Applying as "special student"

[yaguchi]

Hi!

 

I'm not sure whether this is the right subforum--if not, I apologize.

 

I am interested in applying to grad school as a special student, i.e. when you enroll for a semester or academic year but you're not technically in a degree program. However, I do not know how this differs from applying as a regular MA or PhD student, and I was wondering whether anyone here has any experience with this. Right now, I am interested in East Asian studies at Harvard's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. 

 

Any tips would be very welcome!

yaguchi

[juilletmercredi]

I'm not sure that the department will allow you to do that.  You'd probably have to contact each program directly (so in this case, Harvard) and ask if that is a possibility and how it works.  You might be able to take a few classes part-time as a non-degree student, but I don't see any graduate program allowing you to be a full-time student in their department for a semester or year without pursuing a degree.

 

I have seen a few cases in which students who are enrolled at another institution in a similar program have visited an institution for a little while, but it's normally to work with someone specific and do research, not take classes.  When I was in grad school we had a couple of students at comparable PhD programs who were taking a semester or academic year to come work in the labs in my department for their dissertation research.  But we never had anyone who was just taking classes with no end purpose/goal in mind.

 

Can I ask why you want to do this?

[peachypie]

I think it is much easier to do this special student with undergrad but I see no reason why a graduate program would not want you to do this.  There are quite a few instances I have of people taking courses at  a University in graduate school (I even took one during my undergraduate degree, so it didn't count towards my UG credits but they allowed undergrads to enroll).  I think this could get costly for you if you were enrolling in multiple courses but I think it is fair to contact the department and see if you could take some courses as a special student.  I am assuming that you would also like to eventually enter a degree program in this area at this institution? 

Some universities have special applications that are specifically for "special students" but may require some kind of terms such as department approval, professor approval, or some connection to the university (alumnae, employee etc).  Why not though if you are interested in the subject and have the resources to do it.

[TakeruK]

I think it is much easier to do this special student with undergrad but I see no reason why a graduate program would not want you to do this.  There are quite a few instances I have of people taking courses at  a University in graduate school (I even took one during my undergraduate degree, so it didn't count towards my UG credits but they allowed undergrads to enroll).  I think this could get costly for you if you were enrolling in multiple courses but I think it is fair to contact the department and see if you could take some courses as a special student.  I am assuming that you would also like to eventually enter a degree program in this area at this institution? 

Some universities have special applications that are specifically for "special students" but may require some kind of terms such as department approval, professor approval, or some connection to the university (alumnae, employee etc).  Why not though if you are interested in the subject and have the resources to do it.

 

I think the main reason they would not want people to do this is that non-degree students will take time away from the professor that they would want to be spending on either the degree students or their own research. I don't think money is the only limiting factor in how many degree students a program would accept. I think that programs also limit the amount of students they accept because they want to make sure professors have enough time to mentor and teach the degree students. Having too many special students enroll would mess up the balance. 

 

However, it's pretty common for upper level undergrads to take graduate courses at the same institution though. It doesn't cost them extra money because they pay a set tuition no matter how many classes they take. I TA'ed a graduate course and about half of my students were undergrads. Most of them are seniors but I even had one or two freshmen and sophomores! But not all schools are like this (my undergrad was not and they were very strict on when an undergrad may enroll in a grad class). 

 

Like peachypie said though, professor approval is usually required for this. The only non-degree non-students I've ever had in my grad classes were postdocs and staff members!

[juilletmercredi]

Taking graduate-level classes while enrolled as an undergrad is very common and quite different than being the equivalent of a full-time student in the department, but with no degree program enrollment. At my graduate institution 4000-level classes were actually mixed grad-undergrad classes, and typically ended up being primarily undergraduates anyway (mostly juniors and seniors).  6000-level and 9000-level courses were graduate only.

 

But yeah, the reason a grad program wouldn't want you to do this is that you increase enrollment in the classes and take away time and effort that they would devote to their degree-pursuing students.  There is also the perception that you would be less serious about the class than if you were in a purposeful degree or certificate program.  There's also a certain premium placed on exclusivity and only offering their classes to students who are willing to commit to a degree program.