Originally Posted by da_guy
Harvard an execellent education? Think again. Everyone gets an A no matter what and nobody ever fails any course. Serious students? Why be serious when the worst that can happen to you is a B avergare?
Also, the prestige of the degree is what you're looking for I assume. All fine and good. But the real value of a Harvard education is the connections you make while there - more so at Yale probably but I digress. You going there for a night class will not open those doors.
As for cost, think of the cost of your time. Take that $2900 and divide it by the number of hours you spend on the road. Is that hourly rate worth it to you? Is the added stress you incur?
I would beg to differ with you on almost everything you said in your post. I have a family member that just graduated from Harvard Extension (he kept it a secret). He's no dummy and he didn't get straight A's as you suggest. He didn't even get "cum laude". He had to fight in every course for his grades and he only took a single class per semester.
The whole point of this exercise is to get a non-traditional degree that will hold it's own when I apply to grad school. The fact that they take extension students into Harvard Law and Harvard Med School is all the "validation" I need.
BTW, there is an option to take classes during the day at Harvard College; even if you are an extension student. It's called "Special Student" status and it requires a considerable amount of work and excellent grades to apply. But it has been done and it is "for real." In that case, you can make all the connections you like. Not that I need any. I'm doing just fine, thank you.
I'm all done with the career counseling advice. If you don't have anything travel-related, please file your post in /dev/null.