Hi everyone! I am 25 years old Italian citizen, I already hold a BA in communication from an italian uni, and a MSc in political sciences from the London School of Economics (LSE). I am currently working in international organizations such as the UN - it’s now been almost 2 years. I would like to study again, most likely next year or in 2020, and I always wanted to go to a top tier US university - Harvard being the top choice. The fact is, my family cannot afford to pay me a Master at Harvard uni at the Kennedy School of Government or the GSAS, and as an international student I would never receive financial aid to totally cover the expenses of one of their Master programs. That being said, I still want to go to Harvard, and experience studying in a US university. So I casually found out about Harvard Extension School: a part of Harvard university, that offers special Master degrees (Master of Liberal Arts, AML) in a variety of disciplines, with the possibility to follow partly online an partly on campus, the possibility to take a maximum of 5 years to complete the program, and obviously reduced tuition fees. A Master at GSAS would cost me around 160.000 USD for two years, while a Master of Liberal Arts at Harvard Extension School would cost me a mere 55.000 USD. I emailed Harvard Extension School for more information, but I already see there are some fundamental issues as an international applicant. International students are not given the I-20 module for the F visas, as HES is an instituion offering part-time education, so I would be obliged to follow the master mainly online. The only periods I could be on campus would be during 2 summers, following courses from the Harvard Summer School that would count towards my AML. I am not sure how beneficial this AML is if you have to do it mainly online, and you only have access to Harvard campus, resources, and professors in the framework of the Summer School. I would just like to experience Harvard and a top US university, pursuing a degree which is more affordable for me and my family, can be completed while working, and that can give me some new skills and knowledge. Has any of you ever pursued a Master of Liberal Arts at the Harvard Extension School? Any internationals that have done so? Or is there any of you that could provide more information and more advice on the topic? Thank you!
Harvard Extension School is different from Harvard’ s other grad schools. HES was started to accommodate working adults and does not offer the typical Harvard experience. Are you looking at HES for the prestige of Harvard? Overall I think there are other options that might better suit your needs. Would you prefer a degree done on campus or is online acceptable to you?