<p>I'm interested in knowing how this will impact my admission chances at some colleges.
Although I participated in some extracurricular activities (basketball, cross country, NHS, mentor, whatever) I spent my time on something I'm very passionate about.
I made money from the internet. I was promoting products as an Amazon Associate and eBay Partner for retail. I was an online affiliate with CPAlead (where I was recognized as a distinguished affiliate), Adworkmedia, and ShareCash. I promoted the services of GoDaddy and BlueHost through their respective affiliate networks. I also sold some websites to businesses. There's more, but I feel like those are the most important. My essays revolved around my passion for internet marketing.</p>
<p>I know I didn't cure AIDS or make Facebook, but does this stuff matter?</p>
<p>Not unless you also cured aids and started the next Facebook. </p>
<p>The problem is making money isn’t exactly a “noble” pastime. </p>
<p>I would have personally recommended saving that information for your resume or EC section and talking about something else for your essays. </p>
<p>You don’t want to qualify your accomplishments because there is probably someone else that has accomplished a lot more e.g. like creating Facebook. </p>
<p>@bomerr I thought colleges were fond of passion. I don’t understand how they would look down on hard work… My essay and interests aren’t generic like the clones in the class of 2015.</p>
<p>@deborahb I suspect that it will, at least somewhat. My intended major is finance.</p>
<p>There were so many people who got rejected to Berkeley-Haas last year with proper business experience. Such as people who started their own small businesses and people who had Morgan Stanley internships. Inversely people with far less experience, such as one person who was bagging groceries at Albertson, got accepted. </p>
<p>It is counter intuitive I know but the results speak for themselves so for this reason I would highly recommend against trying to impress colleges with business experience. </p>
<p>@bomerr I understand that my accomplishments aren’t extremely impressive. My essays aren’t centered around my success. I didn’t promote myself to colleges through mentioning business experience… instead, I wrote about my passion for business and emphasized that passion with examples of experience.
By the way, I appreciate the input. </p>
<p>It’s not a significant hook . . . but it could the the basis for a very powerful essay. Specifically:
What did you learn from these experiences?
How did they alter your goals and your character (especially concerning social engagement and service)?
How had did they change your approach to education?
How will they make you a better undergraduate, teammate, partner for the faculty, and citizen?</p>
<p>This essay approach would allow you to tell Admissions officials both your story – and it’s an important one, even if it’s not a “hook” – as well as how these experiences make you an outstanding candidate for their universities. </p>
<p>Unlike many students, you do not only state what you hope to do, or would like to do; you have taken steps along the path of doing it. This is valuable if it informs or refines your academic goals. Can you articulate what you now know you would like to learn about finance and how it will help you to better serve business? Do you have an idea of how you would use your education, based on this experience?</p>
<p>The more you can explain how you are ALREADY a student of finance irrespective of formal education, and how a) the school can accelerate, systematize, and codify your knowledge of finance, and b) your real-life experiences can enhance the student body, the more the school will identify you as an excellent candidate.</p>
<p>What is a “hook”? An advantage over other students based on acquired skills (e.g. athletics) or chance of circumstance (URM)? I would say that experimenting and learning in an aspect of your intended field of study, if properly laid out for the AdComs, is an advantage and may be called an acquired skill “hook,” if you wish to call it that.</p>
<p>Here is a question: what did you track? Did you track cash flow? Do you know how much cash you put out per month? How much money you earned per month or quarter? How many hours you spent to earn this money? Did you impute an hourly rate for yourself? Did you calculate tax impacts? Did you look at gross profits? Did you actually learn, either in order to engage, or little-by-little as you were in the business, how to track your success? Did it bring up any frustrations or questions that you would like to solve through a program of formal education? Could you consider continuing with this internet marketing as an alternative to going to college? Did you use the opportunity as a laboratory to learn (e.g did you run split tests, etc.?)?</p>
<p>As with most things in life, if you can demonstrate that you can do what you want to do on your own (but the school with deepen your foundation and accelerate your progress), but would benefit from going to the school, you will be a better candidate.</p>