Ithaca College is an ideal school for students who are energetic, original and destined to be entrepreneurs, according to a new ranking from the website DegreeMatch.org.
In a list of 30 great small schools for ESTP (extraversion, sensing, thinking, perceiving) personalities based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test, IC placed 16th. The ESTP personality type is often known as “the entrepreneur,” and is characterized by sense of humor, perception skills and excitement for life. Such individuals are often risk takers who push boundaries and prefer to learn by doing.
ESTP students benefit from unrestrictive, small learning environments that allow them to pursue their individual strengths and interests. Ideal majors for ESTP types include business, marketing, sustainability, environmental science, exercise or sport science, and entrepreneurship.
IC had one of the highest numbers of ESTP majors among the 30 schools ranked, many of which come from the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance and the School of Business.
“I’m particularly pleased with this recognition because entrepreneurship is one of our flagship programs and it’s an area where we expect to see significant growth,” says Sean Reid, dean of the School of Business. “We have some world-class faculty who teach entrepreneurship and run our Business Idea and Business Plan competitions; we have the strategic partnership with Cornell and Tompkins Cortland Community College behind the Rev: Ithaca Startup Works incubator; and we have a slew of successful alumni entrepreneurs who are eager to get involved and mentor our entrepreneurship students.”
Reid notes that the entrepreneurial spirit at Ithaca College is by no means limited to the business school. “There are entrepreneurial artists, musicians and scientists as well as entrepreneurs in media and the health sciences. The best illustration of this is the number of non-business majors who participate in – and often win – our Business Idea and Business Plan competitions,” says Reid.
The college also offers opportunities through “Park Tank,” a riff on the ABC television show “Shark Tank,” where students can pitch business or media ideas to a panel of alumni judges. The winners receive some financial backing for their projects, as well as mentoring from industry professionals.
“The enthusiasm and willingness to try – and sometimes even fail – from our students is refreshing,” says Bryan Roberts, associate dean of the Roy H. Park School of Communications. “I have hosted Park Tank for three straight years and I am always impressed by the large number of freshmen who participate. They view it as an opportunity to analyze, engage and sometimes, alter, their entrepreneurial ideas. To garner this experience so early on in an academic career is invaluable.”
For more information, visit DegreeMatch.org.