Harvard?

[yzma02]

I've been offered admission to Harvard's Teacher Education Program. Harvard is really too expensive though.  They are supposed to send out financial aid/scholarship notifications at the end of March, so I'll decide after I see that whether to seriously consider their offer.  Their program is surprisingly similar to UMichigan in terms of emphases,

Comments

[laozi]

You're doubtlessly already thinking about all of the stuff written below, but I'll go ahead and say:

It's very important not to underestimate the value of being able to put "Harvard" on your resume. It's also very important not to underestimate the connections that you stand to gain by becoming a student at Harvard. Also, there's a good chance that Harvard would be much more inclined to admit you to one of their PhD programs if you, when applying, are already an alumnus of theirs. Get a PhD from Harvard, and, well... you're set in so many different ways. For life.

[yzma02]

Hi Joe.
I am thinking about those things. I'm also thinking about what it would be like to incur over $20,000 in debt for only one year of schooling and then having to pay that back on a teacher's salary. I'm also thinking about how, if I wanted to go on for a PhD there, I'd have to incur even more debt. And repay it on a teacher's salary. And I'm wondering if that's worth it. I don't think I would not be able to find a job without a degree from Harvard--I mean, hell, I only want to teach high school. And I'm trying to gauge if that much debt is worth it--and so far I'm coming up short. So I hope they give me a scholarship, because although Gates provides about half the money I would need to go to Harvard, I'd still need about $30,000 to pay for housing, etc., and I only have a little less than a third of that saved. So yeah. It's a tough call, but when it comes down to it--I'm just not sure. And--Harvard admitted me to a masters program though I didn't do undergrad there, so there's also that to consider. And if I wind

[laozi]

All very true. I assumed that since you were pondering a PhD, you were thinking about perhaps doing something other than teaching high school, later on down the line. If you aren't, then I can definitely see not wanting to accumulate all that debt.

I hope they give you a huge scholarship! I've been reading lately about huge new financial aid programs they're rolling out at Harvard for undergrads, but I don't recall seeing anything about the same for their grad programs...

[yzma02]

Well...I plan to die in the classroom (not because of school violence, but because of old age).

I've also heard about the programs for undergrads, and each time I hear something I think, "Yup, they're about 5 or 6 years too late." :)