Event Recap: Finding Your Business Pathway

On July 24th, 2021, Girls For Business hosted our July virtual event, ‘Finding Your Business Pathway.’ The event featured four incredible panelists who discussed opportunities to explore business in high school, conquering the college application process with a business niche, identifying target colleges/universities, and crafting your personal statement. The event connected audience members from 14 US states and 5 different countries and inspired girls to pursue business studies in college and beyond! 

The panel discussion portion of the event has been publicly uploaded to the new Girls For Business YouTube channel, accessible through this link: https://youtu.be/jP6nrQ442Ag. We encourage everyone to subscribe to the Girls For Business YouTube channel to stay updated on GFB's educational video content and watch future event panels! 

Introducing the Panelists

Rania Juma, an incoming freshman at University of Michigan, was the first of our four panelists. Juma earned her high school and IB diploma at International Academy East Campus. As a student admitted into Ross School of Business, she will be exploring various fields of business, including accounting, finance, management, and marketing. During her time in high school, Juma co-founded the Economics Club at her school, where she provided students with resources to expand their knowledge on topics such as business, entrepreneurship, and marketing. Additionally, she co-founded HelpingHands4Hunger and was able to raise hundreds of dollars for a food pantry; Juma was also involved as an active member of Kids-Standard, where she advertised the business in order to reach a wider audience and gain exposure. With her outstanding leadership experience, Juma got accepted into one of the best business schools in America: the University of Michigan. 

Allison Wang is from London, Ontario in Canada, and she will be attending Western University’s Ivey Business School for Honors as part of the Advanced Entry Opportunity program. During her first two years, Wang will be focusing on majoring in Health Science. For her third and fourth year, she will focus on Business Administration. Wang hopes to combine her degree with a Juris Doctor degree for law school to develop her career as an entrepreneur and corporate lawyer— Wang explains that she has always wanted to build a career in business from a young age. She recalls that she enjoyed following her father to different companies and learning from different entrepreneurs, restating that she was lucky enough to receive first hand experience. With her determination to be successful in business, Wang has ventured to develop her own opportunities; she is the founder and director of Auxilium, a non-profit organization that provides educational resources to students, focusing on education in general. She is also a GFB Mentorship Coordinator who provides career guidance and business mentorship to middle and high school aged girls. In addition, she has also gained core skills through her experiences in Junior Achievement, Robotics, and Debate Camp. 

Jessica Shiflett is a rising freshman at Harvard University with a concentration in entrepreneurship. She is a Director of Outreach at Girls for Business and the Chief Executive Officer of BATA Design Co, a custom apparel and design company. In addition to running her own company, she was the president of her school’s Future Business Leaders of America chapter, an educational student organization that allows students to prepare for a career in business. She was also the Team Fundraising Chair for the International Internship Program. Shiflett discovered her passion for business in her freshman year of high school through her high school’s business academy. One of Shiflett’s favorite activities is Thai dance, which she started from a young age and continued throughout high school. 

Karen He is an incoming freshman at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and is intending to concentrate in business analytics and finance. She is a mentorship coordinator for Girls For Business and a co-founder of the nonprofit organization World Association of Young Artists, which exposed her to various business skill sets. She has also been a martial artist for over ten years and created a Girls Self Defense club in high school. He first became interested in business after taking an introductory business course at her local college. Since then, she has founded clubs that cater to both her personal hobbies and business interests.

Q&A: 

Question 1: Why did you choose to go to your school? 

Answer: 

Rania Juma: Juma emphasized that one of the biggest factors she considered in a school was its distance from home: she valued having her family and friends close to where she studies. Since she is from Michigan, Ross was a great choice for her. Aside from the close distance, Juma said, “the University of Michigan is beautiful and it has many different concentrations and opportunities to explore my interests.” A unique aspect of the Ross School of Business is that it allows its students to gain exposure to several different areas of business, not just one. Although Juma intends to earn a Bachelor’s degree in business administration, she will be exploring other business-related fields such as finance, marketing, and accounting. 

Allison Wang: Wang responds, “I don't regret choosing Western. As you probably noticed, I'm kind of interested in everything. I always liked business, but I'm interested in the health field too.” She explains that Western University has allowed her to do both. In your first two years at Western University, you are allowed to explore your academic interests and find new ones like computer science, dance, arts, music; whatever you are interested in. Wang will focus on Health Science in her first two years and move to study business administration for her third and fourth year. Wang chose Western University because she liked the idea of exploring and being able to learn in a community with different perspectives. 

Jessica Shiflett: For Shiflett, choosing which school to go to was an easy decision. Harvard had always been her dream school and due to its reputation as one of the best universities in the world, she simply “couldn’t say no” to the opportunity. She wanted to study at Harvard because when she applied, she still did not know which career path she wanted to follow yet, so she wanted to pick a school that would allow her to explore everything. With its extensive range of academic programs and highly qualified professors, Shiflett knew that Harvard would be the best place for her to learn about all the subjects she was interested in. 

Karen He: He emphasized that one of the biggest factors she considered when choosing her school was distance from family. But even then, the school she would be choosing was already a well-known and prestigious university that simply swayed her more into choosing Wharton over the other options. 

Question 2: How important are extracurriculars and leadership experience to college admission officers?

Answer: 

Rania Juma: To this question, Juma expressed, “You can’t be a successful business student without leadership.” She emphasized that you should never indulge in an activity for the sake of putting it on your resume, because “the admission officers will see right through it.” Juma informed attendees that it is important to explore your interests in high school and choose activities that genuinely interest you. If you plan to apply to prestigious business schools, you should look to participate in some business-related extracurriculars. “When you’re applying to a business school, you need to be fully oriented on business,” Juma said. In your application, specifically for the Ross School of Business, make sure that you come off as an applicant who is 100% sure that business is the field you want to pursue. 

Allison Wang: Wang expresses that “leadership is important, it is not about what everyone is doing. It’s about what you are passionate about.” You are more willing to write about yourself when you can describe what you are passionate about rather than writing about something you do not enjoy. Admissions officers can tell when you are being genuine— this is the most important part of any essay because you must demonstrate why you like a specific field. This can be difficult for you when you begin your essay if you only prioritize gaining experience, but do not learn from said experiences. 

Question 3: How did you find opportunities? 

Answer: 

Rania Juma: Juma explains, “If there are no opportunities, create them!” At her high school, it came to Juma’s attention that there was no economics club. Consequently, she took the initiative of starting one at her school. Juma also emphasized the importance of being well-rounded in your true passions: “It’s made very clear when you are not truly being genuine about your interests and activities.” So, be true to yourself by doing activities that you genuinely like!

Allison Wang: Wang motivates students to make their own opportunities. Wang explains that in the beginning, she did not believe that creating your own opportunities was possible. She had always wanted to become an entrepreneur, but because of the stigma of being older and experienced, she felt less motivated to build her career when she was young. However, Wang explains that anyone can take initiative. She encourages students to find opportunities through their community and school clubs. She explains that students can join business-oriented clubs like DECA, FBLA, and Entrepreneurship Club. Other activities include volunteering in your community, applying for leadership roles, starting initiatives, and joining student government. She concludes that if you cannot find opportunities to match your needs, then create them! Colleges love to see students take the initiative. 

Jessica Shiflett: Shiflett agrees with the other panelists about creating your own opportunities. She explains, “if something isn’t offered at your school, make it yourself.” Even though Shiflett’s school had a business program, she was also able to pursue business in many of her extracurriculars outside of school too. For example, she was the president of her school’s FBLA chapter, and she had entrepreneurship experience as the CEO of BATA Design Co. Nevertheless, Shiflett reminds students that “if you want to go into business, don’t feel pressured to have all your extracurriculars geared towards business.” She explains how personally, she had many extracurriculars unrelated to business, and she urges students to follow their passions whether they are related to their intended college major or not. She explains that colleges want to see what applicants are truly passionate about rather than what they think colleges will like. 

Karen He: He, just like Wang, motivates and preaches that students should take initiative and create their own opportunities whether that be in or out of school.

Question 4: Having mixed passions, how did you find a school that best suited you?

Answer: 

Allison Wang: Wang explains that when researching for colleges, you want to find colleges that are well-rounded. Research for schools that have good engineering schools, business schools, or anything that particularly interests you. You want a school that will allow you to explore and easily change specialization if you decide to. She explains the importance of keeping your options open so that later you can narrow your options when you are sure as to what you want to pursue. If you are interested in multiple fields, you can also pursue a dual degree so you do not have to choose just one specialization. 

Jessica Shiflett: Shiflett tells students to look for schools that are strong in multiple programs so they can pursue their passions in a well-rounded environment. She also mentions that colleges allow students to minor and double major, so they do not need to feel restricted into a single field of study. Additionally, she says to “find some common ground between your interests” and look for similarities between them. 

Question 5: Do you think there was one specific aspect of your college application that helped you stand out? 

Answer: 

Rania Juma: Juma explained that she did not believe there was one specific aspect that was the “most important’. However, she expressed that “leadership experience definitely carried [her] application.” In Juma’s words, “business schools want to see that you can take initiative and that you are capable of being a group leader.” She believes that being the Co-founder of her school’s economics club, co-founding Healthy Hands For Hunger, and being the President of Relay For Life gave her leadership experience that helped her stand out. 

Question 6: Are stats that important?

Answer: 

Rania Juma: “When I was in your position, I always wondered about stats, but trust me, it is not the end all be all,” Juma said. “At a certain point, there is a distinct threshold because all the other applicants are in the same boat as you, stat wise.” Juma highlighted that your extracurriculars and activities are the aspects of your application that will help you stand out amongst the applicant pool. 

Karen He: He explains that stats are not as important as people make it to be; if you have the qualities the school is looking for, they will not be looking solely at the numbers and scores when picking out applicants.

Question 7: What awards should be included in college applications? 

Answer: 

Allison Wang: Wang encourages students to take all the opportunities given to you. She explains that you should write all the awards that you have received, even if they are not specifically driven by your desired field. Students can participate in competitions and research what you are interested in. For example, Wang wrote about her piano awards and an entrepreneurship award. She concludes that awards are not necessarily there to show your interest in a specific field but are there to describe what you do in school and out of school. Colleges want to learn about you and how you are different from any ordinary student. 

Karen He: He finds that she did not have awards that were business related, so instead she provided sports and art awards on college applications. She recommends others to list any and all awards because they all hold significance.

Jessica Shiflett: Shiflett recommends that students use this section to “showcase more extracurriculars and skills rather than just business.” She states that she put any awards that she could think of in this section, including sports awards and writing awards. She emphasizes that it is important to show colleges that you have multiple skills rather than just business, and she felt that her versatility made her application stronger.

Question 8: How did you craft your personal statement and what should you put in it?

Answer: 

Jessica Shiflett: Shiflett explains that personal statements can and often have nothing to do with your intended major. “Essays are to get to know you as a person.” She emphasizes how “[colleges] want to get to know you beyond the stats.” Colleges want to see your personality reflected in your personal statement, which allows students to be able to stand out from the other applicants who are also applying for the same major. Shiflett mentions how colleges will most likely already know what you want to major in based on the other parts of your application, so the personal statement is a chance to show off your other qualities too. She also suggests that students can weave business into some of their other supplemental essays and show how business plays a role in their other activities too.