Was I An Affirmative Action Admit?

At HBS Did I Take A Seat From A More Qualified Candidate?

With the apparent death of DEI in US corporations and universities, I thought it was a good time to reflect on my own personal experience with specifically affirmative action. For regular readers of this column, you know I am supportive of the ending of affirmative action at universities. Today the vast majority of Americans are ready and able to be fair and just with each other. We don’t need a program to counter balance a highly prejudicial society. I am an even bigger fan of DEI being replaced with MEI. The period of my life where affirmative action could have had the greatest impact was my acceptance to the Harvard Business School (HBS).

There are three reasons why it is likely that affirmative action boosted my application. First, I attended a blue collar undergraduate college. There has likely never been another student from Suffolk University to earn an MBA at HBS. Second, my GPA at Suffolk when I applied to HBS was ~3.5 out of 4.0. Lastly, because of affirmative action, I atten…