Originally Posted by TeaAddict
Getting back to the "how to fill 8 hours" discussion -- the Science Center computing labs are open 24 hours a day. Extension students have access to them so you could certainly hole up there and then sleep on the train back.
Kudos on your efforts, btw. I've been going through sort of the opposite thing: I have an undergrad degree from Harvard but have decided I don't want to stop working and put my life on hold for grad school so have taken up a nontraditional "distance" grad program. The amount of flack I've taken for "someone like me" not going to a "real" grad school has been insane.
That's excellent information! Thanks!
As I've explained before, a person my age with my kind of responsibilities has (really) very few choices at the undergrad level. Things (I think) get better when you start looking at graduate degree programs. I looked for a long time around here and nothing seemed that was available locally really fit the bill. I could either get a mediocre education from schools that catered to adult learners or contort my life to the Nth degree trying to fit my work life around a 3-class-a-week schedule. I had given up for a long time when I found out about the Extension school. I didn't want a degree for the sake of it; I wanted a degree that actually had some good reputation behind it. We just sent a U.S. diplomat to Iraq and he was a 1978 ALB grad. The history of ALB grads getting into excellent and challenging grad programs was key to selling me on this plan.
What I like about the extension school is most of the classes only meet once a week at night. Since even this path will take me about 4 years because of the pace at which I can complete the remaining amount of credit I need for my degree, it was important that they offer distance education classes as well so that I can get a jump start before I actually make the move to Cambridge.