College Admissions

Buffett, Vieira Rejected From Harvard

But did just fine without first-choice school.

It's that time of year again, when colleges send out admission letters and many more rejection letters. But The Wall Street Journal is arming parents everywhere with a ready-made "there, there." Just look at all these people who were once Harvard rejects: Warren Buffett, who missed out on Harvard Business School, went on to do just fine for himself; and Meredith Vieira, who is now part of an equally elite institution, the Today show. Harold Varmus, winner of the Nobel Prize in medicine, was turned down twice by Harvard Medical School, while the rejection is just an afterthought in Tom Brokaw's career. "The truth is, everything that has happened in my life… that I thought was a crushing event at the time, has turned out for the better," Buffett says.