students get into those programs every year.
One of the biggest things we do is talk with our students and help them come up with unique and interesting ways to show off their niches. We've helped tons of students figure out how to flex their niches, from starting local businesses or going global with Etsy to securing internships at accounting firms or working with nonprofits to learn project management. There are endless possibilities, and all you need is a little experienced guidance to find exactly what's right for you.
Deciding on a niche and committing to it is crucial for securing a seat at your dream school because you need to show admissions counselors that you're worth investing in. We help students do exactly that every single semester, and with our guidance, you can crush the admissions process for your dream school.
Need help finding ways to take your niche to the next level? Reach out to us, we’re professionals at turning passions into future careers.