NationStates Jolt Archive

Isn't this the same degree Bush got at Harvard? (http://politicalwire.com/archives/2006/05/25/bush_aide_gets_exception_at_harvard.html)

Bush Aide Gets Exception at Harvard
The Harvard Crimson: "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)."

"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."
I don't see too many people pull out the "Bush isn't an idiot because he went to Yale and Harvard" line anymore, but this still strikes me as funny.

This is nothing new.

*throws money at The Nazz*

Make this thread disapear.

*hops on magic carpet*

Hm?

Connections, not brains, can get you into Harvard
We've known this for years up in NE. What else is new?

Yes. Nothing new. It's al about who is in The Big Club. And it isn't us. :(

Nothing new. Same thing happened for Kennedy.

Yes. Nothing new. It's al about who is in The Big Club. And it isn't us. :(
*sips tea*

Excuse you?

Yes. Nothing new. It's al about who is in The Big Club. And it isn't us. :(
Speak for yourself, LG. :)

Nothing new. Same thing happened for Kennedy.
I don't know that story. Can you give me more?

Speak for yourself, LG. :)
Hooray!

Lets do lunch at the country club.

Hooray!

Lets do lunch at the country club.
Don't forget to RSVP, my dear sir.

*Gets into stretch limo*

I don't know that story. Can you give me more?

Pretty much, after flunking out of Princeton due to repeated absences (Addison's disease, intestinal and lower back problems) he tried his hand at Harvard.

Followed he brother Joe Jr. there. Apparently, it was the influence his father (Joe Sr.) had that allowed Jack into it in the first place. Didn't really like big shot Catholcis back then, but the colour of money got the better of the Harvard boys.

Eventually completed it 1938-39.

Pretty much, after flunking out of Princeton due to repeated absences (Addison's disease, intestinal and lower back problems) he tried his hand at Harvard.

Followed he brother Joe Jr. there. Apparently, it was the influence his father (Joe Sr.) had that allowed Jack into it in the first place. Didn't really like big shot Catholcis back then, but the colour of money got the better of the Harvard boys.

Eventually completed it 1938-39.
Ah, so you're talking about going back to get a Bachelor's degree after flunking out of a different college. This is a little different--this guy is getting into a Masters program without completing his undergraduate degree, and a prestigious one at that.

Don't forget to RSVP, my dear sir.

*Gets into stretch limo*
I do say, my my!

*fininshes tea*

*gets into helicopter*

I do say, my my!

*fininshes tea*

*gets into helicopter*
What? No Grey Poupon jokes? I am so disappointed.

Ah, so you're talking about going back to get a Bachelor's degree after flunking out of a different college. This is a little different--this guy is getting into a Masters program without completing his undergraduate degree, and a prestigious one at that.

Huh, didn't think that was physically possible... even with high level interference.

I stand corrected.

I do say, my my!

*fininshes tea*

*gets into helicopter*
*gets out of limo, enters huge sprawling mansion, hands coat to butler, gets cook to make a cup of tea and housemaid to bring said cup of tea to him*

Huh, didn't think that was physically possible... even with high level interference.

I stand corrected.
I imagine they used the "life experience" substitute excuse for this guy.

Connections and legacy admissions are more common than academic merit in the Ivy League? This is news? Hardly.

Connections and legacy admissions are more common than academic merit in the Ivy League? This is news? Hardly.
Normally I'd agree.

But a highschool dropout with no undergraduate degree gets plopped straight into a postgraduate course?

Hmmm.

I imagine they used the "life experience" substitute excuse for this guy.
He must make really good peanut butter jelly sandwiches.
And no-one can carry breath mints the way he does.

Is there a point to all of this?

He must make really good peanut butter jelly sandwiches.
And no-one can carry breath mints the way he does.
Seriously, do you know how difficult it is to carry a breath mint? They are so mind-numbingly small that it's a pain trying to find them again, and the containers are even heavier than a fork! Not to mention, how will you ever know if you drop one? I commend this guy for his bravery in taking such a difficult (and patriotic!) job; he certainly deserves an honorary master's degree for such a thing!

What? No Grey Poupon jokes? I am so disappointed.
Champage something... and cavier dreams.. bah.

*gets out of limo, enters huge sprawling mansion, hands coat to butler, gets cook to make a cup of tea and housemaid to bring said cup of tea to him*
*lands in your rose garden*

*smacks piolet for turbulance*

*joins you for lunch*

Then what did I steal all those brains from the graveyard for? :mad:

Guess I'll have to feed 'em to the zombie. :(

Then what did I steal all those brains from the graveyard for? :mad:

Guess I'll have to feed 'em to the zombie. :(

No! Give them to me. I plan to build the worlds largest organic supercomputer to take over the internet. Thousands of zombie posters and hackers in one machine.

Isn't this the same degree Bush got at Harvard? (http://politicalwire.com/archives/2006/05/25/bush_aide_gets_exception_at_harvard.html)


I don't see too many people pull out the "Bush isn't an idiot because he went to Yale and Harvard" line anymore, but this still strikes me as funny.
No, it was affirmative action. Harvard and Yale had to fill a quota of simian-related students.

Contacts may get you into Harvard (or Oxford) but brains will still do so as well. So the title of this thread is a little misleading. It should be:

Connections can get you into Harvard even if you have no Brain.

or something like that.

That means...

I STILL HAVE A CHANCE AT HARVARD!!!! YYYEEESSSSS!!!!!

(I'll be a student at York University this coming fall if you're wonderning, not that I have anything against York U) :D

Isn't this the same degree Bush got at Harvard? (http://politicalwire.com/archives/2006/05/25/bush_aide_gets_exception_at_harvard.html)

I don't see too many people pull out the "Bush isn't an idiot because he went to Yale and Harvard" line anymore, but this still strikes me as funny.

I guess Kerry is an idiot in your book, because he went to the same university as Bush.

Most Ivy League schools (and quite a few other prestigious schools) have this sort of thing - they'll put virtually anyone in any program if the right strings are pulled.

Now, whether or not he successfully completes the program is something else.

I guess Kerry is an idiot in your book, because he went to the same university as Bush.

Anyone who gets in that way is an idiot (does it matter what political affiliation they have? :rolleyes: )

As is the institution that condons it.

Worryingly, is that the state of US higher education? *raises eyebrow*

I guess Kerry is an idiot in your book, because he went to the same university as Bush.

There are better reasons than that.


I guess the moral of the story is dont hire HBS grads because they may not have got in using traditional moral methods of entry.

Anyone who gets in that way is an idiot (does it matter what political affiliation they have? :rolleyes: )

As is the institution that condons it.

Worryingly, is that the state of US higher education? *raises eyebrow*


All of the major universities (we can say Harvard and Yale for sure) have had this sort of thing since their inception.

It's not something new. You act surprised, and seem to think it's something new.

It's most definitely a VERY old practice.

All of the major universities (we can say Harvard and Yale for sure) have had this sort of thing since their inception.

It's not something new. You act surprised, and seem to think it's something new.

It's most definitely a VERY old practice.

Suprised that a high school drop out with no Bachelors is allowed into a Masters course, yeah. I am.

Surprised that influential and powerful figures can gets their kids into such schools as undergrads, no.

I guess Kerry is an idiot in your book, because he went to the same university as Bush.

Most Ivy League schools (and quite a few other prestigious schools) have this sort of thing - they'll put virtually anyone in any program if the right strings are pulled.

Now, whether or not he successfully completes the program is something else.
Actually, I believe Kerry went to Boston College for his Law degree, but feel free to correct me on that if I'm wrong.

But where Kerry went to law school (as opposed to an MBA program) is hardly the point, and I imagine everyone in this thread knows that. My point was that if Harvard is willing to accept a college dropout into their "prestigious" MBA program based apparently on nothing but connections and his ability to make a Presidential quality PB&J, what does that say about Bush's "accomplishment" in the realm of graduate school? Or for the many other graduates of Harvard's MBA program, for that matter? If I were an alum, I'd be pissed about it, since it would denigrate my degree by association.

Just wait until they discover some of the transgressions allowed in the name of atheletics. Its shocking I tell you, shocking.