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Jack Ma: 'Harvard rejected me 10 times' [video]

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Re: Jack Ma: 'Harvard rejected me 10 times' [video]

#31

Post by pdabbadabba »

I'm surprised that people still find such claims interesting. Colleges like Harvard are so popular that many people like Ma are inevitably going to be excluded. It doesn't mean much. There are at least three things going on:

1) Harvard has to make its decision on the basis of limited information.

2) Even if Harvard had perfect information, there are probably more 'ideal' candidates in the world than Harvard could hope to admit. Most are still going to be excluded.

3) Just because Jack Ma has become successful doesn't mean he would have been a good fit for Harvard. Success in entrepreneurship is not the ultimate educational goal for all (or even most) people, and does not necessary reflect all the qualities that a school like Harvard wants in its students (except, cynically, the ability to make big donations later in life...).

So where does this leave us? Don't beat yourself up if you don't get into Harvard. Most successful people didn't. But, at the same time, actually going to Harvard (and schools like it) remains an incredible opportunity for those who are admitted and have suitably aligned educational goals.

Re: Jack Ma: 'Harvard rejected me 10 times' [video]

#32

Post by larrys »

deterselect wrote: post #5

He claims that out of 25 people, he was the only one rejected for a job at KFC. That to me is more inspirational. On the other hand, could he be lying about some of these hardships to make him seem more relatable?

I think that (rejected from KFC) is a variation of the "humble brag". A way of attempting to relate to people that are not billionaires as if to say "hey keep plugging away you could be me one day!".

The fact is we don't know if the story is true first or why the KFC manager rejected him. Perhaps the KFC manager spotted that a guy like Jack was not simple enough or was to motivated or intense to stay for more than a week at that job. Not unusual for any company anywhere to reject people they feel are overqualified for a particular job for any number of reasons. Just because you tell Apple or Google you would be happy to start sweeping floors with your masters degree in computer science doesn't mean they are going to offer you a job doing that even if you would do a damn good job cleaning those floors.

Re: Jack Ma: 'Harvard rejected me 10 times' [video]

#33

Post by scott_s »

ilamont wrote: post #13

Colleges such as Harvard that base admissions decisions on grades, standardized test scores, traditional social/leadership signals (club x, sports team y), alumni connections, geographic/ethnic background, and writing/storytelling skills (i.e., the “personal essay”) are going to miss a lot of brilliant, innovative people and future leaders. The 17-year-old Steve Jobs (free spirit), Barack Obama (slacker), and Jack Ma…

Barack Obama went to Columbia, which is literally in the same league as Harvard. He also went to Harvard Law after undergrad, so I don't think he fits your narrative.

We don't need to include how an elite university selects their students to claim that they are going to miss a lot of brilliant and innovative people. The mere fact that they admit only thousands of people a year make this necessarily so.

Re: Jack Ma: 'Harvard rejected me 10 times' [video]

#34

Post by angdis »

Maybe that's the best thing that ever happened to him? If he had gone to Harvard, he could very well have ended up as a well-paid, well-connected cog in a huge corporation.

Whatever, I find it useless to think about what 1-in-a-billion entrepreneurs do or don't do. Harvard is a fine university and anyone who gets admitted should count themselves lucky and privileged. Those that don't, well, there's plenty of other excellent options.

Re: Jack Ma: 'Harvard rejected me 10 times' [video]

#35

Post by [deleted] »

ilamont wrote: post #13

Colleges such as Harvard that base admissions decisions on grades, standardized test scores, traditional social/leadership signals (club x, sports team y), alumni connections, geographic/ethnic background, and writing/storytelling skills (i.e., the “personal essay”) are going to miss a lot of brilliant, innovative people and future leaders. The 17-year-old Steve Jobs (free spirit), Barack Obama (slacker), and Jack Ma…

[deleted]

Re: Jack Ma: 'Harvard rejected me 10 times' [video]

#36

Post by pavornyoh »

jcfrei wrote: post #24

Great entrepreneurs don't necessarily make great academics and vice versa.

@jcfrei, I agree. One has to take into consideration the circumstances one is raised in, culture etc. That plays a huge role also. When you read about Jack Ma, although he failed to get a job at KFC, that did not deter him but rather egged him on. He is/was just a hustler with a keen eye to identify opportunities in the worse situations.

Re: Jack Ma: 'Harvard rejected me 10 times' [video]

#37

Post by 3pt14159 »

gchokov wrote: post #12

Classical education is DEAD. I see this worldwide and there're countless examples about it. 1. Smart people do not get accepted for various reasons 2. There's no personalization of classes - people are not machines and shouldn't be treated to study the same thing in the same ways. No creativity inspired. 3. Big gap between businesses and universities. and on and on..

The technical founders of Google, Facebook, even Apple all went to world class schools.

Re: Jack Ma: 'Harvard rejected me 10 times' [video]

#38

Post by metaphorm »

stephencanon wrote: post #22
ilamont wrote: post #13

Colleges such as Harvard that base admissions decisions on grades, standardized test scores, traditional social/leadership signals (club x, sports team y), alumni connections, geographic/ethnic background, and writing/storytelling skills (i.e., the “personal essay”) are going to miss a lot of brilliant, innovative people and future leaders. The 17-year-old Steve Jobs (free spirit), Barack Obama (slacker), and Jack Ma…

Yup. The thing is, they get so many applicants that they have no reason to care if they miss some good ones. The ones they end up taking are just as good. Any of the elite schools could throw out their entire admitted class, admit their next 2k choices, and no one would be able to tell the difference. The schools have a huge incentive to admit students who will succeed. They have no incentive to admit all such studen…

> The ones they end up taking are just as good

I disagree with this sentiment. humans are individuals and unique. none is "just as good" as another. each is different. the college admissions process treats human beings as fungible commodities. like ears of corn at the grain silo.

> The schools have a huge incentive to admit students who will succeed. They have no incentive to admit all such students.

what does succeed mean? some of the most well-regarded members of our society were poor students, or dropped out of college when they were young. some of our most damaging criminals were excellent students and graduated from Ivy League schools with honors.

Re: Jack Ma: 'Harvard rejected me 10 times' [video]

#39

Post by at-fates-hands »

ilamont wrote: post #13

Colleges such as Harvard that base admissions decisions on grades, standardized test scores, traditional social/leadership signals (club x, sports team y), alumni connections, geographic/ethnic background, and writing/storytelling skills (i.e., the “personal essay”) are going to miss a lot of brilliant, innovative people and future leaders. The 17-year-old Steve Jobs (free spirit), Barack Obama (slacker), and Jack Ma…

This is a great point and illustrates that Harvard tries to get people at the peak of their academic/intellectual careers.

By comparison, a lot of the people they miss out on, tend to develop later in life. Steve Jobs didn't turn Apple around until 1997 when he was 42. Obama didn't get serious about public service until he was in his 30's after being a lecturer at the University of Chicago.

Re: Jack Ma: 'Harvard rejected me 10 times' [video]

#40

Post by wfo »

ilamont wrote: post #13

Colleges such as Harvard that base admissions decisions on grades, standardized test scores, traditional social/leadership signals (club x, sports team y), alumni connections, geographic/ethnic background, and writing/storytelling skills (i.e., the “personal essay”) are going to miss a lot of brilliant, innovative people and future leaders. The 17-year-old Steve Jobs (free spirit), Barack Obama (slacker), and Jack Ma…

Well of course: they prescribe an enormous laundry list of things you must do to be accepted and they accept the ones who restructure their entire lives and personalities (or their parents force them to do this) so they may obey. They select for obedience to authority and so they get the obedient.
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