“I’m just a freshman! I don’t need to think about this!” WRONG. We have heard this before, but if you are hoping to study business at a top school, this kind of thinking won’t work. Thankfully, just by clicking on this blog, you are doing more than most. Business programs are extremely popular and, thus, often among the most competitive to get into. By crafting a strategy early, you can set yourself up for success down the line, and we want to help!
Want a bespoke plan made by a top college counselor? It’s what we do. Reach out today!
Explore What You’re Interested In
It is essential to find your niche. Business is too broad. Maybe you are fascinated by operations, or real estate is your jam. Perhaps you dream about accounting or are all about finance. You need to know what area of business is best for you. A great first step, if you have no idea where to start, is looking at business schools and seeing what types of majors they offer.
To truly find your niche, you will have to learn as much about “business” as possible. There are many ways to do this, but we recommend starting by reading some books. Yes, books. You can supplement this with podcasts, newspapers, magazines, etc., but books are essential. Many young people don’t read outside of school, and colleges hate to see that… yes, even business programs.
Once you have an idea of what subject of business you are interested in, we also love online classes. There are a lot of pre-tapped, often free, online classes out there. These are a great resource to start learning more about your niche. You can look at sites like Coursera for courses on many different business topics. The point of this initial process is to start to articulate preference curves, because we want to find a niche and build you into an expert.
Do Well in School
This is kind of a ‘no duh’ moment, but it's important to say it: to get into a great college, you must do well in high school. Grades are the most important factor in college admissions. If you are interested in business, you should especially push yourself in your math classes. You should also take any electives that align with your area of interest within business. Business uses a lot of math and numbers. Try to take the most advanced math courses you can. While most freshmen don’t have many choices when it comes to what classes they can take, if you can take any related courses like economics, it's another great idea.
The TL;DR is to take the most challenging classes available to you and do well in them. However, if you find yourself struggling, you need to get on top of it. The minute you feel yourself slipping, you need to get a tutor, go to office hours, or start a study group.
Extracurriculars
The main takeaway with extracurriculars is to start getting involved as quickly as possible. Check to see if your school has any relevant clubs. Popular ones usually include entrepreneurship, finance, mock stock, or econ clubs. If your school doesn’t have a related club, think about starting your own!
You can also do a job shadow, write a business column for the school paper or even plan out your own side hustle. Your job over the next four years is going to be to take on responsibility and show leadership in your extracurriculars, but you can’t do that until you start them.
Summer Plans
When we work with freshmen, a big part of our job is helping them craft an excellent summer plan. Summer is usually when students are the least busy and can spend more time building a great resume. For freshmen, we generally recommend applying for summer programs at colleges. Colleges like Brown, NYU, UCLA, Georgetown, and many others offer summer classes and programs for high schoolers. These are great opportunities to learn more about business and related subjects. If you need help finding programs or applying, we can help!
We also love it when students do job shadowing, internships, or summer jobs. Not all of these opportunities will be available for freshmen, but it is never too early to start looking into opportunities and making a plan.
Freshman year is just the start, but it's your chance to start on the right foot. For those interested in business, you should already be exploring your academic interests and getting involved in your community. We know it can feel like a lot, but strategizing is what we do, and if you are lost, (again) we can help!
Start crafting a great college application strategy today! Contact us here. ex