Honest opinion about non-traditional programs...

Looking to go back to school and pursue a BA. I have two schools narrowed down, UPenn General Studies or Harvard Extension School. Now, if I were to achieve a stellar GPA and accompany that with good work expierence, would I have a fighting chance? Even for an internship.

If so, which is the better program? Thanks.

 

If you completely rocked, I would give you a chance in an interview. And personally I think UPenn is better, but only if you can squeeze the word "Wharton" into your resume as many times as possible. Not because I worship Wharton, but because it's highly defensible and when we take nontraditionals, we have to have some very hardcore reasons.

 

Well he's doing a non-traditional program so he wont have the option of squeezing the word "Wharton" in since he'll be getting a BA in General Studies at UPenn (but he might be able to take a class or two at Wharton). It looks like a good program though, way better than Harvard since they actually offer you an BA over Harvard's associate degree.

 

Exactly. Volunteer at the Wharton library. Take a Wharton business class. Answer phones at the Wharton career center. Be a research assistant for Wharton professors. Paper that resume with "Wharton" from top to bottom. If it passes the twenty-second test, he's got a chance.

 

To answer your question, sshiah, I am 22 and have two years of community college under my belt with a 3.6 gpa. I know that I can get into either school, so i'll be 24-25 when I graduate.

I also know that UPenn sounds like the better deal but passing up Harvard for that price? I know you get an ALB from the Extension School but you get access to thier career services, clubs, alumni networks. i met an extension kid who got into a finals club, so integrating with the College kids is all up to me, but all this is besides the point.

basically if I "rock" at either school with a high GPA, leadership positions with some clubs, the whole nine yards, I would have a fighting chance? My first internship I am not worried about so much because I have a small connection with oil and gas here.

any thoughts?

 

Actually Der Bankier, at Penn I would have the option to major in anything Liberal Arts. Obviously I would choose Economics. The degree would be the same standard BA. Only my transcript would be from General Studies.

Harvard works a little different. I would get an ALB (bachelor in liberal arts) in Economics. Its identical to the standard Harvard BA except its signed by the Extension School Dean and the Prez. I could take the special student option and take two College courses a semester as well.

 

I'd say go for it, man. Me personally, I took a different route. I was 21 with two years of community college, and instead I started over again at a better school. A couple of classes transferred over, but I pretty much just busted my ass to cover up the fact that I'd ever been at a CC. It's still hard to get into a target from a CC, though. If you're not sure you can do it, take UPenn.

 
Best Response

From the Harvard perspective, the extension school is generally seen in a negative light for those who don't fit the typical mold of an Extension School student by Harvard College graduates. The spirit of the school is to target people much older than you who are returning to school after significant work experience. Despite a significant increase in younger applicants, the average is still roughly 30. A few unfavorable articles have been written in the Crimson about the trend of younger students completing extension school programs in the hopes of competing with College grads. Additionally, the New York Times magazine ran a profile on the trend of students either forgoing traditional school or enrolling in CC and attending the Extension School right after.

Personally, I'd say go for it. Both sound like great options. And the reason people attend Ivy league schools is to leverage the resources. There are some solid classes in the catalog, including some finance - I don't know if you can take classes in the FAS (traditional catalog for the College and Graduate Schools - not professional), but you can try as some professors are flexible. That said the only thing of benefit would theoretical economics department classes like corporate finance, Capital Markets and maybe US Labor Market or the Indebted Society. Echoing Mis Ind's point, you could pickup a research assistant job at HBS. I assume that you want to enter banking, so I'd check to see if you have access to the FAS Office of Career Services. Through there you would be able to use the alumni network, I don't think that you would be able to use the normal College on-campus recruiting program. Best of luck.

 

Thanks for the advice, guys. I've done alot of research on both schools. UPenn has alot of things already open for the General Studies student considering how integrated it is with the traditional college. With Harvard I would sort of have to work my way up by maintaining a solid GPA (above a 3.3) to reap any benefits. Options include taking two College or Graduate School classes a semester, become an RA for a Harvard professor (I think there is also an option to work with an MIT prof, but I have to read more into this), and obtain a professional citation in finance. Also, what about studying abroad? http://www.extension.harvard.edu/2006-07/programs/undergrad/options/

College Career Services is open to HES students by referal, but whats offered is not as extensive as whats given to College students. You do get access to the alumni network though.

http://www.ocs.fas.harvard.edu/students/dce-students.htm

Mis Ind, I had thought about just applying to Rice University, UT Austin or Texas A&M which are all nearby, but I still dont think any of them can substitute for ivy league resources. I dont know, I could be wrong. How are these schools viewed in the IB world?

 
Mis Ind:
Not quite, but it's still relatively rigorous compared to other career paths.

Unfortunately, there is no prestigious, well-paying, easy-to-get-into career field.

Military contractors (tax free and well paid), but sometimes it can be a dangerous job.

 

Hey Rai99, I'm at Penn now (Wharton undergrad). I didn't see anyone from CGS during i-banking recruiting. If I were you, I'd try to get into a general undergrad program at a less prestigious school versus a continuing education program. If you get into Rice undergrad, I'd take that over Penn CGS or Harvard Extension School.

I'm pretty sure that if you perform exceptionally well in CGS at Penn, you can transfer into the regular undergrad College of Arts and Sciences, which would afford you a great chance at getting an i-banking job. If you're going to go to one of these continuing education programs, I would try and go to one that gives you the option of transferring into the regular undergrad program (subject to exceptional performance, of course).

 
Not quite, but it's still relatively rigorous compared to other career paths.

Unfortunately, there is no prestigious, well-paying, easy-to-get-into career field.

Not exactly looking for the easy way in. But if its as competitive I would certainly still to do my best at a non-traditional program. If all else fails, there is always sigh law school. HES grads have gone off to top law schools.

 

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