<p>I was just wondering how advanced standing is perceived? I know that some people don't apply because they don't want to graduate early. However, there's a Masters degree that could be possible in the fourth year. How hard is it to get into the Masters program? Will joining AS mess up your cum laude stuff when you graduate?</p>
<p>We're wondering about this, too. Hate to be money grubbing but for us there is $50,000 at stake in graduating a year early. Also, achieving a master's degree within four years seems very nice. Our D has ample APs to do this, as I'm sure most entering freshman do. On the other hand, we understand there is much that goes into the bonding within the class, the network, the traditional four-year experience.</p>
<p>From what I can tell....fourth year (AM) does NOT affect your GPA (the one that is used for cum laude, med school, etc.)...although I can't verify.</p>
<p>Its something you can figure out once you are there.</p>
<p>"Decision to Pursue Advanced Standing</p>
<p>Advanced Standing allows eligible students to graduate from Harvard College after only six or seven terms of enrollment in the College or, if accepted, to enroll for their fourth year in one of the master’s degree programs specified later in this booklet. Although individual students ordinarily only opt for Advanced Standing at the end of their fourth term of enrollment (fifth term for those planning to graduate in seven terms) in the College when their plans are more certain, pursuing the option of Advanced Standing may entail making choices that affect students’ academic programs from their very first year in the College. Here are some considerations that may help students to make their choices:</p>
<p>Harvard distinguishes placement in courses from standing in a college class.
We have degree requirements which must be met by the end of the first year, such as foreign language and expository writing, but there is not a fixed freshman curriculum at Harvard College. Students will be advised to take the most advanced courses for which they are prepared, regardless of whether or not they intend to pursue Advanced Standing. Prerequisites for courses are listed in the catalogue, Courses of Instruction, and admittance depends ultimately on the discretion of a faculty member. Note the frequency with which the phrase, "with the consent of the instructor," appears in the catalogue.</p>
<p>Pursuing Advanced Standing may require choosing a field of study during the first year rather than the sophomore year.
"Concentrating," as it is called at Harvard College, begins in the sophomore year for all students, but eligible students who plan to use Advanced Standing to graduate in only three years or to apply to a fourth-year master’s program may have to start "concentrating" in freshman year. Some students new to the College are understandably reluctant to commit themselves to a concentration before sampling a number of fields. After reading Courses of Instruction and "Fields of Concentration," in the Handbook for Students, most students wish to explore Harvard’s curriculum broadly. Thus, it has been standard advice that those students who do not feel ready to specialize should not plan on graduating in fewer than eight terms. That seems especially sensible for a student who is strongly interested in quite unrelated fields—Chemistry and Classics, for example—or eager to begin something entirely new, perhaps the study of Anthropology. Then an exploratory freshman year seems clearly advisable.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if a student’s interests already cohere to some extent, and his or her concentration choice is among Government, Economics, and Social Studies or between pure History and the interdisciplinary study of History and Literature, it may be instructive to enroll in concentration courses and judge from the inside. Many concentrations offer serious and well conceived sophomore tutorials, semester or year long courses intended to introduce concentrators to the field. That initiation often proves more revealing than the department’s introductory course or courses intended equally for nonspecialists. Thus, if one is an Advanced Standing-eligible student excited by the subject and challenged by the notion of participating in a small discussion group with upperclassmen, enrolling in a sophomore tutorial in the first year may be a fine idea. (See the section Concentration.)</p>
<p>It is not uncommon for Harvard students to change concentrations after the sophomore year and even later, although with diminishing ease. Premature specialization, however, can sometimes reduce a student’s mobility. Students who choose a concentration based on their high school or other pre-college experience can find themselves without an alternative if their passion for this field wanes. The result might be a lackluster completion of an academic agenda already outgrown. One strategy for guarding against this is to explore new areas through the Core. However, the best protection lies in approaching the whole academic program with an open mind and a sense of adventure. Students should explore and experiment as much and as early as possible.</p>
<p>Eligible students make the choice whether to activate Advanced Standing near the end of their fourth or fifth term of enrollment but should discuss their options with advisers and prospective concentrations in their first year.
The decision making process will begin with conversations with freshman advisers and concentration Head Tutors. There will be many opportunities during the orientation period and first term to take part in discussions about choosing a concentration and the consequences of pursuing Advanced Standing. To the greatest extent possible, the first term should be devoted to an exploration of Harvard’s academic landscape. Developing a sense of what seems interesting and challenging, and what is a reasonable work load and learning pace, will serve students well in the decision whether or not to pursue Advanced Standing. In an average year, approximately a third of the freshman class is eligible for Advanced Standing, but very few students in a class decide to graduate in three years.</p>
<p>Any students who feel certain from the start that they want to accept Advanced Standing in a concentration requiring a sophomore tutorial may, with the permission of the concentration, enroll in that tutorial in the fall term. Such students should consult early in the fall term with potential concentrations.</p>
<p>Careful planning of the academic program is required of all students who wish to graduate in three years. After speaking with advisers and before enrolling in first term courses, everyone considering Advanced Standing should spend time preparing a preliminary Plan of Study, or blueprint of their academic program for the next three or four years. This process of plotting out, semester by semester, which interests to pursue and which to forego, and of planning how to reconcile electives and requirements, may very well clarify the advantages and disadvantages of Advanced Standing.</p>
<p>Considerable forethought is required to make a three year undergraduate education satisfying rather than hectic. Thus, the College has adopted a policy by which eligible students apply for Advanced Standing near the end of their fourth term of enrollment (fifth for seven-term degree candidates) when their plans are more certain and they have decided to use the option either to graduate early or to apply to one of the fourth-year master’s degree programs.</p>
<p>Eligible students who decide to use Advanced Standing for one of the two stipulated purposes must apply for Advanced Standing near the end of their fourth or fifth term at the College.
Eligible students who decide to use Advanced Standing to graduate after only six or seven terms in the College or to apply to one of the specified master’s degree programs must apply for Advanced Standing by the appropriate deadline during the third term before they intend to graduate or enter the master’s program. This deadline, ordinarily on the same date as that for seniors filing degree applications or changing concentrations, will be published yearly in the "Academic Calendar" in the Handbook for Students. Forms for activating Advanced Standing will be available on the Advising Programs Office website and from the offices of the Resident Deans in the Houses.</p>
<p>Once the activation form has been filed, the Registrar formally transfers 4.0 of the required 16.0 credits for the bachelor’s degree to the record of each Advanced Standing student. Students who accept Advanced Standing, but later decide that completing the undergraduate requirements in fewer than eight terms is no longer in their academic best interest, must rescind Advanced Standing with the appropriate form and will forfeit the 4.0 Advanced Standing credits. Students who have activated Advanced Standing are required to take this formal step to remain a fourth year in the College and to return to their original class status. Students should also understand that they may compete for fellowships that are confined to a specific class only once. Thus, were an Advanced Standing student to apply during that third year for a scholarship limited to seniors, he or she could not rescind Advanced Standing and compete again during the fourth year as a senior.</p>
<p>An Advanced Standing student may elect to stay in the College for four years but will need to rescind Advanced Standing.
Students who have accepted Advanced Standing may later decide to remain in the College for a fourth year (even though they may well have completed minimum bachelor’s degree requirements) by rescinding Advanced Standing. They will be expected to carry a full course load each term and are subject to the ordinary Core requirements. Full tuition is charged for each semester in which students enroll, and financial aid is available according to the same criteria applied to other undergraduates.</p>
<p>Unique to Harvard College Advanced Standing students is the opportunity to apply for a fourth year master’s degree.
Several Harvard departments or committees offer a master’s degree program to students who accept Advanced Standing:</p>
<p>Applied Mathematics*
Applied Physics*
Astronomy
Chemistry
Comparative Literature
Computer Science*
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Engineering Sciences*
German History of Science
Linguistics
Mathematics
Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Physics
Regional Studies: East Asia
Regional Studies: Middle East
Statistics
*S.M. offered through the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. For further details contact the Academic Office, Pierce Hall 110, (617) 495 2833 or godfrey at seas or Dr. Marie Dahleh, Assistant Dean for Academic Programs, Pierce Hall 111, (617) 495-1485 or mdahleh at seas.
Advanced Standing students interested in the fourth-year master’s degree programs ordinarily take the Graduate Record Exam and apply to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences by December of their third year.6 Admission is often quite competitive and the programs very rigorous. (Any Advanced Standing student who is not accepted and decides to remain in the College will need to rescind Advanced Standing.) Most departments require eight graduate level half courses with a minimum grade of B for the master’s degree. Successful A.B./A.M. or S.M. candidates receive both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the end of the fourth year. They continue to live in their Houses and register as undergraduates, even though their fourth year programs are devoted mainly to graduate study.</p>
<p>Advanced Standing students enrolled in the A.B./A.M. program seek the permission of the Administrative Board to "bracket" graduate-level courses. Such bracketed work will not count in any way toward the bachelor’s degree. These courses earn credit toward the graduate degree. A student who brackets 8 half-courses toward this advanced degree does not incur any additional Core area requirement in the fourth year. (See the section Core Curriculum.)</p>
<p>Although the demands on students in this program are extraordinary, the satisfaction among A.B./A.M. or S.M. Advanced Standing students is quite high. For this small group of serious and focused scholars, the A.B./A.M. program offers the opportunity to engage in advanced study and research with graduate students while living with undergraduate friends. In many respects, the program fulfills the original concept and intent of the Harvard faculty in its founding of Advanced Standing at the College. Questions regarding the A.B./A.M. Program, or other upperclass aspects of Advanced Standing, may be directed to Dean Mancall (jmancall at fas).</p>
<p>Choosing Advanced Standing may put students at a disadvantage in competitions for certain prizes, awards, or fellowships for which eligibility is linked to class standing.
Many students who are not certain that they want to graduate early see this as the greatest disadvantage of accepting Advanced Standing. In fact, accepting Advanced Standing puts students at a relative disadvantage only when they are proposing to graduate in three years, and then only because they will have less experience in their academic and extracurricular activities than most of their peers. Generally, students who accept Advanced Standing to remain at Harvard for four years to pursue an A.B./A.M. program will be seen as viable candidates.</p>
<p>In a few cases for non-graduating students, eligibility for national awards is tied to an applicant’s class year: Beinecke Scholarships, open to juniors, provide support for the senior year and first two years of graduate school; Goldwater Scholarships, open to sophomores and/or juniors in engineering, mathematics, and the sciences, provide support for the junior and/or senior year; Truman Scholarships, open to juniors interested in public sector careers, provide support for the senior year and first two or three years of graduate school; and Udall Scholarships, open to sophomores and/or juniors who are either interested in careers in environmental public policy or Native Americans interested in careers in health care or tribal public policy.</p>
<p>For students who accept Advanced Standing and plan to graduate in three years, the Truman will now accept applications from candidates in their final year. In the Beinecke, Goldwater, and Udall competitions, there is not yet a clear indication regarding Advanced Standing.</p>
<p>Students considering Advanced Standing who may wish to apply for these fellowships should contact the Fellowships Office at the Office of Career Services (617) 495-8126 for guidance.</p>
<p>Most fellowships at Harvard are open to graduating seniors for a variety of projects. These fellowships typically follow the rule of thumb outlined above: an applicant is eligible in his or her final year at Harvard, and students following a four-year course will probably be more competitive than those following a three-year course, for the reasons outlined above, but this will depend on the nature of the fellowship. For those fellowships restricted to returning students, the same rule of thumb tends to apply.</p>
<p>More information about fellowship competitions is available in The Harvard College Guide to Grants and its Harvard supplement, as well as from the Fellowships Office at the Office of Career Services; students with questions should be encouraged to consult these resources at 54 Dunster Street or at (617) 495-8126."</p>
<p>Does anyone know where I can find details on eligibility for Harvard’s AB/AM Program? For instance, is it an absolute MUST that a student choose between graduating in three years or getting a Master’s? If a student managed to complete all requirements for their A.B. in two years would he/she be able to do their Master’s in their third, effectively getting a Master’s and Bachelor’s in 3 years total?</p>
<p><em>Please note I’m not asking if you personally think this would be too rigorous for a student, just whether or not doing so would even feasible.</em> </p>
<p>This is an old article on Advanced Standing. I’m not sure if today’s numbers have increased: <a href=“Understanding Advanced Standing | News | The Harvard Crimson”>Understanding Advanced Standing | News | The Harvard Crimson;
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<p>Also read: <a href=“http://dailyprincetonian.com/news/2002/03/harvard-raises-the-bar-for-advanced-placement-and-standing/”>http://dailyprincetonian.com/news/2002/03/harvard-raises-the-bar-for-advanced-placement-and-standing/</a></p>
<p><a href=“The Truth about Harvard: A Behind-the-scenes Look at Admissions and Life on ... - Dov Fox - Google Books”>The Truth about Harvard: A Behind-the-scenes Look at Admissions and Life on ... - Dov Fox - Google Books;
<p>Please don’t open very old threads for this type of question. Start a new thread since the rules may have changed and the info in this thread should be used for research only. Closing the thread.</p>