It’s harder than ever to gain admission to a highly selective university. The most competitive college applicants these days are those who set themselves apart through a singular admissions hook that emphasizes their unique pursuit or talent — and that pursuit can be a business. That’s right! A singular admissions hook doesn’t just have to look like excellence in an academic discipline or a high commitment to an extracurricular passion. Elite college admissions officers highly prize student entrepreneurs. We at Ivy Coach have certainly had our fair share of entrepreneurial clients whom we’ve helped get into the best schools in the nation. 

High school students who have started their businesses have the right mix of initiative, grit, creativity, and work ethic that colleges go nuts for. However, just because you’ve started your own funky socks company or fried chicken franchise doesn’t necessarily mean you have an express pass to an elite education. Student entrepreneurs must strike a delicate balance on their applications or risk appearing overly corporate, professionalized, and dry. Let’s unpack how entrepreneurs can optimize their odds of elite college admission with the appropriate framing of their business ventures.

Focus Less on the Finances and More on Your Entrepreneurial Spirit

Admissions officers are not well-versed in the goings-on of a self-owned business — even at esteemed undergraduate business programs. Don’t overwhelm your application readers with tons of insider lingo detailing your corporate structure, finances, and marketing strategy in your admissions essays or extracurriculars list. The inspiring thing about your story is that you started with a brilliant idea and built up this idea from scratch! That’s what they want to hear about — the story behind your business (think Guy Raz’s Wondery podcast, How I Built This). This also means avoiding cliches when describing what makes your business unique. Do you donate one for every one you sell? You and everyone else! Admissions officers have seen it all before. Don’t pull on their heartstrings unless your hustle has a genuine ethical component.

What will knock their socks off is a fresh take on your industry’s practices that resulted from your ingenious approach to a gap in the market, all tied back to a touching personal story, of course! Oh, and your business had better have a website to substantiate your claims. If your so-called “business” is, in fact, a passion project that you commit a few hours a week to and call it a day, don’t make it the focus of your application! Admissions officers can tell whether your business is a legitimate enterprise to which you have committed serious time and energy. Don’t try to pass off your casual cooking side gig as the groundbreaking future of the catering industry. 

Consider Applying to More than Just Undergraduate Business Programs

Some student-entrepreneurs limit their college prospects to those few schools with an undergraduate business program. Yet the economics program at an Ivy League school will get you much further than a lesser school’s “prestigious” business program. Don’t foreclose on the best schools in the nation because you think you’ll only get into an MBA program with an undergraduate business degree. This couldn’t be further from the truth! A Business B.A. from a lesser school will only make you seem less remarkable than the students from Harvard and Stanford who majored in English or Biology and want to bring their unique talents to the corporate world.

In any event, your passions and interests might change by the time you arrive on campus! A well-executed singular admissions hook can get you through the doors to a great university, but once you’re there you should explore all of your academic horizons.

How Ivy Coach Helps Student Business Owners Get Into Elite Schools

Ivy Coach is well-versed in helping student entrepreneurs get into highly selective colleges. We’ve mastered the blend of sincerity, grit, and compassion that gets enterprising high schoolers onto elite college campuses.

If you’re interested in optimizing your child’s case for admission to an elite college, fill out our complimentary consultation form, and we’ll be in touch.