<p>So my friend got expelled college his sophomore year because of cheating. He then looked online that summer to continue his education. He learned about a school at Harvard called Harvard Extension School, which is for students who had their education interuppted at some point for any given reason. </p>
<p>The only admissions criteria for this school is that the student has to take 4 courses at Harvard, maintain a certain GPA(I think above 2.5), and he can then gain admissions into this school. They supposedly don't look at your high school record, reasons for leaving college, etc. If they graduate, they get a Bachelors in Liberal Arts from Harvard University.</p>
<p>Anybody know anything about this school? Is it really this easy to get into Harvard like this? Doesn't this make it kinda unfair for those who work their butt off for 4 years in high school and don't make it into harvard?</p>
<p>Don't believe anything you've read about HES being easy to get into. It's not. The classes are very tough, especially the Expository Writing class, which is required for admission. Nevertheless, I say that your friend should go ahead and enroll in a few classes at HES and find out for himself.</p>
<p>That's the only advice I would give to your friend. And they will want all existing transcripts from the college attended.</p>
<p>extension school students study for different degrees than Harvard College students. The classes and the professors are not the same as those in Harvard College.</p>
<p>Harvard09,
You're right about that! HES is nothing like Harvard College. It's a night time program, whereas Harvard College is a daytime program. If given a choice, most would choose Harvard College over HES. That's just the way it is. </p>
<p>As for myself, I'd take HES. I never follow conventional wisdom of the majority. If a lot of people have negative impressions about HES, I would want to enroll in a few classes at HES to see what the fuss is all about.</p>
<p>I've taken a few classes there for personal enrichment. Harvard Extension is both rigorous and very high quality. The students there are very serious and have a wide range in age and thus have a wide range of insights. The classes I've taken that have been taught by Harvard faculty have been great. They are only slightly less rigorous than the equivalent classes at the College. It really serves a different group of people than Harvard College, but there are a fair number of college age students who go there anyway, whether because it's Harvard or because it's very inexpensive - $900 per course, less than $30K for a whole degree! I think it's an excellent value and a real service to the community extended by Harvard.</p>
<p>A lot of the Harvard professors that do teach in the extension school are new professors at Harvard who need a class or two to practice to learn the system before teaching Harvard College courses, or have the title of lecturer and are not really on track to become a research professor.</p>
<p>I've been taught by full professors and lecturers who teach the same class at Harvard College. Check out Jay Harris who teaches "Classics of Western Thought" modeled after the Great Books core of Chicago and Columbia. He's a full professor and he's excellent.</p>
<p>There are indeed some veteran profs who teach at the Extension School. My S took 2 courses with one such prof; the course was open to both Extension and College students. </p>
<p>The Extension School serves a wide array of students from high schoolers to retired folks. Two friends of mine, both with advanced degrees from MIT and both working in the high tech industry, discovered classical music through the Extension School. </p>
<p>The problem in the Extension School is not the quality of the courses but their fairly limited range in certain fields. Compare the offerings in physics and biology, for example.</p>
<p>Marite,
You're right that The Harvard Extension School offer a limited range of subject areas. However, I believe that if you want to do a major in either Biology or Physics, you would have to apply for Special Student Status which would allow a student to enroll up to 2 classes at Harvard College a semester for one academic school year. This is the best option for HES degree canidates who wish to further their studies in subject areas that are not offered at HES. So you could maximize your educational interests with this option. However, the student must secure 8 classes with a 3.3 GPA at HES before he could apply.</p>
<p>The best part of the Special Student Status program is that you could renew it for another year, pending approval. So if you're are in good terms with your perspective academic department, they will certainly help to approve you application for renewal until you have completed your program requirements with them. This is a fantastic option for those who want to do a concentration. However, they are some academic departments that has set limitations on certain classes. So you could check this option out to learn more about it.</p>