<p>Congratulations again…in case you didn’t go to undergrad in the Boston/Cambridge area I think it is a very nice place to go to school - I hope you will like it. Our family lives only 20 minutes from Harvard and my father’s side of the family is from North Cambridge just a few blocks up Massachusetts Avenue from Harvard Square so the area feels like home to us.</p>
<p>As you point out, the 2+2 program has evolved a bit in its short life. I think anyone can be successful in a good MBA program if they have a pre-MBA job that gives them the right experience so they can best understand what is going to hammered into their heads in the MBA classroom - though two years isn’t much time to get that beneficial experience.</p>
<p>BTW 2plus2 …why is there a requirement to submit one more essay and a recommendation when you’re half way through your two years of required work - you’ve already been accepted? Why more application-type stuff?</p>
<p>Back in the dinosaur days, there was a de facto 2+2 program at HBS and other top business schools. Students were admitted to business school right out of college, but were told they needed to get at least 2 years of work experience before they could matriculate. There was no specific “program” that the student applied to…the required deferral was at the discretion of the admissions office and administration. </p>
<p>These more formal programs sound like a better idea.</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone who says they have a 2+2 admission to HBS would have any trouble getting a job at one of the top investment banks, consulting firms or a non-profit…even a humanities major!</p>
<p>…they have a 2+2 admission to HBS would have any trouble getting a job at one of the top investment banks, consulting firms or a non-profit."</p>
<p>Actually, this is a funny/odd topic because, according to my son, HBS didn’t advise kids to tell, or not tell, prospective employers that they would be only working for two years - they left it up to the kids to decide as some prospective employers would look at it as a positive and some as a negative.</p>
<p>Anyway, my kid did tell prospective employers. Whether is was the 2+2 acceptance or something else, he got no job offers which was discouraging to him. So he graduated without a job but he found one later in the summer on the research staff of a defense/intelligence lab and enjoys the work although he knows that he will go to HBS with less business experience than classmates who will be arriving from Wall Street, etc.</p>
<p>The official word is to get the number of essays/recs submitted by 2+2 admits up in line with the number of essays/recs submitted by all applicants. I assume part of it is also to check in and make sure we haven’t totally gone off the rails. It seemed a little silly and wasteful to me, especially when I had to ask my boss, during a very high stress time at work, to devote time to writing a recommendation for a program I was already admitted to.</p>
<p>I also found it a delicate balance as to whether to communicate a 2+2 acceptance to potential admits and my job search wasn’t fruitful until May, when I received several offers all at once. Your son should not feel (by ANY means) that he won’t be receiving the best “business” experience pre-MBA as compared to the folks at top IB, consulting, etc. I ended up at a very small and very early stage startup through a series of coincidences, and believe me when I say I am getting MUCH broader experience than many friends at places with fancier names and more impressive titles. While they’re learning (generally very specifically) how to Be An Analyst, I do everything from 5-year budget forecasts and cash flow projections to marketing timelines and milestones to regulatory approval and clinical trial design. My friends’ specific skills, I expect, will serve them very well in the future and will certainly be helpful at b-school, but don’t discount the broader skills your son will develop - those are just as important to a well-rounded class with a diverse set of experiences at HBS as the ones brought by the large cohorts of Goldman, McKinsey, etc.</p>
<p>Sounds like you are on the perfect track to take full advantage of your upcoming MBA studies. Working at a small private sector business (especially a start up) in the “real economy”, rather than a fancy title in the parallel, parasitic universe of financial services or consulting, is the way to benefit yourself best. As you say, you get to see everything and “connect the dots” of how a true business grows. When you arrive at HBS with that great background the financial services/consulting kids will be alot of puff and buzz words but you will actually understand.</p>
<p>I’m a CFO of a mid sized manufacturer so you can guess (and hear) where where my biases are-my apologies to anyone who may be offended.</p>
<p>Hey 2plus2, when you are a “second year” at HBS and you happen to meet a slightly nerdy quant “first year” from a nearby research lab ask him if his father is “that guy” on CC. He’ll groan.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you and I think we (and others) have met my original goal of making more parents aware of Harvard’s somewhat unique 2+2 MBA program.</p>
<p>This sounds like a great program; congrats to the people who got in it! I work with undergrads at another Ivy League and I’ll pass the word on when they ask me about post-graduate options.</p>
<p>This is so cool! I’ll definitely apply when I’m eligible, but I’m a humanities major, so I’m not sure if they’re going to want me! Thanks for posting about this, it seems like a great opportunity.</p>