Justin Bieber Shuns GSB For Harvard MBA

Among Harvard Business School’s Round 2 admits this week is a well-known candidate who will start the school’s MBA program this fall: Justin Bieber. The big news was broken this morning by The Harbus, the MBA campus newspaper, which also noted that in accepting HBS’ offer, Bieber turned down Harvard’s West Coast rival, Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

“The cherry on top for HBS is that Bieber had been accepted into Stanford’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) earlier in the month, but he held out because ‘Justin has always appreciated brand over hype,’ says Bieber’s spokesperson,” according to The Harbus.

The newspaper, in a story written by Alula Eshete, reported that a debate has already been aroused on campus by the school’s decision. Students apparently are asking whether Bieber’s acceptance was merit-based or merely on account of his star power. The Harbus reported: “As she wraps up her final year as the Director of Admissions, Dee Leopold firmly stands by her and the board’s decision and reminds skeptics that “few individuals have built a brand from the ground up and managed to influence the global community as powerfully as Justin has.” Co-signing on Dee’s statement, a member of the admissions team explained how no amount of criticism can change the fact that “Never Say Never was and is EVERYTHING.”

Of course, this is April 1st.

Check out the full story and a few other hijinks in today’s Harbus.