@cobrat: “That’s not the reality for most HES students as Harvard draws a clear line between HES and Harvard College students along with restrictions they place on HES students registering for Harvard College classes.”
Many Harvard faculty teach the exact same class for HES as they do for Harvard College.
And yes, there is a massive difference between Harvard College and HES, but that is mostly due to the HES adjunct faculty and non-classroom differences between the two.
On the other hand, there is no material difference between Columbia GS and Columbia College, though Columbia GS (while not as selective as Columbia College) also isn’t terrible easy to enter (admit rate below 30% these days, last I heard).