High school students who want to major in finance tend to have a few things in common. They are driven, they are smart, and they are hungry. They want to succeed professionally at a very high level, and fast. They don’t want to wait for a Master’s degree or a professional certification as a lawyer or a doctor. They have the brains to do that, but they have the belly for Wall Street.
We love these students, because they are very willing to take risks and try new things if we give them a good reason for why to do it. This isn’t busy work. We aren’t in the business of busy work. We direct our students towards activities that, in the run up to applying to college, are gamechangers for your application.
In this post, we’ll be focusing on you, juniors, who are only months away from starting work on college applications. There isn’t a ton of time, but there are actions you can take now that will improve your chances of admission to a top-tier university. These are the things that you need to be doing right now to have an application that isn’t just seen — but that is felt.
Applying to top colleges requires strategy. That’s exactly what we provide to students willing to do the work. If that’s you, get in touch.
If you are a student interested in Finance, and you are a junior, there are probably a few things you are already doing. You may be in clubs, or even dabbling in the stock market already. Your obsession may be crypto, or you’re interested in blue-chip stocks, or
FINANCE/BUSINESS CLUB
If you are not already in a finance or business club, you need to join one now. If the reason that you aren’t in one is because your school doesn’t have one, then you need to start it. As a junior, you have probably developed a strong relationship with at least one teacher. Ask them about the process, and if they would be willing to be a faculty advisor. The goal of this is to rise to a leadership position. That typically either takes long-term commitment, like having joined a club as a freshman, or founding, creating the club yourself. So, you need to access one of those routes. Consider it sort of like investment strategy. You need to have the long-game in mind as you make quick decisions. This is especially true if you are a junior, as you don’t have a ton of time left before you’ll be pressing submit on your applications.
Once you are in a club, we highly advise that you take part in investment simulations, like The Stock Market Game and Wharton’s Global High School Investment Competition. These are team led experiences that require teamwork and collaboration, and that teach risk management and strategy development.
INTERNSHIP
As a junior interested in a major in finance, it is very important that you try to pursue an internship with a local financial firm. Not a branch of a big company, but truly a local firm. The size of the company matters less than the immersive experience you are able to have, and it’s better to be at a smaller firm than a big name firm where you’re one of hundreds of interns all doing the same thing.
Find a connection to an opportunity through family, the parents of a friend, or a similar connection. Before you talk to them, make sure your resume is exceptionally formatted (and only one page — seriously). Write a strong and personalized cover letter. DO NOT use AI to do this. Ask a parent or teacher for help if you need it, and needing help is totally ok and normal. Or simply ask us.
Aim for an internship that is at least 4 weeks long, and ideally more than 20 hours per week. You will not be doing anything ‘impressive,’ you are an intern. However, you will be learning. Embrace opportunities to work alongside other people passionate about this field.
COURSES
We highly recommend that our students who are juniors interested in finance take at least one online or in-person course from an accredited university or educational provider focused on the field of finance or economics.
This isn’t because you’ll write a lot about this course on your applications. If it is an online course, it’ll probably only show up in one place — the activities section. But in-person courses can be amazing opportunities for community building along with expertise development. Programs that we have recommended to our juniors in the past include Dartmouth’s Finance: Investing & Market Insights, the Economics, Finance, and Public Policy program at Harvard, or Columbia’s Investment Portfolio Management or Introduction to Business, Finance, and Economics courses.
READ
Immerse yourself in literature around finance, especially the memoirs and though-leadership of people you admire. Read books like The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz or The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe. Be omnivorous, and be ravenous.
“But what,” you may be asking, “does this do for my college applications?” Fair question. Reading isn’t typically categorized as an extracurricular activity. However, we need you to start thinking of it that way.
A major flaw in most college applications from students interested in finance is that they fall flat. The grades are there, the scores hit, but the person behind those numbers isn’t clear. It’s hard for application readers to differentiate these applicants from each other. They all blend together into one finance bro (or gal) smoothie. But that is not you. You are more than a caricature of an industry peddled on Tik Tok. You are smart and creative and thoughtful. And that brings us to the last thing you need to do.
SERVICE
The last thing on this list is perhaps the most out of left field, but is also critically important. Volunteering in ways that have nothing to do with finance is critical to differentiating your application as a potential finance major.
What your volunteering should be connected to, though, is community. We want to see you working as a team alongside peers and adults. You should also be participating in a service initiative long-term. We direct our students toward local food pantries, food banks, soup kitchens, and libraries for weekly volunteer opportunities.
If you are already doing something like this, keep it up and possibly double down. And if you have been working with a soup kitchen for a year serving meals twice a month, see if there is a position like Shift Leader that you could rise to. Having a title associated with your long-term commitment matters.
Standing out as a finance applicant to a top-tier school isn’t easy. All the best applicants have the grades and the scores and the hopes and the dreams. They have big vision, but to stand out it needs to be matched with big action. We guide our students towards activities that amplify who they are and that strengthen their argument for admission by a top tier firm. The results speak volumes.
We help strong students pull off outstanding admissions results. Learn more.