Develop Entrepreneurial Skills to Direct Your Journey
Welcome and congrats incoming Class of 2029!
Ciocca Center Mindset Scholars is a 2 year program to develop an early entrepreneurial mindset for incoming first year students at SCU.
The four facets of an Entrepreneurial Mindset are:
- Awareness of how we make a difference
- Empathy for those we strive to help
- Optimism to see problems as opportunities
- Confidence to tolerate risk
At the completion of the program, scholars will receive recognition with university leadership and be equipped with tools to direct their life's journey! Read more about the components of this unique experience below.
Mindset Scholars cultivates and supports a multidisciplinary and multicultural community of undergraduate students from across Santa Clara University, and delivers engaging experiences that prepare students to develop an entrepreneurial mindset.
Mindset Scholars begin their experience by joining our Early Arrival program, where students move into campus early - the Tuesday before school starts. Then, spend the week participating in fun and engaging activities and community building.
Then, Mindset Scholars take
Academic Coursework that covers the entrepreneurial mindset from the perspective of each school.
Explore the required coursework spread across the first year:
- School of Engineering - 1 unit of Design Thinking taken during fall quarter. There is no math in the Engineering course.
- College of Arts & Sciences - 2 units in Creative Thinking around Theme of “Belonging for all Broncos”, one of the four Strategic Priorities for SCU, as described in the University’s "Impact 2030" strategic plan. 1 unit will be during the Winter Quarter and 1 unit will be during Spring Quarter.
During the second year of the program, Mindset Scholars take different coursework depending on their school.
- Scholars in Leavey School of Business will join Venture Virtuoso and take MGMT 167 Venture Capital Essentials (5 units) and additionally enroll in a required 1-unit to build entrepreneurial leadership.
- Scholars in the College of Arts and Sciences and School of Engineering will take BUSN 70 Contemporary Business Issues (4 units) taught by a former CEO. They will also additionally enroll in a required 1-unit to build entrepreneurial leadership.
Mindset Scholars also includes unique co-curricular and experiential opportunities:
- Field Excursions - opportunities to explore the entrepreneurial mindset in Silicon Valley.
- Other special workshops and opportunities, including breakfast with President Julie Sullivan
Mindset Scholars are connected into resources at SCU related to their personal interests. For example, a Mindset Scholar interested in Creative Writing can be connected to the Santa Clara Review, the HUB Writing Center and other resources related to writing, whereas a Mindset Scholar interested in building a business can be connected to MakerLab and Ciocca Center Bronco Ventures Accelerator and other resources related to building a business.
Mindset Scholars is estimated to be about a 5-10 hour time commitment per week on average.
Apply now!
Submit your application by June 8, 2025 at 11:59 pm.
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As part of the application process, we’re using a one-way video interview platform, which gives you the flexibility to record your responses at a time that works best for you. The application will include written and video responses.
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Please avoid using ChatGPT for written responses within the application.
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You’ll receive an update about your application status and next steps by late June.
If you have any questions, please reach out to cioccacenter@scu.edu.
If you require accommodations for the interview process, please contact rcramer@scu.edu as soon as possible and no later than June 6. We are committed to ensuring an inclusive and accessible experience for all applicants. Let us know how we can support you!
If you have questions about course requirements, please contact cioccacenter@scu.edu. General requirements for class of 2026, 2027, and 2028 are listed below.
- In the Leavey School of Business, students take BUSN 70 - Contemporary Business Issues (4 units), which is taught by a former CEO of a company.
- In the College of Arts & Sciences, students explore empathy through a sociology course. SOCI 1, 49, 149, 134 are the current approved courses for this requirement.
- In the School of Engineering, students are exposed to topics like Design Thinking, Product Opportunity Analysis, and more, to identify solutions to real challenges. There is no math in the Engineering courses and students complete 2 units in these topics. ENGR 162, ENGR 165, ENGR 166A, ENGR 166B, ENGR 171, ENGR 171A, ENGR 172A, and ENGR 179 are the current approved courses for this requirement.
Students additionally engage in unique co-curricular and experiential opportunities:
- Idea Lab - Mindset Scholars are advised on which section of Idea Lab to take based upon their interests.
- Career Launch & Networking - Mindset Scholars are provided the tools to be stronger at networking as well as networking opportunities to connect them to unique internships.
Each Mindset Scholar is matched with a mentor, who is a current SCU student in their major, minor, or school. They provide insights on navigating SCU and opportunities to get engaged on campus.
Each Mindset Scholar additionally has quarterly advising hours with a Ciocca Center advisor, where they are supported by a professional at SCU. These advising hours are personalized for each Mindset Scholar to connect them into resources at SCU related to their personal interests. For example, a Mindset Scholar interested in Creative Writing would be connected to the Santa Clara Review, the HUB Writing Center and other resources related to writing, whereas a Mindset Scholar interested in building a business might be connected to MakerLab and Ciocca Center Bronco Ventures Accelerator and other resources related to building a business. These advising hours are used for a variety of topics to support success, such as, making appointments at SCU's Career Center, finding an on-campus job, connecting with tutors on campus, and all sorts of other questions.
Mindset Scholars is estimated to be about a 5-10 hour time commitment per week on average.
2024-2026 Mindset Scholars, Class of 2028
Aiden Christen
Bioengineering Major
Aiden Kwapisz
Finance Major
Alexandra Schiller
Public Health Major
Armen Kazazean
Neuroscience Major
Arselen Munoz
Sociology Major
Ava Stoddard
Finance, Economics, Management
Charlie Lyons
Marketing, Management
Chester Billerbeck
Finance Major
Chloe Shim
Business Major
Claire Carpita
Political Science Major
Colleen Cloonan
Psychology and Communications
Collin Blewett
Finance Major
Elijah Goss
Marketing Major
Ella Torseth
Studio Art Major
Emma Walsh
Accounting Major
Hope Springhart
Communication Major
Hoshita Undella
Finance, Bioengineering
Isha Nag
Management Information Systems Major
Jameson Baldwin
Communication Major
Jennifer Muro
Environmental Science Major
John Malta-Magana
Electrical Engineering Major
Jonah Chun
Civil Engineering Major
Kaiya Lu
Economics Major
Kareena Israni
Finance Major
Kaylee Ellerhorst
Biology Major
Krish Jajoo
Computer Science and Engineering
Leonardo Eulate
Business Major
Marta Sild
Management Major
Minh-Kang Nguyen
Mechanical Engineering Major
Natalya Sanchez
Mechanical Engineering Major
Paloma Helms
Political Science, Gender Studies, International Relations
Parsa Valdez
Neuroscience Major
Penelope Flores
Psychology Major
Rigved Barve
Biology Major
Sanjana Badami
Management Information Systems Major
Shreya Dusankar
Business Major
Sophia Mikkelson
Psychology Major
Stephanie Vu
Mechanical Engineering Major
Susan Lee
Finance Major
Thatcher Cattell
Computer Science and Engineering
Tre Rangel
Business Major
2023-2025 Mindset Scholars, Class of 2027
Allison Kemp
Business Management
Anna Mulderink
Mechanical Engineering
Asha LaManque
Computer Science
Barbara Herrera Modesto
Business
Brooke Tanner
Biology
Georgia Kalpogianni
Psychology
James Ponzio
Bioengineering
Jessica Bui
Management Information Systems
Jessica Simmons
Business Management
Jonathan Felix Saucedo
Management Information Systems
John Buscher
History
Juliana Roesner
Management Information Systems
Kyle Chew
Marketing or Management Information Systems
Mei Lin Hsu
Bioengineering
Mira Pande
Management Information Systems
Myiesha Shaikh
Economics
Reyansh Jogi
Biology
Ryan Pool
Finance
Sean Wu
Computer Science & Engineering
Shangrong Wu
Marketing
Shangyuan Li
Engineering
Taara Khan
Political Science
Adrian Pina
Business
Arnav Bharadwaj
Computer Science Engineering
Blessing Ndionyenma
Business, Management in Systems
Bianca Ricafort
Economics, Communications
Emily Chen
CS and Engineering, Accounting and IS
Eve Erceg
Biology
Fernando Rojas
Web Design, Engineering
Francisca Gelman
Communications and Spanish
Grace Perryman
Finance, Entrepreneurship
Gema Sanchez Gamez
Anthropology, Public Health, Accounting and IS
Jesus Cruz
Environmental Science
Kendall Cox
Undeclared Arts & Sciences, Interested in English and Psychology
Naina Singh
Business
Neil Gawande
Computer Science, Mathematics
Ryan Alappatt
Finance, English
Sabrina Gonzalez
Quantitative Economics
Santiago Guerrero
Neuroscience
Siddhi Kabadi
Computer Science