No College Dropout Left Behind: Gottesman Admitted at HBS

[nspeds]

<p>

A 26-year-old college dropout who carries President Bush’s breath mints and makes him peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches will follow in his boss’s footsteps this fall when he enrolls at Harvard Business School (HBS). </p>

<p>Though it is rare for HBS—or any other professional or graduate school—to admit a student who does not have an undergraduate degree, admissions officers made an exception for Blake Gottesman, who for four years has served as special assistant and personal aide to Bush. </p>

<p>Gottesman, a Texas native who attended Claremont-McKenna College in California for one year, has long had ties to the Bush family. He dated the president’s daughter, Jenna Bush, nearly ten years ago when he attended St. Andrew’s Episcopal School of Austin. </p>

<p>After completing his freshman year at Claremont in 1999, he left to join the Bush presidential campaign and later served as a junior aide to former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card. In February 2002, he became the president’s personal assistant. </p>

<p>In his current role, Gottesman performs a wide range of duties, from dog-sitting the president’s Scottish terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley, to carrying the president’s speeches and giving him the “two-minute warning” before a speech begins… </p>

<p>HBS spokesman James E. Aisner ’68 explained the decision to accept Gottesman, even though he is not a college graduate, by telling The Economist that “extraordinary circumstances will sometimes compel it to drop [its] rule” of only admitting students who hold bachelor’s degrees… </p>

<p>Aisner also pointed out to The Economist that Harvard would surely admit applicants like Bill Gates and Michael Dell, both of whom are college dropouts. </p>

<p>But the often-snarky British weekly noted: “Needless to say, holding the president’s hand-sanitizer is a far cry from heading a Fortune 500 company.”

</p>

<p>leiterreports.typepad.com</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=513563[/url]”>http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=513563&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[mini]

<p>Hey, they admitted Jeffrey Skilling, and fat lot of good his HBS education did him (or the country…) But to be fair, unlike Ken Lay’s, it wasn’t at public expense.</p>

<p>Good to see affirmative action is still in play. ;)</p>

[newmassdad]

<p>And to think some folks STILL think HBS admissions is about merit…</p>

[nspeds]

<p>Such instances are leave me aghast: how is it that even the most stellar applicants here on CC are rejected from such schools, while some of the most least qualified are those for whom exceptions are made?</p>

<p>I think the article is laden with answers.</p>

[cosar]

<p>So when the spokesman for one of the most oppressive regimes since the Nazis is admitted to an elite school, with a fourth-grade education, that’s wonderful. But when a young man who left college to join a presidential campaign is admitted to an elite school, after serving as the personal assistant to the President of the United States, that’s terrible. I’m not sure I really want to be in the position of defending this particular admissions decision, but I am detecting a bit of a double standard here.</p>

[originaloog]

<p>Cosar, excuse my ignorance but who are you talking about?</p>

[cosar]

<p>Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, former spokesman for the Taliban, now at Yale. Here’s one of several threads on the topic:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=151946[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=151946&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[ICargirl]

<p>I agree with cosar.</p>

<p>It also seems to me that the writer of this article may be taking an unnecessaraily dismissive view of Gottesman’s duties. I doubt that this young man stuck with Bush for two campaigns and six years of service without seeing his duties rise any higher than carrying the president’s breath mints. And it isn’t as if the guy dropped out of college in order to play poker with his buddies.</p>

<p>If someone who majors in sociology or classics can go on to get an MBA (which, if the Princeton deans are to be believed, is the case), then I don’t see why Gottesman’s years of work experience in the WHITE HOUSE would leave him completely unqualified. Even if his responsibilities were limited, he at least had intimate access into the highest levels of administration - which has to be worth quite a bit.</p>

[imiracle911]

<p>dude Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi goes to Yale EXTENSION school not Yale college. Why does it matter? Extension school’s easy. Hilary Duff went to Harvard Extension School. Does that say anything?</p>

[cosar]

<p>No, he was admitted as a “special student”, not to “Yale Extension School” (if there is such a thing). He took regular college courses this year at Yale, and has applied to have his status changed to a regular student for the next three years. So far as I know, that application is still pending.</p>

[barrons]

<p>Right now I’m wishing Bill Gates and his HBS grad cheerleader buddy would both leave Microsoft–it needs new blood and a general butt-kicking house cleaning.</p>

[newmassdad]

<p>cosar,</p>

<p>Surely you are kidding? Who in this thread has defended Yale’s decision? Why do you jump to such conclusions?</p>

<p>Icargirl,</p>

<p>No one is dismissing his abilities. I think you miss the point, which is that HBS has published prereqs. I’m sure many others who dropped out of college have unique abilities (or “duties” to use your word) but they didn’t get into HBS. Of course, others didn’t have “intimate access into the highest levels of administration”, which is one of the reasons for rejection - since when does having the right political connections qualify one for HBS?</p>

[RugBurn]

<p>cosar:</p>

<p>You’re arguing over the semantics of titles. The Afghan guy (currently) is in Yale’s Non-Degree Program, which is for all intents and purposes the exact same thing as Harvard’s Extension School. Politics aside, it’s easy to get into and it’s intended to be. But to get a degree (and outdo Hillary Duff), you need to apply to programs that actually have competitive admissions.</p>

<p>Gottesman, in contrast, got full admission to the ultra-selective HBS without all the prerequisites, apparently for being exceptional. Yet his official duties make it sound like he is the office fetch-monkey. Albeit a fetch monkey for the President, but still. :rolleyes:</p>

[marite]

<p>RugBurn:</p>

<p>Actually, you can get a degree from the Harvard Extension School even though admissions is not competitive.</p>

<p>Still, I am troubled by both cases, but for different reasons. In the case of Yale, it’s definitely about its reasons for admitting a member of the Taliban; the fact that it’s in the Non-Degree program is immaterial. In the case of Gottesman, my discomfort is about HBS setting aside its own criteria for admissions. Unless someone is demonstrably so superior that a degree would be superfluous, no school should so cavalierly disregard its own standards.</p>

[NJres]

<p>challenge! tryouts for the gullible awards? no way!</p>

<p>uh oh… appears to be true! This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of!! He is 26 yrs old, not 45. He should enroll as an undergrad, not as an MBA candidate. Absurd!</p>

<p>still not convinced. other “stories” appear to be just picking up the original crimson article. I still think it’s a spoof.</p>

[ICargirl]

<p>If HBS does not ever admit anyone without an undergraduate degree, than admitting Gottesman is wrong. However, if they make exceptions in the case of people with special circumstances, I think the admission may be warranted. For example, I would hope that a student from an underpriveledged background who had achieved some extraordinary success might get similar consideration.</p>

[marite]

<p>If someone has achieved extraordinary success worth bending rules for, there is little reason for him or her to go to B school. Bill Gates was never from an underprivileged background of course; but he dropped out of Harvard College not because he could not cut it but because he was not being properly challenged. In other words, he was bored. As well he might, given his interest in computers at that time, far more sophisticated than what Harvard or many other colleges could offer (a friend of mine quit a tenured position at CMU to go into industry because that was where cutting edge research was being done). There was never any need for Bill Gates to attend HBS. In fact, he could teach its profs a few things!</p>

[cosar]

<p>Harvard Extension School is a separate program with separate classes. In contrast, Yale students in the special non-degree program take the same classes as other Yale undergrads.

According to the Yale admissions office, the bar for admission is set high so that potential part-time Yalies must be as qualified as their full-schedule counterparts. “All candidates must present evidence of high academic potential, maturity, and clear motivation for their proposed course of study.” Yale College Dean Peter Salovey, GRD ’86, agreed: “The [special students programs]are very selective.” . . . Yale officials stress the difference between Yale’s program and those of its peers. “It’s not another school with different professors, [nor do we] adjust the schedule to meet [individual] schedules,” Whobrey said. “You need to buy into Yale.”

<a href=“yaleherald.com”>yaleherald.com;

<p>As I said before, I don’t really want to defend the HBS decision. While I suspect ICargirl is right that Gottesman’s role as the President’s assistant was a bit more substantial than portrayed by the magazine article, I am troubled by that case as well. I only posted because of what I saw as a contrast with the substantial support that the Yale Taliban received in other threads. As between the two, I’d take George Bush’s personal assistant over Mullah Omar’s spokesman any day of the week.</p>

[mini]

<p>Actually, I’m quite interested in what he brings to the table. I see no problem in particular for someone who has spent six years in the business world, and doing very well on his/her own without a college degree, being admitted based on what s/he can offer the university as well as what the university offers him/her. There are in fact plenty of folks who have entered Ph.D. programs without B.A.s, and I don’t have a problem with that either. There are six-year medical problems, with students entering the medical school before their B.A.s are complete, 6-year law programs, etc. etc.</p>

<p>But I don’t see what he brings to the table other than surrogate nepotism. Hey, it worked for his “sponsor”, so why not for him?</p>

[cosar]

<p>This is from the story in The Economist (which I believe was the source of the Crimson’s story):

Blake’s progress</p>

<p>Despite his low approval rating, George Bush’s recommendation still goes a long way. Just ask Blake Gottesman. Mr Gottesman is the president’s 26-year-old personal aide, responsible for carrying his breath mints, logging his telephone calls and dog-sitting his Scottish terrier. In June the self-described “luckiest college dropout” in America, will leave the White House to enrol at the Harvard Business School (HBS), where the president himself studied.</p>

<p>Mr Gottesman completed only one year of undergraduate study. Yet the possession of an undergraduate degree tops the list of admission requirements on HBS’s website. But Jim Aisner, a spokesman for the school, says extraordinary circumstances will sometimes compel it to drop the rule. He will not comment on the case of Mr Gottesman, but he does note that the lack of a degree would hardly keep the likes of Bill Gates or Michael Dell, both college dropouts, from being admitted. Needless to say, holding the president’s hand-sanitiser is a far cry from heading a Fortune 500 company.</p>

<p>Sanford Kreisberg, an admissions consultant who follows HBS closely as the head of Cambridge Essay Service, says he is not surprised by the decision: “HBS likes political figures of all stripes—it is a variety of leadership, their key mantra.” Mr Kreisberg also believes the admissions committee was impressed with Mr Gottesman’s ability to fit into a “high-stress elite” environment. Although HBS claims there is no single formula for a successful application, a recommendation from the president is one formula it finds hard to resist.

<a href=“News from the schools, May 2006”>News from the schools, May 2006;