A Guide For Young Entrepreneurs In Selecting The Best Pre-College Program for Them
Ambitious high school students understand the importance of choosing the right summer program. They know that immersive, challenging experiences can significantly enhance their chances of getting into top colleges and achieving long-term career success. For aspiring entrepreneurs, however, the decision is even more complex. Finding a program that not only builds essential skills but also goes beyond the standard high school or college curriculum is necessary in a world that often underestimates what is needed to make a great entrepreneur.
Research highlights three key competencies every budding entrepreneur should master:
Identifying and developing ideas and opportunities,
Effectively managing resources, and
Taking decisive action (Harris, 2019).
These can be broken down into specific, actionable skills that can be developed. Conventional schooling does not develop these skills, so most entrepreneurs need to develop these skills outside the classroom. Summer programs address this gap, however deciding which program will best serve your unique goals can be challenging.
How Do You Pick The Right Summer Program?
If you want to be an entrepreneur, leader, or high performer, you need reps: real practice doing the work you want to be great at, with real feedback in a challenging environment. While you can gain the experience on your own - starting a project, taking online courses, or networking - you can fast-track your progress by getting structured feedback from mentors and peers.
Feedback is critical. It’s what helps you uncover what you’re already good at, and what you need help improving. Without it, you’re just guessing at what you need to improve – and you don’t have a great vision for how to get there. Feedback fuels growth; it gives you the insight to refine your skills and the motivation to push forward. It is a central component of our curriculum.
When planning your summer path, focus on two key criteria: gaining experience and getting feedback on that experience. There are generally two main options to consider:
Entrepreneurship programs: These are typically meant to immerse you in startup culture and let you simulate starting a business. You’ll get feedback on your ideas and performance, work with peers on your ideas, and connect with a network that could prove valuable down the road. If you feel you already have the underlying foundational skills to excel as an entrepreneur, running a “practice startup” before doing the real thing can be valuable. Some highly recommended programs are (Forbes, 2023):
Skill-Based programs such as Futures Forge: Programs like this focus on you - your personal development of skills and attributes. At this stage, your startup idea may or may not be a game-changer. And that’s okay. What matters is mastering the core skills that will allow you to turn the right idea into a success when the time is right. Skills like innovation, critical thinking, execution and self-management will equip you to not only build a future business, but sustain it.
Why Skills Before Specialization?
One of the core realities of entrepreneurship is that it is always novel. That is, no matter how many times you have started a business, the challenges you run into during a new venture are completely unique. You can never have fully practiced those challenges; you must always be capable of facing what is new and unknown.
Rushing into a specific path - whether it’s entrepreneurship, medicine, or something else - without a broad skill foundation can limit your ability to handle these novel challenges as they come up. You need the versatility to pivot, take risks, and explore new directions as opportunities arise. Developing the core skills and attributes you need to be successful - whether it’s problem-solving, team activation, or self-management - will prepare you for any future. And that’s where real power lies. Your entrepreneurial journey will not be what you currently predict it will be; such is its nature.
Focusing on perfect practice—rather than simply beginning your business or career path—will serve you far better than simply trying to start a business with your first idea. Before you specialize, build the foundation that will make you unstoppable, no matter the path you choose.
Your Next Step
As you evaluate your options for summer 2025, consider this: Invest in yourself first. The programs that truly matter are the ones that build your ability to innovate, lead, and adapt in any situation. Specialization can come later - right now, it’s all about building the core skills that will help you thrive in any environment.
