<p>Hello, I know this might seem like cheating to get a harvard degree,but what do you all think about this plan:</p>
<p>Harvard Extension :ALB in computer science(or writing)</p>
<p>Harvard MBA program</p>
<p>Some other doctorate program</p>
<p>First of all, I have checked out the Harvard Extension School (HES), and I do not believe it is ‘cheating’. On the other hand, it is obviously true that HES is not Harvard College. Don’t expect an education at HES to be equivalent to what you would get at Harvard College. Basically, HES is a continuing education program and is therefore designed for the nontraditional student, i.e. older students who have jobs to hold down, re-entry students, etc. You will not get a traditional full-time undergraduate experience at HES that you would get at a traditional undergraduate program. If that’s what you want, you ought to look elsewhere. It’s like going to medical school to get a law education.</p>
<p>I would further point out that the vast vast majority of HES students will not graduate. This is somewhat due to the nature of the HES student body - many of the students at HES just want to take some classes and get some college credits, often times paid for by their employers, but are not necessarily interested in earning a degree. However, it is also true that HES is highly rigorous, and it is therefore not automatic by any stretch of the imagination that you will automatically graduate. The academic standards at HES are quite high, and if you aren’t able to meet them, then HES will not grant you a degree. The point is that you shouldn’t view HES as a backdoor.</p>
<p>I would also caution you that graduate programs, especially the better ones, will strongly question why you attended HES if you are not a member of the nontraditional student body that HES targets, as opposed to attending a traditional undergraduate program. Honestly, I would probably question it also. It’s like going to medical school while having no interest in being a doctor. </p>
<p>However, if you are a nontraditional student - i.e. somebody who wants to work fulltime while still going getting your bachelor’s degree at night, then HES is a good program.</p>
<p>Well, the thing of it is,I am a non traditional one,I have a ful time job and have to look after my brothers as my mother just passed.I dont see it as a backdoor,I just dont want to be critized for choosing this action to continue my education,and I am going to get the degree,Im not just doing it for classes or credit,of some sort.</p>
<p>Allright, well, if you are a nontraditional student, then HES was designed for you. </p>
<p>Just understand that HES is not a ‘backdoor’ to anything. HES is highly rigorous, and only a small fraction of HES students actually manage to complete their degree. HES is not about getting a Harvard degree by ‘cheating’. As a HES degree candidate (as opposed to just a guy who is there to get some academic credit), you are going to be put through the academic wringer.</p>
<p>On a personal note,I had talked to a stephen linn,I dont know if the liberal arts degree is the best choice tho,but as for getting jobs it might be a good degree,but what do you think employers would look at the degree as?</p>
<p>Do you know of any alumni who graduated witha degree,and there status as far as jobs or grad programs etc.</p>
<p>I PM’ed you a response, and basically, you keep asking whether this is a good choice, and my response is, well, what are your alternatives? Is the ALB as powerful of a credential as a AB or a BS from Harvard College? Of course not. However, if you are a nontraditional student, then getting a regular daytime undergraduate degree is not an option available to you anyway. </p>
<p>As far as alumni are concerned, I happen to know one. He worked at EMC (high-end manufacturer of computer storage systems), EMC paid for him to get his degree from HES, and he still works at EMC. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that it is clear that a HES degree is obviously not as powerful of a credential in terms of getting jobs or getting into graduate school as a degree from Harvard College. On the other hand, the HES degree is probably one of the most powerful nontraditional degrees you can get. HES students only have limited access to the regular Harvard Career Office, and graduate schools understand the limitations of the ALB degree. On the other hand, I believe that the Harvard ALB may give you more very good job prospects and graduate school prospects for a nontraditional degree. </p>
<p>And I think that’s the really the right way to look at it. It’s not fair to compare HES to Harvard College. You have to compare HES to other continuing education/extension education programs.</p>
<p>Gotcha,I understand what your saying,I believe that this might be the best option that I can consider,I just would like to be able to get into a master program after I am finished.</p>
<p>I talked to stephen today,and he and I got to the point were thinking Im going to try to do the ALB,in computer science,with a citation in human resource management,then a certificate in some field,then the MBA if I can get into the program.</p>
<p>I also think that because you are a nontraditional student, HES is probably one of the best options available to you. Like I said, HES is not comparable to a decent traditional fulltime undergraduate program. It is a program aimed to meet the needs of nontraditional students, nothing more, nothing less. </p>
<p>I would also point out that as far as the Harvard MBA is concerned, I would tell you that there are plenty of Harvard College graduates (and graduates from YPSM and other elite traditional programs) who would like to go to HBS, but can’t get in. I say that not to discourage you, but just so that you know the odds facing you.</p>
<p>Wonder if 13 thousand per year last year gross will qualify for financial aid,I sent the FAFSA form,I hope I can get a grant or two.</p>
<p>Does Harvard extension school courses improve one’s application to harvard?</p>
<p>Well,it is harvard,because harvard extension is one of the school that is under harvard university,although it does not have the rigorous admissions requirements,they are nonethe less strenous classes,and are taught by harvard proffesors.as for getting into harvard college,as we are students of the continuing education program at harvard,we are in all senses of the word attending harvard,now it is not harvard college but it is the harvard university devision of continuing education.</p>
<p>I am about to attend Harvard Extension School…does anyone know if I can use those credits to transfer to Harvard College at the end of my Sophomore year? And if so, would those credits be more valuable in the admissions department’s eyes because they were earned from Harvard University?</p>
<p>Well you’ll have to talk to admissions about that one.</p>
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<p>In five years as a mentor in the transfer program at Harvard, there were zero transfers admitted to Harvard College from the Extension School. To call this a long shot is a wild overstatement. Go to the Extension school because you want to go to the Extension School; interest in Harvard College is a terrible reason to go there.</p>
<p>I don’t understand what’s so impossible about it: By attending Harvard Extension School, you are taking the same classes as Harvard College students, that are taught by the same professors. It seems the only difference is that an Extension student attends those classes at night, while a College student attends them in the morning. So how is transferring from Extension School to the College such a longshot possibility?</p>
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<p>It is a long shot because the college admitted zero transfers from the Extension School between 1997 and 2002. Maybe that’s changed drastically in the last three years, but I don’t think that it has. </p>
<p>It seems that you’re trying to make a point about how things OUGHT to be, and I am just telling you how they ARE. Ability to pass Harvard College classes has very little to do with admission to the college, especially as a transfer; the overwhelming majority of applicants could pass the classes. They only admit about 50 transfers each year out of ~1200 applicants. They prefer to use those spots to take star students from MIT, Wellesley, Georgetown etc. rather than community college or HES students. Whether this policy is wise or unwise, it is the reality that you should be aware of as a prospective HES student.</p>
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<p>No, you missed one huge aspect of the way that education works - something that a lot of people miss. The fact is, a big part of your education comes from your students around you. Surely we’ve all had high school classes we had that were basically round-table discussions amongst the students and the teacher. The better the other students are, the more interesting things they would be saying during the discussions and consequently the more you learn. On the other hand, if the students were unprepared or didn’t care or weren’t particularly bright, then they would not be saying intelligent things and so you would learn less. </p>
<p>Furthermore, many Harvard classes (both at the College and at the Extension School, and basically at every school at Harvard) are curved. Your grade depends on the skills of the other students around you. Hence, an ‘A’ at the Extension School if not comparable to an ‘A’ at Harvard College because the competition in the Extension School is far lower. Consider this analogy. Even if you’re the worst player in the NBA, that means that you’re still one of the best basketball players in the world and better than the vast majority of the college basketball players out there. </p>
<p>I have to back up Hanna on this one - the odds of anybody in HES in transferring to Harvard College are so small that you should basically discount it as a realistic possibility. Like I said before, HES caters to the nontraditional student, and is not built to accomodate somebody who is trying to transfer to Harvard College.</p>
<p>All right…I understand and agree with your arguments…but do you think those credits could be used to transfer to other big name schools (Columbia, Yale, Georgetown…)?</p>