<p>First of all, thanks for taking the time. Some quick background. Was admitted into Cornell undergrad for ORIE, left halfway through my sophomore year to start my first startup, moved to NYC, did that thing (through about two different companies) for about 7 years, and now am debating on returning to school and finishing. This is for a few reasons. Mostly though, because I'd personally like to finish my degree regardless of the measurable value, but also because I do have some ideas I'd like to flesh out in an academic setting. </p>
<p>So a few questions:</p>
<p>1) From what I've read, most Harvard (proper) grads really don't respect HES. Is this true? I.E, will going to HES in any way decrease my perceived value in the business world compared to not having a degree? </p>
<p>2) Is transferring to Harvard College possible?</p>
<p>3) What's the access like to professors in Harvard College? And would they be open to discussing research? </p>
<p>Sorry for the long first post, thanks for the help though. Cheers.</p>
<p>Let me tackle your third question first: Are Harvard professors accessible? Yes. Would they be open to discussing research? Yes. You can meet with any Harvard professor during their office hours, or you can make an appointment to see one. Some professors even take students out for lunch, coffee or ice cream. Others will invite you to their home for dinner. Can you transfer to Harvard? Yes, Harvard accepts transfer students. Last year over 1500 transfer students applied and 15 were accepted – that’s a 1% transfer admissions rate. Unfortunately, the deadline for transfer applications was March 1st, so you have to wait another year to apply. See: [Harvard</a> College Admissions § Applying: Transfer Program](<a href=“http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/transfer/index.html]Harvard”>http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/transfer/index.html)</p>
<p>As to your first question: You are about 27 years old, maybe have one and a half years of transferable college credits from Cornell, but do not have a college degree. If you are not already living in Cambridge, don’t bother with the Harvard Extension School. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a wonderful school, but as you are several years shy of turning 30, you don’t want to incur the expense of moving to Cambridge, finding another job and going to night school (that’s what HES is – classes occur after 5:00pm). See: [Harvard</a> Extension School | Online Courses & Harvard Continuing Education | Boston](<a href=“http://www.extension.harvard.edu/]Harvard”>http://www.extension.harvard.edu/). You should start working on your college degree in whatever city you are currently residing. If you’re still in New York, there’s Columbia, NYU, CCNY, SUNY Downstate, Brooklyn College, Queens College etc. You need to let go of the prestige thing – getting a college degree should be your goal. Getting a degree from HES is not any better or more prestigious than getting one from another school. There is no added-on value.</p>
<p>I am still in NY, and to be honest, I took a few classes at NYU SCPS when I first moved here 6 years ago, and found it incredibly sub par. The professors weren’t that good, students weren’t that bright. It just wasn’t an environment that was that inspiring. </p>
<p>I’ve spent a good deal of time in Cambridge as our angels are up there, and I’ve always found the environment and people to be super inspiring. The density of talent just seems overwhelming. Maybe that’s what im clinging to, more than the prestige (though that’s definitely a factor). As far as the job, I’d probably try and do it as fast as possible if they let me, so might just do it full time if I can (like two night classes a day).</p>
<p>And yeah, just turned 26.</p>
<p>Also, it’s worth noting that this wouldn’t really be directly necessary for me to get a good job. I can go get a pretty good job at a top tier startup right now. But would like to pursue research and I think this might be a good option in that sense. Not sure.</p>
<p>That looks interesting, but seems to be focused on the hard sciences whereas, broadly speaking, I’d like to do research in economics—heuristics really.</p>
<p>Yeah I saw that but have had mixed response from a few people in my position in trying to get into a program like that (meaning that it’s unlikely). I guess I should give them a call and see what’s what. Thanks again.</p>
<p>^Yeah, that’s true and I suspect as “prestigious” (read: as valued in terms of converting to a comparable career) as each other. But in all honesty, I think I want to be surrounded by like minded students/thinkers, even if it’s a degree of separation away. </p>
<p>Is there anyone here who went to HES in a similar situation that can shed some light?</p>
<p>Prospective, it looks like you have already made up your mind, and are looking for confirmation, not advice. But when I read what you are writing, I think that you are really not looking for any university’s continuing-ed/night-school program. Those are generally designed for older students in the immediately surrounding community who need to get their ticket punched with a degree or skill that they lack, and as tool for improving community relations AND monetizing the university’s brand. </p>
<p>According to what you wrote, it looks like you don’t need to be able to show a bachelor’s degree on your resume in order to be successful. You want to be part of an academic community, and you are toying with perhaps pursuing a PhD. You should really be applying as a transfer student, not just to Harvard but to any number of great universities. If your background is as you represent, you will be a competitive candidate. (Don’t forget Cornell, which is absolutely a great university, accepts many more transfers than Harvard, and might well treat you as a returning student, not a transfer, thus increasing your chance of admission exponentially – to close to 100%.)</p>
<p>You aren’t going to get the kind of academic experience you want working full time and taking night classes. You could probably swing working part time, but to do what you want to do in college you are going to need thought time, library time, writing time, and schmoozing/debating time. Also listening to other people (not just your teachers) time, and networking time. That’s not what night school is about.</p>
<p>JHS, what you said about confirmation versus advisement is probably true. And to be honest, if I could attend as a full time day student, I would, but I’m not sure that I could attend a good university. During Cornell, I was mostly focused on my startup, didn’t attend many classes. We got funded and I left and haven’t really thought about it since. But I don’t know that, short of getting a recommendation from a professor that I may want to work with (is this even possible?), that that would be a possibility. I haven’t however spoken to an admissions counselor about this and that might be something I should first do. </p>
<p>The PhD is definitely something that I’ve been toying with but obviously a bachelors is a prereq for that which is why this is something I’m considering. Also, it’s worth noting that I don’t think I would be working full time and attending a few classes. I’d try to bang this out as fast as possible, attending as many classes as they’ll allow (once I get the appropriate GPA). And 4-5 classes, even night classes at HES, based on my research, is a pretty full workload I think (combined with any research I was able to work on with someone from the economics department). </p>
<p>Assuming all things being equal, and the prestige/weight of the degree being the only variable, do top graduate programs (MIT/Harvard) accept comparable students from HES?</p>
<p>Prospective, you are asking kind of an absurd question. I’m hardly an expert on PhD programs, but everything I know tells me that “the prestige/weight or the degree” counts for almost nothing. It’s all about the particular applicant, what he or she has done, what kinds of things his or her recommenders say (and who knows the recommenders), the applicant’s ideas, and to a very limited extent the GREs. That’s not to say that students from Harvard don’t have an advantage over students from East Podunk State University. But it’s not because of the magic qualities of the name “Harvard”. It’s because they started out better test-takers and better self-promoters, are more likely to have engaged in cutting-edge research and to have the support of well-known faculty, may well have a more sophisticated understanding of their chosen field of study, and often are the kind of people who are successful at whatever they do. If someone like that happened to end up at EPSU, chances are he would have the same kind of success as his peers at Harvard. And people like that DO come out of EPSU-type schools, and DO succeed in graduate school, just not as many of them.</p>
<p>Hypothetically, people like that could come out of HES, and probably sometimes do, but it will be a lot more rare even than some random directional state university. PhD admission committees would probably be confused to see an HES graduate, so it would create something of a headwind. But the main thing is that I don’t think HES is set up to give you the sophistication, community, back-and-forth, and research opportunities you would want to put yourself into position to apply to high-quality PhD programs. You might be able to overcome those issues, and to show other people that you had overcome them, but you would have a lot less work to do if you were coming out of a regular, full-time student program almost anywhere. And chances are you wouldn’t be coming out of a program “anywhere” if you went the full-time route. As a backstop, you would probably be able to be a full-time student at a good public university, in New York State or elsewhere, and that would make 50x more sense than HES.</p>
<p>Again, not my area of expertise at all, but I think there are other “nontraditional student” programs that might serve your needs a lot better than Harvard’s – more integration with the regular student body. And you really owe it to yourself to find out if you can resume your education at Cornell, because the chances of your doing better than that, in terms of actual quality AND perceived prestige, are sub-microscopic.</p>
<p>FWIW: I know many students in the last several years who graduated from HYPS debt-free, and then because the cost of graduate school is so expensive, they’ve attended “East Podunk State University” to get their masters. Ditto with their PhD. My sister-in-law wishes she had gone down that road. Unfortunately, ten years ago she attended an ivy league school for her undergraduate degree, then went to another ivy for medical school. She completed her residency with close to 400k in debt. Although she has whittled down the amount she owes, she can’t get a mortgage for a house, or a loan for a car, because banks feel she’s too much in debt. The road of prestige is sometimes not paved with gold.</p>