Harvard Extension School vs Boston University Online

Discussion in 'IT and Computer-Related Degrees' started by locutus, Dec 9, 2008.

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  1. AGS

    AGS New Member

    from reading this thread

    I think I would stick with Harvard. Boston University is expensive and a great school. But the Harvard name always sticks out .

    Besides, its an american thing to do like graduating from an extension school associated with the oldest university of this continent.

    I like the boston university masters in banking and finance. I had an interest to pursue it . Still thinking about it.

    When I was reading about the requirements for having a thesis on completing a masters, i contemplated about those schools that deliver the "great books program." like shimer, thomas aquinas college.

    perhaps the rigourous curriculum in those schools brings preparation for upper advanced degrees.
     
  2. HtheMan

    HtheMan New Member

    Brandeis Vs Boston Vs Harvard CS Rankings

    Hi...

    I came across this thread during my search for a good online CIS degree. Just to put things in perspective about rankings of the three universities discussed, Harvard is at the top, Brandeis is in the 31st and BU is 57th on overall US rankings. However, Computer Science rankings are significantly different.

    Computer Science rankings US News 2008

    1. Haravard ...No. 16
    2. Boston University ....No. 48
    3. Brandeis University....No. 71

    So even though Brandeis is better than BU in terms of Cost and overall ranking, but the Computer Science rankings for BU are significantly higher.
     
  3. DDD

    DDD New Member

    Why not attand the regular school


    I beg you to excuse me if my question is inappropriate. Why don't you attend Harvard or BU regular day time degree earning programs instead of their extension school? It is true that Harvard extension school is NOT Harvard or the degree would not carry a specific indication. The extension schools are good for people who are working and desire to expand their knowledge in certain fields, not to be used to supplant the regular schools.
     
  4. lawrenceq

    lawrenceq Member

    For some reason I like Boston University. BU's online programs are very organized. A few weeks back I played around on their site and was very impressed with the demos. But, Harvard is Harvard; that name rings bells everywhere.
     
  5. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator


    Baby this is a thread that just won't die. I HATE the post I quoted above for several reasons. First it cites an alleged ranking but provides no link. It could all just be made up crap. Who knows? Second, even if it's a "real" ranking that was published somewhere (US NEWS rankings suck), there is no way to know the criteria upon which the rankings are made (don't they change for every article?) Somebody got stopped by a Waltham cop and so now Brandeis is worse than BU. Who knows? Third, making a decision on your university based upon someone elses decision about which school is best? STUPID! Which school is best for YOU? That's the question. Not which school did some set of anonymous people like based upon whatever they ate for breakfast that morning. Use your heads. Do your homework. Don't pay attention to stupid rankings. They mean nada.
     
  6. HtheMan

    HtheMan New Member

    Rankings..More Rankings

    Kizmet,

    I agree that rankings don't matter much in the end and are very arbitrary. Here is the link to Computer Science rankings that were published in 2008 and are the latest Computer Science rankings by US News.

    http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-computer-science-schools/rankings

    Now here is the funny thing, there is a 2010 Computer Engineering ranking also on the website..but it is not available for free. It would be interesting to know how the rankings change from CS to CE.
     
  7. mid

    mid New Member

    There are lots of good reasons:

    1. Most traditional programs have classes during the day. This can be a big barrier for people who work during the day and can't easily afford the opportunity cost of leaving work to complete a traditional program.

    2. Most traditional programs are oriented at students that are fresh out of high school (in the case of an undergrad program) or an undergraduate program (in the case of a graduate program).

    3. The traditional programs at Harvard for undergrad are resident programs. Living in the dorms is expected for that program. For the graduate programs, the target student audience is future members of academia.

    I completed my ALB (Bachelor of Liberal Arts) at the Harvard Extension School in 2009. I'm happy with my decision. I managed to complete that degree after leaving another Ivy-League program in 1991.

    Believe me when I tell you that I looked far and wide for a program that would suit my desire for rigor and for flexibility in course delivery. I found that at HES.

    You can argue all you want that HES isn't "really" Harvard but I've got a whole lot of experience with this subject and you couldn't be more in the wrong. I attended Commencement alongside everyone else at Harvard. I'm a member of the Harvard Club of Boston, the Harvard Club of NY, and the Harvard Club of DC. I keep in touch with some of my classmates from HES just as any other student of that program might and my degree has been recognized by everyone as an authentic claim to Harvard Alumni status.

    Furthermore, plenty of students have graduated from HES and gone on to:

    Harvard Business School
    Harvard Law School
    Harvard Medical School
    etc, etc, etc.

    It's true that HES is mainly trying to provide educational options for working adults and a lot of the coursework is specific to a particular knowledge area that has a definite "applied" feel. But I can tell you that they also load up the higher-level courses with plenty of theory and that these programs aren't easy to complete.

    If you think it's easy, I'd challenge you to give it a try. The masters programs require a thesis on par with a PhD-level dissertation in length and scope. You wont find many terminal masters programs that make a thesis a required part of the program. The undergraduate program isn't for wimps either. I needed to take a few graduate level courses to complete the program and I found myself challenged at every step.

    You might be right that a HES degree doesn't carry the same level of cachet as a Harvard College degree in terms of selectivity but that's absolutely no reflection on the level of effort required to earn the degree or the quality of the instruction. Both are well above the mean.
     
  8. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    >>

    Let it roll off...our friend DDD was a fly-by-night poster. He never did come back. The Harvard thing comes up here all the time.
     
  9. mid

    mid New Member

    Ya. I get it.

    It's funny. I'm amazed at the level of insecurity some folks display when the subject of Harvard comes up. It's truly mind-boggling.
     

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