Am I MIT, Stanford, Wharton, or Harvard business material?

Parents Forum
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<p>Hello everyone. I am a sophomore in high school.</p>

<p>This thread is an exact copy of one that I had put up in another sub forum. I was instructed to make a copy here in order to receive better advice.</p>

<p>I am interested in business management. I would love to either go to MIT Sloan, Stanford, Wharton, or Harvard. I have, by my standards, mediocre grades. I fall within the A- and B+ range. I play a vast array of sports. I have done wrestling, tennis, and volleyball. Basketball starts up in the next few days and I am looking forward to playing that as well. I am very worried as to whether or not I will get into the college(s) of my dreams. I have photography and filming experience, I extremely computer savvy, and have photo and video editing experience. As of this Thursday, I will be an official member of my school's FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) club. Am I on the right track to putting myself ahead of my peers? I have noticed that may of the children in my school who have the top grades to not play a single sports and get very little sleep because of their handful amount of extracurricular activities. I have heard that it is important not to spread myself too thin, because it shows that I do not have any particular strong point. Is that right?</p>

<p>I also need to know whether or not these colleges I have my eyes on are ones that I should even be going to for an undergrad. Are these colleges mainly for those who have a degree and have several years of work experience already? </p>

<p>Please help me. Please tell me what I can do better, what I can change. I also beg of you all to help me find new studying tactics, as high school is becoming increasingly harder and I have recently found myself unable to keep up with the pressure and the heat that it brings as well as I used to in middle school.</p>

<p>I am willing to do anything to increase my chances of getting into these schools. </p>

<p>Thank you so much for your help everyone, I appreciate your time.</p>

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<p>Please edit your post and take your full name out – using your full name is a bad idea.</p>

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<p>Harvard does not offer an undergraduate business degree. Neither does Stanford.</p>

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<p>Some of these schools don’t have undergraduate business degrees, and all of them would generally be looking at students with quite high gpas. Since you’re still a sophomore, you’ve got time to investigate more opportunities – perhaps you could visit your guidance counselor.</p>

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<p>You are very young to know what exactly you want to do. Enjoy school, get the best grades you can, do lots of SAT practice tests and see where life takes you. If you really want to succeed in business, start reading business publications and books. To go to any of the MBA programs you listed you will need good undergrad grades and several years of work experience.</p>

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<p>Hi Hrandyrko,</p>

<p>The parents in this thread are right that you are young to know exactly what you want to do. Not too young, necessarily, but be sure not to limit yourself. As has been pointed out, however, Harvard and Stanford don’t offer undergrad business degrees.</p>

<p>If you are looking to get a graduate business degree, I actually think it’d be wise NOT to major in business. Many of the top schools take non college business majors as half or more of their incoming class. You wouldn’t be at a DISADVANTAGE with your business school applications that you did (and, for all I know, if you did Wharton undergrad, you might be at an advantage at Wharton School of Business for an MBA) but I think you should just continue excelling and working hard in high school. Go to a college you love that you feel you can do well at, ideally a well respected college. Once you get to college, there are lots of things you can do to maximize your chances for getting into one of those schools in the future while not limiting your options post-college.</p>

<p>Slightly modified advice that I’ve given to those applying to the 2+2 program:
Freshman year, I would keep my grades up, try and get involved around campus, possibly secure an internship over the summer (this may not be necessary), take classes I’m interested in with professors I admire, and lay the groundwork for leadership positions later in my college career/</p>

<p>Sophomore year: I would continue to excel GPA-wise and focus on securing a summer internship for the summer between soph and junior year (this is key, often to getting an impressive internship your junior year which ideally will lead to a post-college job offer). Again, I would focus on what <em>I</em> was interested in, rather than trying to brand myself for business school. I would get heavily involved in my campus community, perhaps take on some leadership positions in clubs or student government, etc.</p>

<p>Junior year: You should really start to define yourself in terms of leadership. Organize a speaker, become a club president/on the board, start a small business, and make sure it is something YOU are interested in, not something you think. Keep your grades up, stay involved in school, and secure an internship for your summer.</p>

<p>Senior year: Again, your grades should stay high and you should ideally be involved in many different campus activities. I would also take the GMAT in senior year if you plan on applying to business school within five years - GMAT scores are valid for that long, and it is a MUCH easier test to study for when you are still in “school studying” mode than when you are trying to juggle a full time job.</p>

<p>Following college, get a good job that you can make a positive impact in, get involved in some extracurriculars outside of work (this is probably good anyway, to keep you sane) and continue to work hard until application time.</p>

<p>That is just my perspective as a 2+2 admit. I figure everyone admitted to top business schools probably needs:

  1. Campus and post-college involvement
  2. A high GMAT/GPA (there are exceptions, of course, but these are good things to have whether you apply or not)
  3. Solid internship and work experience
  4. Solid recommendations. That is something, again, regardless of business school, you want to have. From freshman year onward, develop a relationship with “mentors” - professors, supervisors at internships or campus jobs, etc. The longevity and impact of your relationship will go far towards their writing a stellar LOR for you.</p>
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<p>Keep in mind that business is a broad field and the top business schools generally have their niche be it investment banking, corporate finance, asset management, entrepreneurship, marketing, etc. Take the next few years to figure out what interests you the most.</p>