<p>I have a question, I have read about what type of people or students their targeting, but does that mean that NO business student has entered this program or was accepted?</p>
<p>I am a marketing major, but I never wanted to end up in business however our University just offers art and business, no engineering or other very intresting matters, so its not a choice, its more about whats “better”</p>
<p>I dont think that will hurt the chances, my GPA is 3.84 will be pulled to a 3.92, Top student, Deans list, Student Council President, One of the ONLY students at the University Student Affair committee, I just have th GMAT/GRE left to know and do not know where to start. </p>
<p>What do you think, should I study for the Exams and do it, or what? I know that I have got what it takes.</p>
<p>You can try. Everyone should take advantage of every opportunity presented to them. </p>
<p>However I know from someone related to the program in a really detached, no pull way (office assistant to the program developers years back) that the first cut of applications is for business students that are trying to pass themselves as alternative or on a non-business path to get in. The first way they do this is through the choice of major…and that “SEVERELY culls the number”. It’s the most basic cut. It is not a program for students on the business path; it’s as simple as that. As a marketing major I don’t see you as being the targeted party for the program, regardless of the “yeah buts”. </p>
<p>** This program is NOT a backdoor (there is no backdoor to HBS) **. Unlike what some people seem to believe, it is not any easier to get in because you don’t have to be in business. it is in many ways FAR more selective because you have to have those great Harvard scores and business savvy of activities and pursuits; without being in the field of business. </p>
<p>That’s rare. I know only one person who got in and her resume was BEYOND impressive and too diverse for words. The people who get in, I’m sure could very easily get into regular application. <a href=“Honestly,%20I%20think%20many%20of%20the%20business%20people%20trying%20for%20this%20would%20have%20more%20chance%20going%20through%20a%20regular%20application-%20they%20do%20take%20people%20right%20out%20of%20college”>i</a> *.</p>
<p>I would suggest you try for regular application if you’re not accepted (which I would say is a likely outcome). You’ll have to pass the exams anyway. Might as well do it now.</p>
<p>Thank you a lot for replaying, I really like the way that the 2+2 is structured and that is why it made it very interesting for me. </p>
<p>I didn’t know that Harvard accept fresh college graduates to its regular MBA! thanks for telling me that, because I think my chances will be higher then the 2+2 program. </p>
<p>2% of the first accepted class was composed of business related majors. Out of 106 accepted people, you’re looking at anywhere from 2-3 people, out of ~780 that applied.</p>
<p>Uh, sure there are. One of the most notorious back doors is, as identified in Philip Delves Broughton’s notorious expose ‘Ahead of the Curve’, is to be part of a rich and well-connected family, and especially for your parents to themselves be HBS MBA grads. For example, Mitt Romney - himself an Harvard MBA grad and probable 2012 Presidential candidate - has 5 sons, 3 of whom have gone to HBS themselves. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. Note, of his other two sons, one is a medical student (and hence doesn’t really need an MBA) and his youngest son may eventually go. </p>
<p>Now obviously nobody can choose to be born to a prominent family. Hence, I would consider the the most accessible backdoor of all is to become a Harvard Business School Research Associate (RA). A solid fraction of RA’s enter the MBA program every year.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t call being from the “right” family a backdoor. You either are or you aren’t; it’s not something you can decide to do or position yourself through to gain easy access. And the other I knew/know nothing about so thanks for the info.</p>
<p>You don’t even have to personally come from the ‘right’ family - you can simply be affiliated with such a family. For example, you can be admitted to Harvard Business School without even a bachelor’s degree, as long as you just so happen to be the personal aide of the President of the United States, and had also dated his daughter while in high school. That’s quite the gaping backdoor if I’ve ever seen one. </p>
<p>sigh… date the president’s daughter is not a backdoor. How many people are admitted through that “backdoor”? Can you recommend this to someone looking for an alternative way in? No.</p>
<p>The RA program I agree but these ‘1 in a hundred million’ occurrences, these front page stories and holes in the concrete do not constitute a backdoor.</p>
<p>My friend who went to Amherst College works as an RA for HBS. It’s a job just like most other jobs, has little to do with admissions to an educational program.</p>
<p>Uh, sure it is. A simple translation is that you should develop tight social ties with powerful people, preferably those who graduated from HBS themselves. Sure, you probably won’t be able to become the personal aide of the former President of the United States, but you can still develop ties with other HBS grads who will then be able to write strong recommendations for you, or if they truly have pull, place a few phone calls for you. That’s how networking and schmoozing work, and that is perfectly within your control.</p>
<p>And yet those RA’s seem to do quite well in later gaining admission to top grad programs:</p>
<p>*The experiences and skills our research associates develop lead to some exciting opportunities, including graduate programs at top-tier schools…</p>
<p>So, sure, I can agree that perhaps the RA job itself, strictly speaking, has little to do with admissions to an educational program per se. But what it does provide is access to a powerful social network. You have daily access to professors, as a necessary part of the job. You have access to MBA students who will later obviously become MBA alumni. Heck, many RA’s offices are domiciled within the buildings that many of the MBA students actually live in. Opportunities therefore abound to build your social network, to obtain important academic recommendation letters, and how to crack the admissions process - i.e. what HBS is ‘really’ looking for in the answers to its essay questions, how to behave during the interview, how to craft a strong personal statement, etc. You have ample opportunities to build a networking and informational edge that other applicants will not have. </p>
<p>These are strategies that are well within reach to anybody. If you want to admitted to HBS or any other MBA program, you should be looking for a job that provides you with opportunities to interact with other MBA’s or other B-school affiliated people such as faculty. That’s how you develop valuable social capital.</p>
<p>Again (and for the last time on my end); that’s not a backdoor. To try and get strong recommendation letters from relevant people is just plain logical. Your argument for the “backdoor” went from being Mitt Romney’s son to dating the president’s daughter/ being his assistant to what absolutely ** everyone ** tries to do for their application. </p>
<p>Does that mean that everyone who gets a recommendation from an alumni is using a backdoor? Of course not!</p>
<p>A backdoor is a universal (and easier) position one can use or place themselves in to gain easier access to the school. A magnet school or program that multiplies your chances of getting admitted qualifies as such. While I’m sure that these things happen; they in no way constitute a backdoor. </p>
<p>My initial post was simply that that the 2+2 program wasn’t a backdoor to HBS and I will simply leave it at that. You just seemed to want to argue for the sake of arguing.</p>
<p>I think now we’re quibbling about what the exact definition of a ‘backdoor’ is. I would propose that many people would think that social networks are a backdoor for the simple reason that not everybody has access to a powerful social network. For example, a poor kid who grows up in the boonies is probably not going to have access to a social network that includes many HBS alumni. I suspect that, from their point of view, the fact that the aide to the President can get into HBS without even a bachelor’s degree would be seen as a gigantic backdoor. Heck, even some faculty members thought it was a backdoor. </p>
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<p>Then you could have simply and truly left it ‘at that’, rather than attempting to argue with me for the sake of arguing. Keep in mind that nobody is forcing you to reply to me. We could have both said our pieces and moved on. </p>
<p>I am planning to study Industrial engineering and operations research. This is in my school’s College of Engineering. Would this be considered a business related field and disqualify me from the 2+2 program?</p>
<p>So is being a part /relative of the royal family is considered a back door? or having a history of ruling and coming from legends is considered one?</p>
<p>Senior2011, well, it seemed to have worked for both George W. Bush and his personal aide. They both got in despite questionable credentials: Bush was admitted despite an academic record at Yale that he himself freely admitted to be subpar, and his aide never even graduated from college at all.</p>
<p>Can’t disagree more and completely agree with sakky on this point.</p>
<p>Just because YOU can’t access a certain backdoor(s) doesn’t mean that certain backdoor(s) don’t EXIST.</p>
<p>Your flaw stems from your definition as to what is a “backdoor” (in your own words: a “universal position one can use…” A backdoor, by definition, cannot be accessible universally – such a the notion is completely contradictory – if they were universally accessible, they wouldn’t be “backdoors”, they would simply be “front doors”.</p>
<p>Legacies, wealthy / prominent families, etc. are probably the most notable examples of “backdoors” into elite programs (both at the undergrad and grad levels) that have been used by those privileged enough to enjoy this kind of access.</p>
<p>Further, as sakky pointed, you don’t even necessarily need to be directly related to an influential family – sometimes just positioning oneself within that network of influence (and more importantly being able to leverage that network) may be enough. For instance, there is hardly a more famous alumnus of Wharton than Trump. You’re telling me that if you happened to get into the Donald’s good graces somehow and he wrote you a stellar recommendation or pulled a few strings, you aren’t going to be in a superior position come admissions time? Of course you are. Is that an example of a “backdoor”? Absolutely.</p>
<p>Ive been searching this thread as well as other places and I cant see to get these two questions answered:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I am a woman who goes to a liberal arts college (for women actually) who is studying political science, but I also have a stats minor. Technically, statistics puts me ahead quantitatively than most people and is somewhat “business-related”. Is a background in math/stats a dis-qualifier?</p></li>
<li><p>If I take Econ courses (such as Intro Macro/Micro) or anything else that might be “business-track” related will that be held against me?</p></li>
</ol>