Canfield Business Honors Program (CBHP) at UT-Austin’s McCombs School of Business

Competition for Canfield BHP is as competitive as ever. 1828 students submitted applications and 244 gained admission for an enrolling class of around 120. Approximately 500 applicants receive alumni phone interviews. Half of the interviewees will gain admission following a rigorous committee review process, which I discuss further in this post.

The average class rank was top 1.8% and ACT 34 or SAT 1540. These statistics are similar to their admitted profiles for the past decade. BHP has been and will remain extremely competitive, comparable with most selective universities nationwide. If you rank outside of the top 5% and/or score less than 1500 on the SAT, it’s highly unlikely that you will gain admission even if interviewed. On occasion, students receiving a BHP interview will eventually get denied even from regular McCombs.

Check out these essays and academic profile of an admitted Class of 2024 CBHP applicant.

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Tips for the CBHP Essay “Discuss a Single Piece of Business News”

CBHP reviewers will have access to your Apply Texas Essay A, Three Short Answers, and your Expanded Resume/Reference letters. In addition, you must write one essay after you submit Apply Texas. The Fall 2021 prompt is the same as last year. In a 250 word response, BHP reviewers ask students to address the following:

Discuss a single piece of business news in the last year that has affected your view on the need for a high-quality business education, and tell us why this has affected or reinforced your desire for a business education. You do not need to go into detail about this piece of business news — a quick reference to the event will suffice. It can be something that occurred in your community, in the U.S., or internationally. Spend the majority of your response on how this event affected your views. Please limit your response to no more than 250 words.

This essay as two key components: identifying and digesting a recent piece of business news, and discuss why a high-quality business education is important to you.

One reason CBHP asks this question is because of their Case-Based Study classes: “Our Business Honors classes are modeled after MBA classes. The average class sizes range from 30-45 students. These small classes allow for networking and increased student/faculty interaction. The accelerated, MBA-style curriculum allows for case-based study in which students are simultaneously learning and applying knowledge on various subjects.”

One aspect of a case-based study curriculum is reviewing real company decisions and dissecting best practices or what could have done differently. Discussing a contemporary business news item and discussing why it’s significant to you is the same type of approach you’re expected to take in CBHP classes.

You can presume that your reviewer is relatively up-to-date and informed on global business issues like the US-China trade disputes, reciprocal tariffs and protectionist US trade policies, and the Justice Department and European Union inquiries and civil suits against Facebook and other technology conglomerates.

If you choose to discuss a more obscure national or local topic, it would be a good idea to dedicate a few sentences to providing the context for your reviewer.

The key is to be thoughtful, critical, nuanced, and considering different points of view. The most important phrase is: “Spend the majority of your response on how this event affected your views.”

In discussing your beliefs, it’s important to review and consider different perspectives and measure how they influence your views. Few ideas are black and white or objectively good or bad, so if you agree or disagree with a particular policy or business strategy, then spend a sentence or two building up why your opposing belief may be potentially worthwhile.

I think it’s possible to use a narrative or storytelling approach, but I suspect answering the prompt clearly, directly, and succinctly will probably be more effective given the word limit. Save your storytelling skills for the longer regular admissions essays.

Each of the five examples below follows a general sequence:

1. Spend one or two sentences identifying the issue, the time period, and the new source referenced if applicable.

2. A longer discussion on why the chosen issue is important to the applicant and how it shaped their views.

3. Connecting this specific issue into broader themes.

4. How a high-quality CBHP education can help explore these broader issues through specific courses, professors, student organizations, or other professional opportunities.

Reframing Retail Storefronts

In April 2019, the U.S. Commerce Department reported a historical milestone for online shopping, especially Amazon: the total market share of online U.S. retail sales was higher than general merchandise sales. In response, CNBC claimed, “Online shopping overtakes a major part of retail for the first time ever.”

Since my mother has an online Amazon business, we recognize the growing importance of e-commerce and staying updated on the evolving consumer landscape.

For instance, we recently launched a brick-and-mortar storefront in Houston to diversify our sales channels. I have gaps in my knowledge, so I realize that a formal business education exploring case studies and providing practical skills will help me anticipate consumer changes and adjust online business operations.

Engaging classroom discussions with peers and seasoned industry insiders will help me examine how disruptive technologies will inevitably reshape global commerce. For example, I am curious about the flaws that led to the sentimental demise of Blockbuster in competition with the online streaming Netflix model. I look forward to exploring topics in information technology through MIS 301H with experienced professors. I hope to apply the topics of supply chain and inventory management in OM 335H in the expanding online sales sector of our family business.

The news piece highlights the theme of change in the retail industry. A premier business education will allow me to proactively react to the dynamic needs of a company and contribute to a venture significant to my mom.

Commentary

This response opens very well because the identify a recent piece of business news from two angles, a CNBC commentary on US Department of Commerce report. It helps that they’ve chosen an issue where they have direct experiences. They identify a common belief they held (that brick-and-mortar shopping is dying) and how recent experiences bridging their online family business to a storefront calls into question the primary of eCommerce.

They cite deficiencies in their knowledge and why they need to receive a high-quality business education. “I have gaps in my knowledge, so I realize that a formal business education exploring case studies and providing practical skills will help me anticipate consumer changes and adjust online business operations.”

Referencing related trends like Blockbuster losing out to Netflix and related McCombs courses demonstrate persuasively that they have a grasp of the topic. Articulating how a high-quality business education can help you achieve your future goals is a necessary component of responding to the CBHP honors prompt.

This applicant gained admission.

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Technology and Meteorology

The September 6 New York Times article How High Tech Is Transforming One of the Oldest Jobs: Farming introduced me to agricultural innovations. Companies like Bear Flag Robotics are equipping LIDAR and radar sensors to automate tractors. Their autonomous tractors farm around the clock and depend less on human drivers, addressing a significant labor shortage and rising costs.

Similarly, IBM acquired the Weather Company in 2016. Supercomputers collect and analyze big data to make hyperlocal weather predictions, replacing the Farmer’s Almanac with high quality and inexpensive data. With the global population forecasted to approach 10 billion people by 2050, technological solutions can help feed an increasingly resource-strained planet. It never occurred to me that farming is big business that requires cutting-edge skills.

The future isn’t flying cars and teleportation but buying toilet paper on Amazon and farming remotely. This article reinforces my belief that an increasingly complex world demands a high-quality and innovative business education. Technological literacy is essential in any business curriculum.

MIS is a relatively new major that prepares students to identify problems and inefficiencies and find novel technical solutions. MIS graduates analyze data, secure databases, and create websites. However, as the article describes, they can also help solve societal issues through technology like utilizing supercomputers to assist US corn farmers and disaster relief agencies in deploying resources following catastrophe.

Business and technology are not independent disciplines but two sides of the same coin. Businesspeople need technology, and engineers must consider consumer needs and provide products and services that add value. A versatile business education like Canfield BHP will allow me to innovate and adapt to our rapidly evolving world. It would also provide a solid foundation in the digital age to become employable in almost any field.

Commentary

Unlike the first example where the student relates personally to their chosen topic, it isn’t obvious if this applicant relates to agriculture and technology. Indeed, these themes don’t appear in their Essay A or Short Answers. They also gained admission, so their approach suggests it’s okay to simply choose any topic as long as you can identify how it helped shift a belief. Their issue choice boils down to “this is something interesting that I hadn’t considered before.”

"The belief in question is a greater appreciation of the more mundane aspects of technological advancement through robotics and artificial intelligence. “It never occurred to me that farming is big business that requires cutting-edge skills.” They tie the discussion of autonomous tractors with broader discussions of machine learning and Big Data in the case of meteorological predictions.

Although it isn’t required to express interest in a specific major, and all prospective McCombs applicants apply Undeclared, if your major of interest relates to your issue, then discuss it. In this case, the applicant links an MIS education to developing technical literacy that aids business decisions.

Charitable Contributions Tax Reform

Congress argued that tax reform legislation enacted last year would improve the economy by creating jobs and increasing take-home pay. I learned, however, about a surprising unintended consequence affecting charitable donations. PBS News Hour reported that individuals account for three-quarters of all contributions and $400 billion in donations in 2017.

Charitable contributions have decreased in the past two years, but it’s unclear by how much. The new law makes it more difficult for people to reach the threshold required to qualify for a charitable write-off, complicating whether filers use the standard or itemized deduction method. Tax reform seems, in the short term, to have strengthened the economy, and although its long-term effects are uncertain, I am skeptical about a law that compromises charity funding.

One of my goals is to establish a pro bono financial planning company to help charitable organizations. My business degree from UT will be even more essential to help me understand tax laws and minimize potential adverse or unintended effects.

I want to take Professor Michael Granof’s accounting class since one of his focuses is non-profit accounting. In preparation, I’ve started his book, Government and Not-for-Profit Accounting. This will help me understand the intricate accounting and tax law challenges that charities face today. Professor Granof and a McCombs education will help me understand better the current regulatory and tax frameworks will help me anticipate future changes and give me the reasoning skills to navigate future legal reforms.

Commentary

In this applicant’s UT Major short answer response, they discuss the importance of financial literacy and various community outreach efforts they’ve conducted. Their BHP essay links into themes previously mentioned elsewhere, which is an effective strategy to use the honors supplement to tie together other aspects of your application.

Like the other responses, they open immediately with the specific piece of business news (decreased charitable donations) and the source (PBS News Hour). They call into a question the recent new tax reform that has supposedly increased jobs and wages has the unintended effect of de-incentivizing individual donations. They don’t propose any solutions but instead reinforce the importance of receiving a high-quality business education to explore these complicated issues further.

One aspect of their conclusion is they give a unique and specific reason why they’re identifying Professor Granof’s course as an interest. They recently started his Government and Non-Profit Accounting book. Although the applicant did not gain admission by ranking in the top 1.5% and scoring 1450, their essay submissions were superior yet unfortunately not enough against stiff competition.

Fast Fashion

As a full-time student working a part-time job, I had to find ways to manage my budget while staying fashionably relevant. I always found myself knee-deep in the fast fashion market buying cheap clothes from stores like Forever 21. My spending habit was skewed by the fact that these mass-produced clothes were inexpensive and provided an array of attractive styles. However, my views began shifting as I researched the fast fashion industry.

Retailers like Forever 21 and H&M introduce new designs every few weeks. Disposable fast fashion requires high volumes, rapid lead times, and low prices to satiate consumer desires. Fossil fuels power industrial machinery that contributes to local pollution and increases greenhouse gas emissions. Factory workers and source suppliers in the developing world suffer from long hours, low pay, and harmful work conditions. Fast fashion and the $2.4 trillion dollar garments industry are emblematic of the exploitative nature of global capitalism that maximizes the profits of multinational corporations at the expense of the Global South.

Armed with this business reality, I vowed to shift my buying patterns and I made a plan to focus my career on building sustainable fashion companies that work in harmony with the global garment manufacturing business model. I dream of producing successful, affordable clothing lines while creating good paying jobs in healthy work environments. 

The next step in my development as a business leader is to engross myself in the inspiring environment of the Canfield Business Honors Program (BHP). In BHP, I can learn from the best and brightest professors and students and contribute my unique interests to dialogue in and out of the classroom. I relish the opportunity to immerse myself in a world-class learning institution where I can interact with brilliant minds to explore new horizons in the fashion industry.

Commentary

Like the first example, this applicant does an effective job identifying personal habits and spending tendencies tie into larger concerns of the global supply chain. It’s helpful to tie a specific issue like fast fashion into broader themes of the multi-trillion dollar garment industry. The belief that shifted was that Fast Fashion that benefits the consumers with fresh styles at low prices comes with consequences for low-wage factory workers. It can be effective to make the belief change obvious, “However, my views began shifting as I researched the fast fashion industry.”

They also discuss the fashion industry in their regular admissions essays because it was their DECA/ICDC category. They conclude with how a high-quality business education can help them address ethical dilemmas in business and produce more sustainable global supply chains. If your issue relates to your professional ambitions, discuss it. “I dream of producing successful, affordable clothing lines while creating well-paying jobs in healthy work environments.”

Gender Wage Gap

In June 2019, Corie Barry was promoted to the chief executive of Best Buy, making her one of the twenty-seven female CEOs in the S&P 500. Her promotion was a chip in the glass ceiling, but gender inequity remains.

Barry’s promotion sparked my realization of the lack of female representation in business. CEO disparities made me wonder if the cosmetic plastic surgery industry had a similar lack of female physicians. I found that eighty-five percent of cosmetic surgeons are male, while eighty percent of their clients are female. As an aspiring cosmetic surgery practice owner, a high-quality business education is essential.

Data USA reports that male surgeons earn, on average, $80,000 more than their female counterparts. I had never questioned how being a woman could affect my career possibilities and success. In Barry’s interview with CNBC, she encourages women to have uncomfortable moments by speaking out for unpopular points of view to differentiate themselves and grow. I imagine BHP fosters conversations that challenge the status quo in more nuanced ways than the regular business school. Small classroom sizes and tight student-professor relationships will facilitate my development as a female business leader in a male-dominated field.

Barry also discusses her time spent in multiple careers, from finance to management and technology. BHP’s well-rounded education matches my varied interests. I look forward to taking classes from Introduction to Marketing to Business Law to Operations Management that will provide me with a diverse skill set for success as a medical entrepreneur.

BHP, paired with UT’s pre-med program and the Business of Healthcare certificate, is the perfect pathway to “Dr. Amrita’s Cosmetic Surgery Practice”—and another step on the road to shattering the glass ceiling.

Commentary

I thought this essay would be a winner. Their interviewer advocated on their behalf late in the decision release process. They were the strongest academic CBHP applicant I’ve worked with who didn’t gain admission despite a stellar resume and a likely perfect PAI score of 6 during the regular admissions review process. Their response does an excellent job getting straight to the point - confronting gender inequities despite recent gains.

Their data-driven discussion reinforces pay gaps specifically in their intended area of professional interest, pre-med and eventually cosmetic surgery. Applicants sometimes think 250 words isn’t near enough to communicate anything meaningful. One reason I like this essay is that every sentence and phrase count. They cite specific courses and certificates that relate to their issue and ambitions. They pack a variety of information that links into themes they discussed in their Essay A and three UT short answers.

This applicant received frustrating feedback on their application. A BHP advisor confirmed she was very close to gaining admission, but for whatever reason, CBHP doesn’t like to admit people interested in cosmetic surgery or running their own medical practices generally. What’s remarkable is they received direct application feedback at all. That alone is almost unprecedented among my ten years of working in college admissions.

Our initial thought was this angle would help her stand out in a crowded pool by providing specific reasons how a CBHP education can help them achieve their goals. Apparently, what they should have communicated was they wanted to do medical consulting or med tech and not start their own medical practice.

They exhausted all appeals options and still didn’t succeed. It was a bizarre outcome and just goes to show how genuinely random highly selective admissions selection processes can be. I don’t like to operate from the assumption that there are some things students “should” or “shouldn’t” talk about, but here’s one data point to suggest that CBHP is looking for primarily corporate or entrepreneurship driven students. One irony is they dropped pre-med before enrolling at UT.

Life is unfair, and so is college admissions.

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