Have you explored all the possiblities using "student" discounts? Age may or may not be a factor.

In other words, by speaking directly with your carrier and explaining your rather unique situation, they might just be willing to be creative and come up with some sort of pre-paid bulk discount.

It's worth a try, no?

In fact, it worked for me when I was a student at HBS and commuting from NYC to Boston every week.

My bad.

I've been getting some negative feedback from people when I tell them I've been considering doing the Harvard Extension thing. The most common comment is "you know that isn't real Harvard, right?"

I'm a little sensitive (because of comments like that) because they seem to imply that I can't tell the difference between getting accepted to Harvard College straight out of high-school and taking this most circuitous route to getting a degree.

I'm aware of the whole grade-inflation thing out there. In fact, my relative essentially blamed the efforts to correct it on his less-than-stellar graduation ranking. I'm not sure that it will be a problem going forth. They've set the bar higher now, across the board, and they are aware of how an institution can lose it's footing if the standards drop too far.

Personally, I had never even considered that Harvard would have an option like the Extension School. I was shocked to find out that there was even such a thing. I had given up on the idea of taking out time to complete my degree long-ago since everytime I looked at what the options were, they were either:

1. Quit your job and take classes M, W, F for 1 hour during the week. Or, T and Th for 2 hours.

-or-

2. Take classes from this special "adult learner" school that was more interested in pushing people out the door with degrees in hand than actual learning in brain. Oh, and BTW, they'll help you get a loan to pay for the program. If the check clears, you'll get a degree.

Grrrr.

Georgetown University has a similar program to Harvard's. You take clases at night and you get a degree in the Liberal Arts. You have to apply and be accepted (which is not guaranteed) to the degree program. The thing is: I found the Georgetown program to be very rigid in terms of course choice and much more oriented toward the humanities rather than the natural sciences, which I prefer.

Anyhow, my apologies if I was a little quick on the draw.

As one who use to TA at an Ivy League (when doing my own Grad degree there), I can concur that awarding high marks for mediocre work is the norm. I had a prof. freak on me for giving a student a D (and I was being generous)... it was explained to me, these people pay a lot of money to be here and we reward them with good marks as a result.

Would I fly back and forth for a degree? Yes, I did it - I started my MBA in another part of Canada, then moved to Toronto and commuted every other week for 1 year (10 days in once city, 4 in the other). I was exhausted at the end of it, but I finished my degree with the folks I started with and never had to worry about the hassle of transferring my credentials.

Good luck to you. FYI make sure you have lounge access, it comes in handy with weather or mechanical delays.

I've got a Red Carpet Club membership. Thanks for the encouragement.

I don't know where or what is Strayer University. And, no, getting a degree from the Extension School isn't going to help you get into grad school at an Ivy.

I'm glad you appear to understand the difference between the ALB and a BS from Harvard College. However, your actions (revealed preference), and the amount of effort you are willing to spend to get said degree when you could possibly acquire the equivalent knowledge closer to DC (hey, why not Columbia or Princeton?), indicate to me that somehow getting the "Harvard" degree is going to improve your chances of getting into a good grad school. It won't.

Take it from someone who taught in the graduate school at Harvard. Harvard will consider your application to grad school equally with everybody else's, and having an ALB from the Extension School does not give you an edge. You'll have to show the grades and the motivation, drive, and everything else to overcome the fact that your degree is not from a nationally ranked or recognized program.

Strayer University

It's almost universally known here as the school you go to when you're trying to get a promotion or a bump in paygrade and the lack of an "accredited" degree is keeping you down.
I just don't like Princeton. :D

I looked at Columbia. They have a similar program but it's also extremely difficult to complete and expensive as hell. I took one look at the crazy requirements and thought better. We are planning on moving to Cambridge at some point in the future so Columbia didn't really fit the bill. On the plus side, they allow you to study in engineering or the physical sciences, And they have an excellent physics department. I might actually try for grad school there.

But I disagree with you about the edge part. I know from my advisors (here AND at Harvard) that entering and completing a difficult program known to be rigorous will help move things along. And I feel that I can get the kind of learning and guidance I need to complete an undergrad thesis by being exposed to a faculty that has that kind of academic background.
I didn't say that going to Harvard Extension would give me an edge at Harvard. I said that the environment I'll be in will help foster the kind of understanding I'll need to get IN and COMPLETE an Ivy grad program. The Harvard name is just icing on the cake.

I won't deny that I'm a little bit keen on the idea of putting the word "Harvard" on my resume. But I could get the same mileage out of "Georgetown" down here.

Are you going for a degree in Physics? The Extension School only has four or so courses in Physics, none of them very rigorous, since they don't require or use calculus. Pretty much everybody who goes to grad school in Physics at a top-ranked school has a pretty solid grasp of physics using calculus. So, to work towards your goal, you'd have to take some of the Physics courses at FAS, which I believe you are allowed to do as a special student.

But maybe you are taking something else.

No, I happen to know some people that work in the high energy physics field and they are doing theoretical work at Columbia.

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.

Starting next year Lamont will also be open around the clock, at least on weekday nights. Yay! :) Math grad students have also been known to sleep all night on couches in lounges, and there are many nice spots to stay. (I won't post publicly here because, well, I like those spots, but PM me if you want)

I can't speak for the Ivy League but I can speak for someone who commutes 260+ miles to graduate school and has done the air route v. the train route v. driving.

They all take roughly the same amount of time.

The train's advantage is that you can actually get something done during your commute, you can get up, you can use your cell phone :rolleyes:, and you are not at the mercy of the airlines. You are at the mercy of Amtrak, but train tickets are for the most part refundable and changeable, which is more than I can say for airline shuttles.

Airport hidden costs include parking, rental cars if you are needing to be a little more mobile, all that starbucks you'll drink and the speeding ticket you may get trying to make the first shuttle of the morning.

I don't know if its worth taking something a bit less flash than acela to save some cash. My taller half spends about 85 bucks a week commuting back and forth to Corvallis from Seattle on Amtrak, she was spending close to 370 a week for a Portland shuttle ticket and a rental car to school. Good if you need to be there for a short period of time, not good every week of the quarter...

I would suggest the train, a business class upgrade, a good pair of noise cancellation headphones and making good friends with the conductor. :)
If you have to leave your car at the station I would recommend a detachable faceplate or better yet, don't do it. :mad:

best of luck on your class.

lala

Mid - It's Definitely Doable
 

I commuted weekly for about 3 1/2 years for law school. Here are a couple of other options for you to check: (1) check with the extension office or Harvard housing to see if they have student rate deals set up with local hotels, (2) negotiate directly with the hotel yourself - you will be staying x nights during the course of the term - see if they will cut a deal, (3) Entertainment book, (4) second what someone else said, check student housing listings (or graduate student housing listings) when I went there were always students looking for someone to stay 1 night per week ($), (5) the housing office might have lists of community members looking for students to stay 1 night per week for extra cash.

Once you decide on whether you are going to train or fly, you need to start watching fares. Once the fare goes on sale, buy as many as you can (if you can lock in the whole term EXCELLENT).

craigslist is ssketchy
 

craigs list is scarier than your ex-girlfriend's mother setting you up on a blind date- who knows what you will get?

Also in regards to business class on amtrak. Acela service only has 2 classes , business and first. Business can get you in the "quiet car" (cellphones and loudmouths forbidden) whereas first gets you lounge access and a sub-par salty meal. If you really want the lounge access .... flash your Plat AMEX :D

If it was only 260 miles, I'd drive. The trip from here to Boston is about a 9 hour drive door to door. That's on one of the most heavily used and highly "tolled" sections of I-95. The train is about 7 hours.

I've timed out the trip by air and door to door (including security) is about 4 hours.

To be honest with you, I would have loved to take the train. It's very stress free and comfortable. It just doesn't look like a good option for me at this time.

Not any more. That program was quietly discontinued at the beginnning of 2004. That said, first class on the Acela still is not worth the upcharge.

In defense of craigslist, my apartment is a testament to how well it can work. I have 2 roommates, we were all strangers before we moved in together, we all met through a craigslist ad for the apartment. Most of our furniture is also from craigslist.

I've found all my roommates through craigslist and have only had one bad roommate out of the eight I've had in the past 3 years.