I WONT SAY ANYTHING. PLEASE READ AND MAKE YOUR POINTS. NO ANGER, NO MA CUSSING. Do You Really Need A College Degree To Study At A Harvard Graduate School? Is it a must to have a bachelor’s degree to be accepted in a Harvard University postgraduate program? Apparently not. Alejandra Sota, former Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s spokesperson, is enrolled at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Mid-Career Master in Public Administration (MC/MPA) Edward S. Mason Program without having earned a college degree. Doug Gavel, HKS Director of Media Relations declined to address Sota’s specific case, citing “students privacy concerns.” In general terms he explained that “while it is extremely rare for someone to attend Harvard Kennedy School prior to completing a bachelor’s degree, the Admissions Committee reserves the right to grant an exception in instances warranted by that holistic review”. Up until now, it was generally unknown that Harvard–the country’s top-ranked Ivy League school where eight U.S. presidents have graduated, including Barack Obama–would take students that lack a college degree in any of its graduate programs. The MC/MPA Mason Fellow Program clearly states “bachelor’s degree” as one of the eligibility requirements. In explaining the basis for granting an exception, Gavel said that HKS considers a variety of factors including “an applicant’s academic qualifications, commitment to public service, leadership experience and potential, and contribution to a richly diverse learning environment.” The Mexican daily El Economista reported that according to ITAM, a private university in Mexico City attended by Sota, she is missing 10 of the 48 credits required to complete a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. News that Sota was part of the HKS flagship international program was received with disbelief by Mexico’s media, where she is best known for her partiality and censorship tactics. It also generated concern among former and current Harvard students. “Among the student community it is known that Kennedy’s admission policies are less than strict. Pretty much anyone that has money to cover the tuition has a good chance to get in. They have one of the highest admission rates of any Harvard school,” said a former student who requested his name not be used. Gavel said he could not disclose student admission rates “as a matter of school policy.” Unofficially, the acceptance rate for the MC/MPA Mason Program is estimated at 50%, a high rate in comparison to Harvard’s other graduate schools. Sota’s controversial enrollment as a Mason Fellow comes months after Calderón, her political mentor, began a one-year fellowship as lecturer and researcher at HKS. Calderón’s tumultuous six-year presidential term was characterized by widespread drug-related violence that left 70,000 people dead, 24,000 missing and large parts of the country under the control of powerful drug cartels. In January, the month Calderón began his golden exile (before ending his term he said he planned to leave the country because he feared for his life), activists from the U.S. and Mexico delivered a 34,000 signature petition asking Harvard to dis-invite him. Not only did Harvard defend its decision to embrace Calderón, but it has helped him alleviate his homesickness. Aside from Sota, the Mason Program has enrolled three more members of Calderon’s party, the center-right PAN. They are: Benajamín Hill, Sota’s husband and former advisor to the PAN Senate leader; Carlos Orvañanos, former PAN delegate in Cuajimalpa, a Mexico City borough; and Juan Carlos Mondragón, former PAN leader in the state of Puebla. Gavel said that there are 218 international students in this year’s MC/MPA class and that five are from Mexico; four of them members of the PAN. Calderón did not answer an e-mail asking him if he influenced Harvard’s decision to enroll his partisan fellows. Follow me on Twitter: @DoliaEstevez forbes/sites/doliaestevez/2013/08/06/do-you-really-need-a-college-degree-to-study-at-a-harvard-graduate-school/ theivycoach/the-ivy-coach-blog/ivy-league/harvard-graduate-school/ Blake Gottesman never graduated college (he only attended college for a year) and yet he graduated from the Harvard Business School in 2008. This is well documented both on his “Wikipedia” page and throughout the press. As noted by Harvard, extraordinary circumstances can lead the university to drop a prerequisite for admission. We’d say being the youngest aide to the President of the United States is extraordinary circumstances. Wouldn’t you no matter your political beliefs?
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 23:54:01 +0000
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