(Manhattan) Though the ink is barely dry on his admission letter from Brit Dewey, Class of 2006 admit Peter Derosa has already sent in an announcement to the “Class Notes” section of The Pennsylvania Gazette, his college alumni magazine.
“I wanted to make sure it got in right away,” Derosa said as he decorated his cubicle with HBS paraphernalia. “Because the 2,300 Penn people I graduated with in ’01 are all dying to know what I’m doin’.”
“I wouldn’t dare to make them wait until the May-June issue to find out. They couldn’t stand it. So I busted my butt to hit the March-April deadline instead.”
Orianna Goldberg, Derosa’s cubemate, claims that making sure he made the deadline included Derosa “writing the alum mag email the day after his HBS interview in December” and “setting a daily reminder in Outlook that said every morning at 8:30am ‘Send that Gazette email if you’ve heard from Brit – if you heard, CONGRATS!”
According to sources at the “Class Notes” department of the Gazette, Derosa sent in his update on January 21st, the very day the admissions announcements went out.
“Peter was the first person to send in an update,” said “Class Notes” editor Joan Begley. “But he definitely won’t be the last. We’ve already received nineteen other HBS-related updates since Peter’s and we’re expecting a lot more. Penn sends like 50 people a year to HBS. Most of them Wharton. Didn’t these people get enough business in undergrad?”
Begley alleges that the March-April update will read, “Peter Derosa W’01 emails ‘I’m happy to announce that I’ve recently accepted admission to Harvard Business School. It was a tough decision because I also got into Stanford, Kellogg and Columbia (I didn’t apply to Wharton because I already went there). After three-plus years as an associate and analyst for Goldman Sachs, where I always received the top-of-the-range bonus, I’m looking forward to conquering the #1 business school in the country.
But before that, I plan on traveling around the world. I’m pretty much just going to Africa and Australia, because I’ve been everywhere else, even Anarctica (see my Class Notes contribution in the July-August 2002 issue about my South Pole expedition). I would love to tell you more about my accomplishments – email me at
Begley expects to get at least four more updates from Derosa that contain the word “HBS.”
“He’ll send something next fall about his summer travels before HBS. He’ll send something the following fall about his summer job and his summer travel between years one and two at HBS. Then he’ll send something to let everyone know where he’s going to work after HBS. And then he’ll send something out about where he traveled before he started his job after he graduated from HBS, because in case you missed it, he graduated from HBS.”
Derosa has a number of magazines, websites and people he still needs to contact about the big news. “My fraternity magazine, my summer camp alumni website, my ninth grade homeroom teacher. The list goes on and on.”
Derosa is worried that if he doesn’t cut back on work, he’s “never gonna get the word out about him and HBS.”
“There is just so much to do before June – sending out all these emails, figuring out the Boston living situation and going to bi-weekly HBS happy hours – I need to push back at Goldman.”
“Plus, I haven’t even sent the Gazette my wedding update that individually lists all 57 Penn people who went to my wedding. I’ve gotta get that done before I climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. Which I’m doing the summer before I go to HBS.”
