How to Connect Your Research and Entrepreneurship Programs
The fact that our academic research programs and practical entrepreneurship programs complement each other may not be apparent on the surface.
These two facets of Scholar Launch seem to have two very different missions: one is meant to help students participate in pre-collegiate research and the other helps students start their own businesses or ventures.
They aren’t so different, though. Both program types are spearheaded by dedicated mentors committed to teaching our scholars how to make the most of their academic futures, and both share Scholar Launch’s primary goal of helping students get into a great school.
Our research and entrepreneurship programs have different, yet harmonious, means of achieving the same end. And when students can figure out how to connect the results of their research to a new and exciting venture they’re tasked with leading, colleges and universities see one thing: an ideal applicant.
How Students Can Make The Most of Their Time with Scholar Launch
The value of participating in research in high school can’t be overstated. When a student sets out to explore elevated subject matters outside of the classroom, they demonstrate a level of curiosity and academic fortitude that strike higher learning institutions as promising. In turn, having a research project on a high school resume bodes well for college admissions.
However, the world is changing. Not only are schools developing new, more equitable ways of measuring academic success, but post-graduation employers are also looking for more than an excellent student. As collegiate admissions and the job marketplace grow more and more competitive in the wake of an increasing amount of degreed and highly qualified applicants, a resume that showcases both experiential and intellectual intelligence (EQ and IQ) is swiftly becoming a golden ticket.
Maya Gobert, the Founder and Director of our Leadership and Innovation Lab, has seen firsthand the positive impact that research programs and entrepreneurship programs, in tandem, can have on a young person’s success in this rapidly changing world. We spoke with her to understand the symbiotic relationship of both program types.
Why Research and Leadership Programs Work Together
How might a student benefit from participating in both a LIL program and a research program? Does it matter which one they do first?
“The ultimate goal here is twofold:
To achieve personal growth via the acquisition of some core skills
To form a coherent and holistic application profile that would give one a solid edge in a competitive admissions landscape
To that end, the order of a leadership or research program first is not a serious matter. We should be focusing on how these two programs feed into each other to produce the final outcome that we desire.
Doing both programs would truly enable a student to carve a very tight-knit narrative in their application profile by demonstrating their area of interest through concrete action in both entrepreneurship and research. This also demonstrates those key intangible personal qualities that are so highly sought after by top universities.
It is plausible that certain students may prefer doing academic work via a research program first before diving into entrepreneurship. This is usually a question of personal preference. Some other students, however, realize their deep interest in a given subject matter via entrepreneurship and discover later that this interest extends into academic work.”
What are some transferable skills research students can take into a LIL program?
“There are many research-related skills that are important in entrepreneurial endeavors.
For instance, market research. Understanding the competition, surveying the lay of the land, and conducting focus group testing. All of these key components of entrepreneurship involve critical research skills that go beyond simple googling.
Any entrepreneur needs to be keenly aware of their environment…and any future trends that could impact the growth of their endeavor. The ability to see all of this is not an intrinsic gift. It takes time and practice to develop such an eye. Research is certainly a very effective means of obtaining such training.”
How do Scholar Launch’s programs stand out in the industry?
“Our leadership and entrepreneurship programs have a strong focus on hands-on execution. This is why we bring our students beyond the initial planning phase and into actual action territory…
From our competitive research, most other similar offerings in the industry focus almost entirely on business planning, with almost no effort made in execution. On top of that, the scope of entrepreneurship covered is usually more narrow, in the sense that by business planning, they truly mean business planning.
There is little space and flexibility afforded to the fact that many students may not wish to do anything profit-oriented or business-adjacent. LIL can accommodate and support student projects in any field, of any type, to any scale. In fact, a vast majority of our student projects are non-profit and education/awareness-oriented.
Beyond the execution-heavy focus of LIL, we always say that it is not just about joining one LIL program, it's about accessing the full LIL ecosystem. It boasts funding, educational functions, competitive opportunities, recruitment support, in-house leadership opportunities, and many more exciting things.
We alone in this industry have built out this comprehensive ecosystem where any student-led project can flourish.”
Lastly, can you tell us about a student who successfully completed both programs?
One of our students started with a research program and discovered her deep interest in cybersecurity through that.
She dove into cybersecurity-related academic research, under the guidance of one of our esteemed mentors, and ultimately succeeded in getting published in an academic journal.
This is obviously a testament to her ability, but it also demonstrates the depth to which she was able to explore her chosen topic via this guided research experience.
Using this academic foundation…this student then set up her own project through LIL: a cybersecurity educational initiative that simplified these complex concepts she learned to make them palatable and digestible by the layman, specifically targeting younger students.
She was able to produce an original curriculum to teach the basics of cybersecurity with the knowledge gained in a research program. With the support and guidance of LIL, she was able to set up the framework for this project that would give her the platform needed to expand the reach of the original curriculum she had produced.
LIL assisted with recruitment, publicity, and even suggestions on channels in which she could expand her project, like online financial safety and cyberbullying courses.
Ultimately, the cohesive narrative that this student curated via her work in both program types culminated in a very well-deserved acceptance to Columbia University.”
The bridge between research and entrepreneurship is a straightforward one that leads to success. Students who can synergize their academic interests with an actionable initiative that creates a broad and lasting impact can look forward to reaping the fruits of their labor when admissions season rolls around.