Harvard Extension School - Software Engineering ALM. Alumni/current student feedback.

[rebel100]

I don't know how much traction this post will have, there aren't many HES ALM candidates on the board to my knowledge. One poster here, Jonathan Whatley, can probably direct you to the old "extension student" forum where you can find folks in that program. They moved a year or so ago and I lost the link, but you might PM him for it.

My experience with HES is through my daughter who is in the liberal arts undergrad program (ALB) so I can't even take a stab at most of your questions. I will say that the courses are challenging, they expect you to engage fully with the material and to work at what most would consider an advanced college level. CS50 was the only course my daughter ever withdrew from due to difficulty in her entire college career (the experience helped cinch that liberal arts goal ) Most traditional Ivy Leaguers won't know the extension school from anything else, though a Harvard College student (from the undergrad traditional campus based group) might give you some grief, I doubt you would here anything from most students. From time to time The Crimson will run a story or some media outlet will pick up something about HES being "Harvard on the cheap" or something, but she hasn't experienced anything negative from her affiliation. I do hear rumors that locally in Cambridge/Boston employers understand a difference, might be true of certain industries (like investment banking). We live in Florida and while she takes great pains to clearly indicate extension school on her resume, the Harvard brand still seems to carries weight. She has been interviewed for every job or internship for which she has applied and she has been offered every job/internship for which she has interviewed. You won't make contacts the way I imagine traditional students do, but they have opened up full job seeking services and there are alumni affiliations to add value to the program. Anecdotally, she has HES classmates that have gone on to NASA and DoD positions...I believe the vast majority of employers will look favorably on a HES degree.

In hindsight, I wish I had an ALM Management from the Extension School instead of my "no name" WGU MBA... looking for a job is in many ways a popularity contest, I think the Harvard brand is appealing and therefore worthwhile to pursue.