Hello all!
i am looking for some programs for non trads at top tier and ivy league schools. I know of
Columbia Univ. GS and Upenn LPS (which i am applying to), but are there any others that i can apply to?
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You might want to check out the Eli Whitney program at Yale.
[Eli</a> Whitney Program | Yale College](<a href=“http://yalecollege.yale.edu/content/eli-whitney-program]Eli”>http://yalecollege.yale.edu/content/eli-whitney-program)
I would caution against applying to Penn LPS. The program touts itself as being a Penn degree for adults. Though, the majority of the courses are night classes taught by adjuncts.
There’s nothing wrong with adjuncts or night courses. The problem lies with the fact that you’ll be paying Penn prices for Drexel and Temple profs; classes that are entirely different than Penn’s; a bachelor’s degree different from that of other Penn undergrads.
Yale’s Eli Whitney program is distinct in that it’s an admissions program. Students admitted are admitted to Yale College. Until recently, the big drawback to the EW program was the financial aid - NONE was available. Students had to get private loans. As such, EW admitted just about anyone who was willing to pay full freight. Now, the financial aid is exceptional and the EW is admitted three to five people per YEAR.
Columbia GS is great. Students are fully integrated and get the same degree. GS is one of the three undergraduate colleges at Columbia. So, GS students are welcome to play varsity sports, participate in Greek life, etc. New York is expensive and housing for GS transfers is NOT guaranteed. So, the cost of living is a huge deterrent for many non-trad applicants looking to relocate to the location of their school.
the GS program seems to be the best one, though the cost of living has me biting my nails… im a NYC kid but even i had to move b/c of high cost of living, but attending Columbia would be a dream. So we’ll see
jan, many times, there isn’t much of a difference between Temple and Penn professors. In fact, I’ve had several professors here at Temple that also teach courses at Penn, Swarthmore, Haverford, etc.
No, no, Dionte. Don’t get me wrong. Temple is awesome and, I think, probably the best educational value in the state. But, Penn is kind of price gouging with this program.
I’d choose Temple over Penn LPS in a heartbeat. Truth is, even with LPS, TU is probably better equipped to deal with non-trads.
Yeah, we definitely have a lot of non-trad students here. I’ve had several in my classes.
but i mean… its UPENN though… 
Harvard Extension School:
[About</a> Us, Online Classes, Harvard Graduate Programs: Harvard Extension School](<a href=“http://www.extension.harvard.edu/about/]About”>About Us | Harvard Extension School)
Brown also has a program called Resumed Undergraduate Education (RUE). Students are completely integrated in everyday life on campus and take the same classes as everyone else. There have been countless times I’ve discovered halfway through a course that several of my classmates are RUE students!
[Brown</a> Admission: Resumed Undergraduate Education Application Information](<a href=“Undergraduate Admission | Brown University”>Undergraduate Admission | Brown University)
[Resumed</a> Undergraduate Education (RUE)](<a href=“http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Dean_of_the_College/advising/rue.php]Resumed”>http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Dean_of_the_College/advising/rue.php)
I hope this helps and is what you are looking for!
Here’s some important information about financial aid as well:
<a href=“https://financialaid.brown.edu/Cmx_Content.aspx?cpId=55[/url]”>https://financialaid.brown.edu/Cmx_Content.aspx?cpId=55</a>
IIRC only UPenn and Columbia have age cutoffs for their regular admissions programs. You can apply to most school as a freshman at any age.
Penn CAS doesn’t have an age cut-off. Princeton does and Columbia College does.
I really didn’t want to go into all of this, but since I’m an LPS student, I felt the need to respond.
Hi ummzeez, I’m gonna go ahead and say that you should go ahead and apply to UPenn LPS. It’s an excellent program with endless educational and support resources tailored to your goals. I highly doubt anyone goes “Ugh, UPenn LPS”. It’s UPenn, plain and simple. And I’m someone who was a student at the community college level, also attended Temple University, and is now at Penn. You pay half of UPenn’s normal tuition, and you can’t really beat that. 80% of it is covered through grants and such. Loans are minimal to none.
“Caution” is a strong word to use. You get the same education across the board, and there’s no evidence that LPS is worse off than Harvard or Columbia’s extension schools. In fact, I’d say it has many more advantages, which I’ll get to in a bit.
Just because you have less years of teaching under the belt doesn’t mean you are less intellectually astute or ahead of your game. I’ve had professors from top universities whose teaching methods I didn’t favor at the CC level, and adjuncts who are very excellent educators. Furthermore, most of my classes are taught by full-time professors with a good mixture of trad and non-trad students.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with having time during the day for work and other things, a 2:30 or 3hr class once a week, only to continue with the rest of your evening to leisure time or get more studying in.
Actually, no. In fact, if we really want to nit-pick about finer details, the degree looks exactly the same. No “LPS” stamp, unlike at Columbia and Harvard where it’s written over your degree that you attended a non-trad school. But again, it hardly matters. These are Ivy Leagues.
Same with LPS. UPenn has always been a liberal school in terms of financing students who are need-based, working with its students. Mostly everyone gets covered without issues with loans. And if there are loans, they’re usually subsidized.
Do you know how many of my former classmates at Temple are wanting to trade places with me at LPS? How much they speak of their professors not giving them the proper attention or devotion to their needs? Which to me, is just as paramount as the quality of education (and I assure you that almost everyone on here will say that Penn education is better than Temple, without a doubt). Don’t get me wrong, I had some excellent professors, but I can definitely attest to a progressive difference in mental attitude and didactic approaches with the professors at Penn in comparison to CC and Temple.
As I already mentioned, the classes have a mixture of undergrads and grads, so the traditional education is the same. The term “non-traditional” comes from the path that the student took which has placed him or her where he’s at, and has nothing at all to do with the quality of education received.
I was wondering when someone would stick up for UPenn!
@Tuned, your information was invaluable. I was very close to crossing UPenn off my list.
2 concerns: can LPS students take classes in the daytime or is it excusively night classes?
Also what does Penn LPS’s financial aid look like?
“You get the same education across the board, and there’s no evidence that LPS is worse off than Harvard or Columbia’s extension schools.”
Columbia doesn’t have an extension school.
Columbia does have an extension school for non traditional students, " if you graduated from high school more than a year ago, then you should apply to Columbia general studies"
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Columbia doesn’t have an extension school. An extension school does not have an admissions department as an extension, by definition, makes the resources of a university available to the wider community. Also, extensions don’t offer bachelor degrees.
The School of General Studies is an undergraduate college at Columbia University.
not an ivy, but Mount Holyoke and Smith both have awesome programs for non-trad age students.
Smith has Ada Comstock Scholars and Moho has Perkins scholars
Most schools have some program or other for non-traditional students. I would just go to the websites of the particular schools you are interested in, or even google the school name and “adult” or “non-traditional.”
Are you stuck on Ivies for a particular reason? There are a lots of good programs at lots of good schools.
Just be aware, as others have said, that the degree can be in “general studies” or a BLA (Bachelor of Liberal Arts) or Bachelor of Individualized Studies, that kind of thing, rather than in a particular discipline.
This suits some, but doesn’t suit others.