College

Today, BusinessWeek posted its official rankings for the 2007 Best Undergraduate Business Schools in America. In its second year, BusinessWeek has featured in-depth coverage on this increasing trend, and has used smart methods for scoring each school, relying more heavily on areas such as student and recruiter sentiment, coursework, and starting salaries.

For years now, I knew that I would always pursue an undergraduate business degree. Reminder: I'm still a junior in high school. It just makes sense, especially when you're focused on a career in business. For me, the incentive is that I can major in Finance (the one business subject that really isn't taught outside the academia), build a strong business foundation, and then move on with starting my own business/ventures -- all in four years. Keep in mind that a business degree is absolutely NO predeterminer for future entrepreneurial success (as noted by Reid Hoffman, CEO of LinkedIn). Therefore, I intend on focusing more heavily on internships, job experiences, and outside motivations.

Undergrad Rankings 2007 (click HERE)

One notion of mine is to move out west (Silicon Valley) after college, work for design firm or study briefly at a design school before jumping into the business of venture capital. Moreover, I think it's important that I don't become fully transformed into a prototype Wall Street executive, but that I make time to cultivate my inner creative engine.

Which brings me to my belief that: the culmination of design thinking and business foresight will ultimately drive the most innovative businesses of tomorrow.

As for now, here's my list of schools I'm most likely going to apply:

1. University of Michigan (Ross School of Business)
2. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
3. University of California - Berkeley (Haas School of Business)
4. Indiana University (Kelley School of Business)

Any suggestions??
-AK