{"id":29957,"date":"2025-07-08T09:30:26","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T13:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/?p=29957"},"modified":"2025-07-08T15:40:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T19:40:25","slug":"mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows\/","title":{"rendered":"MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: My Supervisor Graduated from HBS\u2014He Knows!"},"content":{"rendered":"

We at mbaMission know of a man now in his 80s who graduated from a virtually unknown Canadian undergraduate school in 1963 and who, with no work experience at all, applied to Harvard Business School (HBS), Wharton, and the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), earning acceptance at all three\u00a0<\/em>(though the GSB deferred his entry for one year so he could gain a little more experience first). He ultimately studied at HBS and now runs a small grain-trading business. You could not meet a nicer man, and although he is certainly wise in many respects, one thing he knows nothing about is MBA admissions. \u201cI attended so long ago, things must have changed since then,\u201d he says. \u201cI did not have any work experience at all. I had studied four years of commerce, and that was it!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Why are we telling you this? Many applicants each year tell us that their bosses, who applied to business school during far different times, have given them \u201csage\u201d advice about applying and that they feel they should follow it\u2014after all, what worked for their boss decades ago must still be applicable today, right? Not quite so.<\/p>\n

For a long time, the MBA was actually not all that desirable a degree, so the admissions process was not so competitive. To give you an idea of the MBA\u2019s relative popularity, Duke University (Fuqua) did not even start its MBA program until 1970, but its law school was founded in 1868. Yale University was founded in 1701, but it did not offer an MBA degree until 1999. So, the MBA is a relatively new degree that has only relatively recently (as of the late 1990s) reached its current level of popularity and prestige.<\/p>\n

What does all of this mean with regard to your boss\u2019s advice? Although your supervisor may have gotten into one of your target schools, they likely did so years ago and therefore may not have had to contend with the steep competition you now face. Your boss may also not know anything about what the admissions process is like today and could be\u2014however inadvertently\u2014leading you astray. If your supervisor starts any bit of their well-intended advice with the phrase \u201cwhen I applied,\u201d you should view the coming declaration with tremendous caution.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We at mbaMission know of a man now in his 80s who graduated from a virtually unknown Canadian undergraduate school in 1963 and who, with no work experience at all, applied to Harvard Business School (HBS), Wharton, and the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), earning acceptance at all three\u00a0(though the GSB deferred his entry … Read More  <\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":35716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[179,233],"class_list":["post-29957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-admissions-myths-destroyed","tag-admissions-myths","tag-harvard-business-school"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMy Supervisor Graduated from HBS\u2014He Knows!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many applicants each year tell us that their bosses, who applied to business school, have given them \u201csage\u201d advice about applying.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My Supervisor Graduated from HBS\u2014He Knows!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many applicants each year tell us that their bosses, who applied to business school, have given them \u201csage\u201d advice about applying.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-08T13:30:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-08T19:40:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/My-Supervisor-Graduated-from-HBS.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Erika V\u00e4\u00e4t\u00e4inen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erika V\u00e4\u00e4t\u00e4inen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"My Supervisor Graduated from HBS\u2014He Knows!","description":"Many applicants each year tell us that their bosses, who applied to business school, have given them \u201csage\u201d advice about applying.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"My Supervisor Graduated from HBS\u2014He Knows!","og_description":"Many applicants each year tell us that their bosses, who applied to business school, have given them \u201csage\u201d advice about applying.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows\/","og_site_name":"mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting","article_published_time":"2025-07-08T13:30:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-08T19:40:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":360,"url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/My-Supervisor-Graduated-from-HBS.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Erika V\u00e4\u00e4t\u00e4inen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erika V\u00e4\u00e4t\u00e4inen","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows\/"},"author":{"name":"Erika V\u00e4\u00e4t\u00e4inen","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8239bb74f0e5086e58417043b2ff94c6"},"headline":"MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: My Supervisor Graduated from HBS\u2014He Knows!","datePublished":"2025-07-08T13:30:26+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-08T19:40:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows\/"},"wordCount":390,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/My-Supervisor-Graduated-from-HBS.png","keywords":["admissions myths","Harvard Business School"],"articleSection":["Admissions Myths Destroyed"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows\/","name":"My Supervisor Graduated from HBS\u2014He Knows!","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/My-Supervisor-Graduated-from-HBS.png","datePublished":"2025-07-08T13:30:26+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-08T19:40:25+00:00","description":"Many applicants each year tell us that their bosses, who applied to business school, have given them \u201csage\u201d advice about applying.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/My-Supervisor-Graduated-from-HBS.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/My-Supervisor-Graduated-from-HBS.png","width":640,"height":360,"caption":"My Supervisor Graduated from HBS"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/mba-admissions-myths-destroyed-my-supervisor-graduated-from-hbs-he-knows\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: My Supervisor Graduated from HBS\u2014He Knows!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/","name":"mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting","description":"World's Leading MBA Admissions Consulting Firm","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"mbaMission","url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbam-yoast-organization-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mbam-yoast-organization-logo.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"mbaMission"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/8239bb74f0e5086e58417043b2ff94c6","name":"Erika V\u00e4\u00e4t\u00e4inen","description":"Erika V\u00e4\u00e4t\u00e4inen has been mbaMission\u2019s Writer\/Researcher since 2015. She is in charge of updating and revamping most of our publication materials, ranging from the extensive Insider\u2019s Guides series, the Interview Guides, and the International Program Guides to our shorter publications, including the HBS 2+2 and Deferred Admissions Guide and numerous blog posts.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/who-we-are\/team\/erika-vaatainen\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/erikavaatainen\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/author\/erika\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/My-Supervisor-Graduated-from-HBS.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}