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How to Create a Venture Capital Theme for Your College

Application

Remember the 5 areas to cover when constructing an

application theme:

1. Academics
2. Extracurriculars - Clubs/Leadership
3. Extracurriculars - Academic/Scholarship
4. Competitions/Achievements
5. Major and supporting documents

1. Academics

To create a strong theme around venture capitalism and show that this is a
professional interest of yours, you will need to take challenging courses in
several areas, similar to what you would need to do if you were
constructing a Business Theme.

Here are the main areas you should be sure to cover:

• Math: at least one math course per year, ending with AP Calculus, if
offered
• English: one course per year, ending with AP English Literature, if
offered
• Science: at least one course per year, ending with AP Physics, if
offered
• History: one course per year, ending with AP Government, if offered
• Foreign Language: one course per year, ending with the AP level, if
offered
•
Venture Capitalists need to have a strong understanding of money,
banking, finances, and economics, so some other high school courses to
consider are:

• AP Micro/Macroeconomics
• Finance/Accounting
• Business courses
• Computer Science

Psychology could be helpful in the long run as well, as Venture Capitalists

need to understand people and how to work with them effectively.

Don't feel pressured to take every single one of these suggested courses--
after all, your schedule will only allow for so much. The best advice is to
work towards the most advanced curriculum first, and then fill in the
blanks with specialized electives. You will have time to take more advanced
versions of extra courses once you get to college anyway. Just be sure to
purposefully design your curriculum so that it makes sense within the
Venture Capital theme.

Check out college courses that are offered in your area and see if any are
open to high school students. If you don't have room in your high school
schedule to take an accounting class, for example, you might be able to find
it at a local college. The content of the class will probably be more useful
that what you would find at your high school, and admissions committees
will be impressed that you took initiative to look beyond your high school
and find courses that would be meaningful to you and your future.

Summer Programs:

While there currently are not a lot of summer programs directed towards
aspiring Venture Capitalists that are open to high school students, many of
the Business Summer Programs would be useful in strengthening your
theme and giving you excellent experience. See if you can find a program
that offers a course or a concentration in either investment banking or
entrepreneurship, as these are both very important pieces of the Venture
Capitalist puzzle. Any specialized knowledge you can get while still in high
school will serve you very will as you are applying to colleges.
 
2. Extracurriculars - Clubs/Leadership

Some high schools may have clubs for aspiring Venture Capitalists, but this
is probably not as common. Obviously, if your school has such a club, join
it! If your school does not have one, feel free to start one. In fact, starting
your own official club would show the kind of leadership and desire to see
ideas come into fruition that Venture Capitalists need to have.

Apart from an actual Venture Capitalist club, there are some other clubs
that will give you relevant knowledge and experience that you should
consider participating in. Some of those include:

• Math Club/Math Honor Society

• Business Club/Business Honor Society
• Student Government
• Debate/Speech Team
• DECA
• FBLA
• FCCLA

Basically anything related to math, business, finance, accounting, public

speaking, and/or leadership will help you gain valuable skills to fit your
Venture Capital theme.

As with any club, colleges will be much more impressed by applicants who
commit to a handful of clubs and who attain leadership roles in those clubs
by their senior year as opposed to applicants who join a bunch of clubs and
then quit after one year so that they can create a huge long list of
extracurricular activities. Time commitment and leadership are key
qualities that admissions committees look for in prospective students, so
make sure your extracurricular choices reflect those qualities.

3. Extracurriculars - Academic/Scholarship

Finding an academic activity to participate in outside of school may not be

as obvious for an aspiring Venture Capitalist or as easy to come by as, say,
an enthusiastic Chemistry student who already has an idea for a research
paper. Do not be discouraged, however, as this is where your
entrepreneurial spirit and creativity can come into play and really set your
application apart from others.

Talk to some of your teachers about an extra credit project. There are so
many sides of the Venture Capital coin that can be explored in-depth, and
you could write a research paper about what you learn or even put together
a great presentation for your class or school.

Here are some ideas:

• For the more financially-minded: analyze a real-world example of an

investment deal and think about the pros and cons of what actually
happened. What would you have done differently if you had been the
investor? How quickly will the investor get his money back? Pick
apart the financials and do a thorough analysis.
• Have your teacher create a mock startup company pitch and respond
to it. Do a full analysis of all of the potential gains and losses if you
were to invest in this new business. You could even partner with
another student who is an aspiring entrepreneur who maybe has an
actual idea he is considering pursuing.
• Research some prominent and successful Venture Capital
companies. Analyze what they are doing right and what they might
do differently to be even more successful.
• Analyze the career of a particular person who has become successful
in the Venture Capital world.
Be creative!

Also be sure to tell colleges about any Venture Capital experience you
actually have. Some high school students actually start businesses and/or
have money to invest in others' businesses. If this is you, by all means talk
about it in your application. Real-world experience, especially in the area of
Venture Capitalism, is extremely valuable and will speak volumes louder
than anything theoretical. You could even present an analysis of your
experience in written or oral form for one of your classes or for the school.

4. Competitions/Achievements

Most national Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital competitions start at

the college level and are not open to high school students. The good news is
that the doors open wide when you get to college and there are tons of
prestigious competitions with incredible prizes. Be sure to start researching
the different competitions that are out there now so that you can be
prepared as soon as you get to college. Some of these college teams that
participate in these competitions require tryouts and/or applications, so
you will want to be ready!

Now. While you're still in high school, there are still some competitions
that will fit your Venture Capital theme. Math competitions are really good
ones to have under your belt, as are any Business-related competitions and
Speech/Debate meets. If your school has teams for these types of
competitions, join them, and look into individual contest opportunities as
well.

5. Major and Supporting Documents

Colleges generally do not have a specific Venture Capital major, but there
are quite a few majors that will fit your Venture Capital theme and give you
valuable knowledge that you will need in your future career. Venture
Capitalists come from all different backgrounds, and there is truly no one
major that automatically qualifies you to enter the field. Much more
important than “choosing the right major” is to get good grades and work
very hard in college. You will likely be going back to graduate school, so
give yourself the best chance by doing well in college.

Here are some ideas for college majors:

• Business
• Finance
• Accounting
• Communications
• Economics
• Engineering
• English
• Political Science

If you have a good idea of the types of companies you want to be investing
in, you could even consider majoring in a subject that is relevant to that
field. For example:

• Choosing an IT major for future investments in IT companies

• Choosing a Biology or Chemistry major for future investments in
Biotech companies
• Choosing a Marketing major for future investments in companies
that develop specific consumer products

Ultimately it will be up to you, and you may end up changing your mind
once you get to college and start taking classes. Your academic adviser will
be very important so that you can steer yourself in the right direction for
any kind of specialized knowledge you want to have for your future career.
For your application, give it your best guess, and that will help admissions
committees understand your theme and your intentions.
Supporting Documents

First and foremost, you will want to have strong recommendations from
your teachers. Your math teacher is probably the best #1 choice to ask for a
recommendation since so much of Venture Capitalism has to do with
finance and accounting. For a second teacher recommendation, any of the
following would work well:
• An English teacher to speak to your communication skills
• Any AP teacher you had to speak to your dedication to academics
• Any Business/Marketing teacher you had (assuming the class was a
legitimately challenging and relevant class)
• A Foreign Language teacher, especially if you have any aspirations of
doing international business
You really can't go wrong in choosing which teacher to ask for a
recommendation as long as you have an excellent relationship with them
and are confident that they will give you a strong recommendation. The
Venture Capital theme is broad, and most subjects will make sense within
it.

If you have the option of choosing non-teachers to submit

recommendations, consider the advisers of any relevant clubs you
participated in, and anyone who can speak to your leadership experience.

Be sure to submit any excerpts or abstracts from research papers or special

presentations you've done in the "Additional Information" section of your
application. A really in-depth and unique Venture Capital project will stand
out among all of the science fair projects and history research papers that
colleges typically see, so make sure to take advantage of that opportunity
and show them your accomplishments!