<p>Would an ALB from Harvard Extension School carry the same weight as an AB from Harvard College when applying for graduate school? Aside from the term "liberal" in the degree, is it really that different? How does it compare to some state schools (i.e. is it a comparable alternative to attending a state school out of high school?), like let's say University of Florida? Would the Harvard Law School admissions board look upon a HES graduate with a B+ average as an equal to a Harvard College graduate with a B+ average? Sorry for all the questions, and thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Harvard Extension School is a part time evening program. Cobbling together a full time course load would not be easy and may be impossible… Also, there is no financial aid available until you are admitted to degree status. </p>
<p>Extension students are not eligible for most perks at Harvard: housing, full library privileges, access to the generous financial aid reserved for Harvard College students etc.</p>
<p>Actually it seems once one is admitted to Harvard Extension School, they have all the same perks regular students have. </p>
<p>From their website:</p>
<p>“Extension School degree and diploma program candidates with Harvard University photo IDs have borrowing privileges at Harvard University libraries.”</p>
<p>“Full-time candidates who are currently registered in courses are eligible to live in Harvard University Housing.”</p>
<p>“If you are a candidate in a degree, certificate, or health careers program, there are a variety of financing options to help you meet your education expenses. As a US citizen or eligible noncitizen, you may apply for federal, state, and institutional aid.”</p>
<p>So really it seems that the difference between being a student at HC and HES is that your degree is worded a little differently, right?</p>
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<p>The short answer is no.</p>
<p>There are a number of universities that are as difficult as Harvard College (U. of Virginia for instance,) yet a degree from U. of Virginia carries less weight than from Harvard. The reason is that Harvard College is more selective.</p>
<p>The extension school at Harvard is less selective than most state schools, probably. It’s designed to serve the community. Certainly, there are some smart professionals who take classes through the extension school, but it isn’t supposed to be a back door to a prestigious undergrad degree.</p>
<p>They have apparently expanded library privileges but a couple of words were left out of the housing quote:</p>
<p>“Harvard University housing
Full-time master’s degree candidates who are currently registered in courses are eligible to live in Harvard University Housing. Students must receive approval from the Harvard Extension School prior to submitting an application to Harvard Real Estate Services.”</p>
<p>ahh my mistake I did accidentally leave out a couple of words, but what I am really wondering is whether or not the admissions boards at graduate schools would view the degree in the same way they would a degree from harvard college. And if not harvard college, wouldn’t it at least be equal to another upper echelon university? Wouldn’t they be more concerned with the difficulty of your degree and how well you did rather than the technicalities that come with it? And in that respect wouldn’t the degree be considered equal?</p>
<p>Basically, the answer to these questions is “no, it is not the same.”</p>
<p>First of all, I don’t know how old you are, but the extension school is not designed for people coming out of high school. It would be viewed as bizarre for you to substitute the Extension School for your undergrad experience. The Extension School is for further training for professionals, or for older adults (not college age) in the community to take college classes. Whether or not you can debate whether it <em>should</em> be considered the same, it is not. And probably Harvard Law School would be even more resistant than the general public to considering an extension degree to a normal bachelor’s; Harvard alumni don’t like people getting a Harvard degree through essentially open admissions, as evidenced by other threads of this nature.</p>
<p>It is common for some people to get a bachelor’s somewhere, then take a year or so of advanced coursework elsewhere. The most common situation is someone taking premed requirements. In this case, performance in Harvard classes would be considered the same. (However, you still don’t get as much respect as someone who was admitted as an undergrad.) But again, these people went to an undergrad institution somewhere else and then took classes at Harvard. </p>
<p>The bottom line is you are better off going somewhere else. The one exception might be if you took classes there for a year to strenghthen your record in order to apply to a 4-year undergrad institution somewhere else.</p>
<p>From wikipedia:</p>
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Among their list of distinguished graduates, there is one woman who went on to Harvard Law: <a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Buel[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Buel</a></p>
<p>However, this person suffered domestic abuse for 10 years, then got a extension school degree at age 34, and finally went on to Harvard Law School. Her work after that was in domestic abuse, and I’m sure this was the impetus for her going to law school and that this cause influenced the admissions board decision. In other words, she fits the narrative of someone from the Boston community taking college classes at Harvard, so going to the Extension School made sense to the admissions board at Harvard Law.</p>
<p>You really don’t want to go to the extension school. I’m not trying to rain on your parade but it’d be a massive, colossal, very expensive and emotionally draining mistake.</p>
<p>Background: the extension school is a money-making scheme for Harvard that some people think also serves the community. It’s run through the same building and more or less exactly the same as the Harvard Summer School which Harvard uses to milk rich people who think it will help their high school get into Harvard. Some foreign students also attend because back in say Brazil no one knows the summer school and extension school aren’t the “real Harvard.” Unfortunately, American graduate schools know that the HES is a money-making scheme not designed to educate people and will treat a degree as worth less than from UF.</p>
<p>My understanding is that most of the extension school courses are taught by non-Harvard faculty just like the summer school.</p>
<p>When it says you can apply for aid they mean you can get federal student loans like any other student in America but Harvard won’t give you a dime. The extension school is very expensive to attend when you consider the cost of rent in Cambridge. A 2 BR in Cambridge costs about $2500 and a 2 BR in Gainesville costs $750 and the one in Gainesville would be bigger. If you hunt on craigslist for a few weeks you might be able to find a room in Allston in a house shared with 5-6 other people for $600 a month.</p>
<p>When they say you can live in Harvard University housing and you need special permission, you probably actually won’t get that special permission because a lot of Harvard’s “real students” want to live there and surely Harvard will give them preference. And in any case this isn’t housing with other undergrads, this is housing on your own or with graduate students (Ph.D. students in arts and sciences mostly). The Harvard College students will probably look down on your for not being elite enough to get into Harvard College so you probably don’t want to hang out with them anyway.</p>
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<p>Uh, I wouldn’t call Harvard Summer School a “money-making scheme,” though I’m sure one of the purposes is to generate revenue. Some people naively do think it will help to get into Harvard. However, for most people it is the opportunity to take a college class. And that does help one’s resume’ somewhat, and, of course, you get to learn.</p>
<p>Any “profit” generated from the Extension School is pocket change to Harvard.</p>
<p>While there are many students who attend the extension school full time or close to full time to get an undergraduate degree, most of these students have returned to school after time working, etc. The Extension School is not generally designed to be a direct substitute for a post-high school undergraduate degree. The faculty are not generally “regular” Harvard faculty, though some are. Extension School students would not live in undergraduate dorms (known as Houses).</p>
<p>Having said that, the Extension School offers some excellent courses taught by excellent teachers. It also offers a scholarship program to Massachusetts high school students in which half of tuition is paid for.</p>
<p>While it’s likely that the Extension School is, at the margin, a revenue producer for Harvard, it is not a scheme or ripoff. It offers an excellent opportunity for many to pursue interests or complete their college education.</p>
<p>I suspect most Harvard College students see the Extension School as simply a different “product” aimed at a different audience.</p>
<p>Unfortunately this is a highly subjective question - not many people make a fully objective, value-based, return-on-investment decision regarding college degrees. And many of the responses to this very question (in this thread and others) bear this out. </p>
<p>It seems to me that the selectivity to gain admission is far less important than the selectivity in gaining the degree. The selectivity for closed admissions is based a many more variables than the academic qualifications of the applicant - legacy, athletics, economic class, references, racial and ethnic considerations, etc. On the other hand, the criteria for (open) admission to the extension school program is based on performance - 3 classes of the program, with at least a B grade plus an exam. You are only granted a degree in the extension school with a B or better average. You are required to take a minimum number of credits in-person and with Harvard faculty. And if, as one of approximately 13,000 extension school student and 2,000 degree candidates, if you graduate, you are a member of a very select group: “of all the students that have taken courses at HES since its inception, less than one fifth of 1 percent have graduated with degrees. As it turns out, Harvard is hard.” (Source [Did</a> I Really Go to Harvard If I Got My Degree Taking Online Classes? - Theodore R. Johnson - The Atlantic](<a href=“Did I Really Go to Harvard If I Got My Degree Taking Online Classes? - The Atlantic”>Did I Really Go to Harvard If I Got My Degree Taking Online Classes? - The Atlantic))</p>
<p>I think the work is challenging, the resources at your disposal are world class and as with ANY education, you get out of it what you put into it. If you succesfully complete the program you should have the abilities to convince most anyone that your Havard degree “with Extension” is at least the equal of the standard Harvard degree.</p>
<p>Buzzby, welcome to College Confidential.</p>
<p>Here’s a tip: look at the dates on the other posts in this thread. You’ve just chimed into a conversation that had been dormant for a year and a half. Indeed, the original poster hasn’t been active on College Confidential since a month after making this post. He or she is long gone.</p>
<p>Please don’t resurrect old threads this way. People on College Confidential hate that!</p>