Applying to college can be nerve wracking, especially for students who want to study business and are unsure about the subfields and specializations within it.
But it doesn't have to be.
If you're proactive and implement the advice below, you should be able to confidently fill out your applications knowing that you took the time to build a narrative that will help your application readers understand what you bring to their program.
While business is a versatile field, it just might be the right one for you. If so, you should incorporate certain themes into your extracurricular activities and projects, as this shows colleges that you're serious about the business degree. In this article, we're going to walk you through this process, helping you make less common connections between topics of interest to build a stronger application.
Business major application: Building a narrative
Think of your application as presenting an overall story to a reader, helping them to see how you’ve become who you are, how your interests have developed, how you and the school will make good partners, and what your trajectory through college and beyond is.
Your college essay (aka personal statement) is a core component of this overall story, helping your reader to understand the WHY that connects your various WHATS. So whether your applications are years away or right around the corner, you should work backwards to make yours a compelling application component.
Especially if you’re a year or three from applying, think about what you could be doing NOW to make admissions officers want to know more about you, which is referred to as BUILDING A NARRATIVE.
(Important side note that we don’t mean “narrative” here in the same sense as “narrative essay structure”—it’s entirely possible to build a strong personal statement using montage structure that adds to the arc of your overall application narrative—as in, the overall story of who you are and what you bring to the school.)
Building a compelling narrative for your essay involves crafting a story that SHOWS your unique experiences, growth, and aspirations. This will also make your resume stronger.
As you start to think through and build your essays and application, keep these tips in mind:
Reflect on your experiences. This may include challenges you have faced, significant events that have influenced your life and ideally led to growth, or personal accomplishments that are important to you. You can create a list and use this as a brainstorming activity.
Build upon the experiences you’ve reflected on. Look for a central theme or idea that connects your experiences, and consider using our Values Exercise to determine if these experiences can help illustrate and align with your values, passions, or goals. This will serve as the backbone of your essay, tying everything together, and if you are still at least a year away from your college application, you can use the brainstorming session and the Values Exercise to plan for activities that you will partake in before college applications.
Show, don't just tell. Think about captivating readers from the introduction through the conclusion. Instead of merely stating facts, aim to show the reader your experiences through descriptive and storytelling language. You should be specific, utilizing sensory details and specific examples to engage the admissions officers and make your essay stand out.
Connect your story to your future goals. Think about what you’ve done and what you could be doing before college to bring you closer to achieving your goals. Let the admissions officers know how your past experiences have influenced your interests, career goals, or academic pursuits.
Speaking of future goals: considering how many possible subfields and specializations there are within business majors, you may be a little hazy on what precisely those goals are. This article will help you narrow down your business focus to determine which path is right for you. You will learn how to build up a strong college essay and simultaneously strengthen your resume.
Business majors: Where should you narrow your focus?
There are dozens of business-related majors, minors, and concentrations (e.g., accounting, marketing, finance, human resources, business administration, and international business, to name a few).
Depending on the school, you might even choose to double major or add a minor, and if you're strategic, you might not even have to take extra classes to fulfill this.
Especially if you’re reading this a good amount of time before your application process, narrowing down your area(s) of interest through adequate research will allow you to spend the next year (or three) building up your resume accordingly.
This could be done through club participation at school, research, summer internships, or part-time jobs.
Other options include dual-enrollment college courses, interviews with professionals in your field(s) of interest, and projects.
Start simple: research business fields and make a list of the ones that capture your attention.
Some of the more common subfields include:
Accounting
Finance
Marketing
Economics
International Business
Entrepreneurship
Human Resources
Business Administration
Management Information Systems
Health Services Administration
If you work to gain experience in your field(s) of interest, you should have a better understanding of your future goals by the time you graduate.
Through the business pursuits you’ve invested time in, you will also be able to build a stronger narrative to your overall application, since readers will be able to see how the different pieces tie together..
Which classes should you be taking?
In addition to exploring your interests through extracurricular activities, you can tailor your academic schedule accordingly. If you're a freshman or sophomore right now, you can ask yourself which classes would help you build the skills that business schools are looking for.
These skills include:
Strong communication skills (both oral and written)
Working knowledge of graphic design programs
Analytical skills
Project management
Data analysis
Accounting
Negotiation
Time management
Notice that you can gain many of the skills above through activities and classes not directly related to business. And even if you complete a finance course and decide you want to try something else, you will have gained skills that can be transferred to other fields.
Coursework should be challenging, but strategic. Look into the electives that your school offers. Whether you're interested in marketing, data analytics, or finance, advanced math courses are recommended. A debate course can help you with negotiation skills. There are several AP math courses that you may want to consider if they're available to you, including AP Macroeconomics; AP Microeconomics; AP Statistics; and AP Calculus.
AP Psychology could be beneficial, particularly for those interested in marketing, as understanding the human mind is a key component of successful marketing campaigns.
What’s the key to building up your resume?
Writing a resume can be daunting, but if you prepare early, you’ll have plenty of material to include. Your resume should SHOW the admissions committee the less common, maybe even unique aspects you bring to a program and community, and should work together with your essays to develop an overall story of who you are and what you’re pursuing.
The following hypothetical scenarios can help you assess your own skills, possible career paths, and academic and extracurricular interests. Your application narrative should combine your passions, background, and academic interests in a cohesive way, and your resume should reflect that.
Scenario 1—Juan, a high school junior
Major(s) of interest: finance or accounting
Minor(s) of interest: international business
Concentration: small business
Skills/interests: math, public speaking, teaching
In this scenario, Juan is interested in accounting and finance and might want to work at a small international bank. He is also interested in forensic accounting. Because of these interests, Juan may want to consider double majoring or choosing accounting, because most finance jobs will appreciate either major while accounting jobs prefer accounting-specific backgrounds.
Projects like these could help him develop his skills and the overall narrative of his application:
Heavy involvement with a local nonprofit to mentor kids interested in STEM
Starting his own club at school to fundraise
Spending time starting his own business geared toward simplifying math concepts by recording videos in a classroom setting.
These projects would demonstrate commitment, volunteerism, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills. Admissions officers want to see students take initiative as well as applying concepts to real-world situations. If Juan took part in these projects, admissions officers might gather that Juan has also gained time management skills.
Scenario 2—Karen, a high school sophomore
Major(s) of interest: marketing
Minor(s) of interest: advertising
Concentration: media communications
Skills/interests: writing, singing, analyzing films
In this scenario, Karen is interested in majoring in marketing and minoring in advertising. Upon further research, she decided that she wants her area of concentration to be media communications. She doesn't know exactly what she wants to do career-wise, but she is excited and intrigued by writing, singing, and classic films.
Below are several projects that she could consider:
Writing a blog where she focuses on analytical film pieces
Growing an Instagram page where she shares videos of herself singing covers and songs that she has produced (if possible)
Creating a portfolio of published research papers and articles on influential media topics, such as the role that film plays in today's culture
These initiatives would enhance her application by showing admissions officers that she is both focused and versatile. By writing research papers on the topics that she enjoys the most, she is able to spin an academic angle on her interests. The Instagram, showcasing both her production and singing skills, indicates that she can more than merely sing, while the blog demonstrates writing skills and a unique hobby.
Scenario 3—Gabriela, a high school freshman
Major(s) of interest: unsure
Minor(s) of interest: unsure
Concentration: general business interest
Skills/interests: animals, basketball, weightlifting
In this scenario, Gabriela doesn't know what she wants to study. Like many students, she wants to study business because it will open many doors for her in the future. She mentioned to her social studies teacher that she’s been contemplating business and psychology, and after that conversation, she realized she may be able to eventually combine the two.
In the weeks that followed, Gabriela dug deeper. She started asking herself why she was interested in weightlifting, and she realized it’s because it empowers her, making her feel strong and allowing her to defend herself more easily, should she need to. Her goal is to make other students feel this way.
She analyzed each of her interests and realized that there are ways to create a career path based on her motivations and hobbies. While she already volunteers at an animal shelter on the weekends, she wants to achieve a personal goal: helping her community by taking her interests several steps further.
Below are several projects that she could consider:
Creating a nonprofit organization where she brings speakers, like athletes, to schools to empower students (an organization she could continue developing after college with a background in psychology and business)
Creating a healthy living page on a social media platform of her choice
Conducting a literature review (that she can hopefully publish) on a topic related to an endangered species
If you want to major in business, showing that you take initiative is important, since college admissions officers want to see this. Creating a nonprofit organization may signify empathy as well as a philanthropic mindset. Inviting speakers is impressive as well, as that means networking with professionals and putting yourself out there, which builds confidence. The healthy living page shows proactivity toward health and wellness, and the research component indicates a well-rounded approach to nonacademic interests.
Final Thoughts
These scenarios should hopefully serve as examples to help you tie your own interests and skills together. Some of these projects are quite ambitious for high school students, but the point is to build a strong case for admission committees and, more importantly, for your own future.
As you navigate your high school career, tailor your workload appropriately while working on one or two major projects/interests consistently (particularly if you have at least two more years before application season).
This will demonstrate your interests, build your skillset, and prepare you for college, teaching you one of the most invaluable lessons of all: time management.
Andrea (she/her) completed her MSEd in Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania ('18), where she completed research for Write4Change, a writing platform for students across the world to share creative and thesis-driven pieces. She focused on the future of distance learning in higher education. Previously, she attended Florida International University, where she pursued a BA in Political Science with minors in International Relations and English. At FIU, she worked as a writing consultant at the Center for Excellence in Writing, helping both graduate and undergraduate students craft their research papers and thesis essays. Currently, she works in commercial real estate brokerage and construction, but leverages her experience and passion for education to help students reach their full potential.
