Should I Focus On My Business When Writing Admission Essays and Applying to Universities?

Applying to College
1

Hey guys, sorry if this discussion is in the wrong thread,

I’m so glad I discovered this forum, so much helpful information here. I’m a Junior (11th grade) at an American high school. I’m thinking about college admissions and essays, and I was wondering whether I should mention (and focus on) my current (and the only successful) business in my essay.

At first, I thought mentioning my business and describing how I overcame challenges to develop it would give my essay a nice boost. I’ve basically been stuck to the prospect of running a business since sixth grade, and have attempted to start countless of business, most of which have failed. Two years ago however, I (finally) started a business that has become very profitable and is growing at a very fast pace (initially I started it to save up for University, but now the savings I made have been filled up and the sales are still growing. I could technically not go to college and live off my business earnings, but that would be a very very terrible idea in the long run, and I really want to go to University and enter a science field). I was going to write about all my past endeavors, and how despite nearly all of them coming to a halt with failure, I accumulated all the knowledge I learned to finally create my first successful business, which I operate to this day.

However, now that I’m thinking about it, I’m having doubts about its inclusion in my essay. I certainly don’t want to come off as bragging, and I feel awkward talking about profits when most other kids talk about their non-profit volunteering efforts. Should I instead focus on my volunteering? On the other hand, I feel like talking about creating a b2b technology business would make my essay unique. I self-taught myself the web programming languages that I would need to know, such as the basics (HTML, CSS, Javascript), and the dynamic server-scripting stuff like PHP, so I could also talk about that if I were to focus on my business. Then again, I don’t feel overly confident about taking this approach.

The business that I run works with other small businesses & startups in helping them establish an online presence. I develop website template designs that work with content management systems such as Weebly, but deliver more functionality. It is first in Google rankings and the second-largest business in the niche (out of ten). It’s been two years since I created the business, and it is very profitable with a growing number of sales/day.

Would this be a valuable asset that I could FOCUS on in my essay? I will include it or mention it regardless unless someone advises me not too, but I feel very cautious about focusing on it in-depth.

Thank you so much!

2

YES YES YES!!! Of course, be humble in the way you present this, but colleges want to accept students who will make a business, become famous, and give the college more prestige. You don’t need to worry about coming across as a philanthropist.
If it starts to seem like you are bragging, talk about your future plans. Say your goal was to reach out to small companies that are in need of a website but don’t have the resources to make one. Also, talk about how your failed businesses didn’t stop you from achieving your goals. Talk about the lessons you learned from the failures and how you fixed your mistakes.
INCLUDE IT!

Also, I am intrigued by your company. I am a high school “hacker” myself and consider myself a pretty good front-end developer. I also know HTML, CSS, and Node.js (reactJS). I want to learn php and more server stuff. Could you please reply if you are interested in telling me more about it. I feel like I might get bored this summer and would love to help you out.

Hope this helps!

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Of course you should mention your business in your college application essays! You don’t want to write an essay that “most other students” can write; you want to set yourself apart! Running your own successful business is an excellent project, and the way you spin it is important. This is a built-in way to discuss how you don’t give up - and you learn from failure. You don’t let setbacks hold you back from achieving your goals. You can also talk about how your business interests integrate with your science goals - maybe you want to start a scientific startup later? Every university wants to be the next place to spawn a new Zuckerberg, Brin & Page, or Spiegel.

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Thank you for your responses shaash and juillet! I will definitely work on a way to integrate this into my essay. Describing my future goals sounds like an awesome detail to add, its something I overlooked when planning the essay. Creating a scientific startup is definitely a big goal I have in life, so I’ll tie in my love for chemical engineering with business. Shaash I sent you a message with stuff about my business, feel free to check it out!