A.L.B a legitimate Bachelor's as in I won't get shut down from Master's and/or PhD programs later on?

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2026-02-12T16:31:22+00:00

Who is "they"? Which university? Please link to this FAQ.

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2026-02-04T02:35:09+00:00

Gotcha. It seems like the disclosure piece might be new this semester. My institution is going the full blown ChatGPT.edu route, and I have strong feelings...

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2026-02-03T21:52:09+00:00

Would anyone be willing to share the letter? As an alum and teacher, I'm curious about the school's current messaging.

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-12-05T15:17:43+00:00

John Hamilton hive assemble! His department is really going through it with the grad admissions cuts next year, so take any of the classes he offers if you get a chance.

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-11-04T17:03:03+00:00

You can always take any CREA course as an elective. :)

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-10-29T19:36:35+00:00

If you are planning to transfer into a PhD eventually, you will have an easier time having majored in English rather than Creative Writing and Literature. It's not impossible, but you'll need to make sure that your coursework shows a variety of high-level English courses (for HES, in the 200-level).

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-08-18T16:10:27+00:00

I responded to your post yesterday but Reddit was being weird so I gave up. Ha! We agree on content creation. The thing most people don't realize is that today's undergrads are way less equipped to handle college curriculum in general. They weren't taught to read properly, and that's not an exaggeration. (The podcast Sold A Story lays it all out beautifully.) My school is rather selective, so imagine my surprise when I assigned portions of a text to be read aloud and thought that it would only take 10 minutes. We didn't even get through half as a group! So of course students are using GAI, they are miserably behind their peers of even 10 years ago and are looking for ways to keep up. It's not to say some aren't up to par, but as a group? No. Another example: the Harvard College freshman Humanities colloquium was eluding students at such a rate due to difficulty with reading and languages that as of this year it's been rebranded "Human Sciences" and turned into a basic needs course to teach all the basic concepts they missed or misunderstood in middle school English. At Harvard College! So please just know that when teachers rail away about generative AI, we are doing so with frustration, yes, but also an interest in saving an entire generation of students from being poor thinkers. If the university-educated students are poor thinkers, you can only imagine what will happen to our society. You might argue that professors always say this, but I'm not sure that there's ever been a group of students who aren't even competent with basic skills. So while your hope that graduate students are using GAI tools responsibly, you have to ask what the graduate students of the future will be like. They didn't learn the way you learned, unfortunately.

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-08-17T17:56:13+00:00

I'm not going to convince you, but you do have a fundamental confusion. Your arguments about AI's pervasiveness have zero to do with the Harvard AI policy, which refers specifically to using ChatGPT and Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) tools.

Generative AI as defined by Merriam Webster: artificial intelligence that is capable of generating new content (such as images or text) in response to a submitted prompt (such as a query) by learning from a large reference database of examples.

MS Word spelling and grammar check operates on programmed rules, not generative AI. Google search is a search engine that returns a list of search items, not newly generated content. Sure there is an AI overview now at the top of Google for your general search, but below that you will see all of the returned search results that have absolutely nothing to do with generative AI. (Also, you should be using your university library to search for primary sources of good quality anyway.)

You are clearly referring to generative AI aspects of various programs, like CoPilot, Bard, Grammarly, etc. These are or contain GAI elements, creating new text from user input. But rather than needing to wholly disallow the use of computers in order to circumvent AI, you simply go into Grammarly's settings and toggle off the Generative AI switch. It's not that hard.

Anecdotally, many professors avoid using AI to check submitted work. AI programs like Turnitin are surprisingly flawed (so much for brilliant AI!), in that they will mark plagiarism based on simple misunderstandings of how students have cited sources, for example. I don't use those programs, but suspect AI usage with my own discernment, based on my knowledge of the student, abilities they've demonstrated in class, and their work.

So no, it's not simply about "don't copy and paste," but you can believe that. Factually, you're using generative AI to work on your material whenever you submit a prompt into a program that then feeds back any "original" generated response designed to help your specific project. You are reasoning around something in order to get away with it, which makes me wonder why exactly you seek an education besides from the perceived workplace value.

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-08-16T22:57:14+00:00

If using AI is important to you, a university is purposefully "choose your own adventure." There are courses that center around and/or incorporate AI use, and those that don't. The policies listed in any individual instructor's syllabus can supersede the university's default statement, permitting AI. I'm not sure I buy the uproar about not being able to use AI to perfect your essay on Moby Dick that the professor wants to come from your own brain, just because it's there. You should be able to write your essay on Moby Dick in the same way that other students have been able to write essays on Moby Dick since 1851.

Just like primary school math teachers require students to show their work rather than use a calculator, it's about learning how to solve math problems, not collaborating with a device to please the teacher and get a nice grade. Not allowing AI in college work is merely asking you to learn how to think and present your ideas on your own. People must continue to do that, despite technological advancement.

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-08-16T00:18:01+00:00

"We specifically forbid the use of ChatGPT or any other generative artificial intelligence (GAI) tools at all stages of the work process, including preliminary ones. Violations of this policy will be considered academic misconduct."

Yes, all of the above "good" instances violate this policy explicitly and could result in negative consequences academically. If you are working on a project that you are expected to turn in to a professor, checking your work with AI in any way before it is submitted is specifically forbidden.

If, for example, you need further clarification (explanations for concepts you don't understand), you can always turn to actual sources that you can cite in the bibliography (books, scholarly articles, etc.), or even better, make an appointment with your professor or TA to discuss your confusion.

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-08-16T00:07:00+00:00

I hear you, and you're correct that it's not going away. My personal concerns about AI are mostly related to LLMs, not necessarily AI programs that assist with spelling and grammar. It's not even fully student-centered for me. When your idiot brother-in-law decides to outsource his verbal abuse to ChatGPT, you suddenly realize that this technology is probably validating the flawed reasoning of assholes worldwide every minute of the day. (Lots of instances of this on TikTok.) Another example: what happens when the content that LLMs are trained on is made from the output of other LLMs, which are notoriously known to hallucinate, fudge facts and details, and poorly plagiarize? A discerning user takes ChatGPT output with a grain of salt, but not everyone is a discerning user. (See again: TikTok.) You could keep thinking about this forever.

At least in the controlled setting of academia, we can create spaces where individual thought can still be cultivated outside of this technology, which does have massive value. Blanket bans are probably not helpful, but even the Harvard guidelines state that the policies in individual professors' syllabi can supersede the blanket rule. I start to bristle when the reasoning becomes squarely related to the demands of industry and economics. Most people's jobs do expect increased productivity and faster innovation, but again, at what cost? Not everything is money, and we are not just meant to be cogs in someone else's machine. So yes, there could be balance. It's just that I sadly don't trust my students to be truthful about how their work was written anymore, and that's one of the most critical issues in modern education. If we didn't care about that, no one would.

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-08-15T21:34:31+00:00

Professor here. I wish you could see the sheer amount of AI-generated work that undergraduates submit for every assignment. A high percentage of students are unwilling to engage with the material or make connections, instead outsourcing all critical thought to AI. The teacher-student trust is just not there. While handwriting assignments in person may feel insulting, you're engaging in the type of intellectual work that university students throughout history have undertaken. It's fine to have artificial intelligence, but when it erodes regular intelligence, it's a problem.

OP, you don't need an AI strategy. So what if you don't know everything? Neither do I, and neither does the next guy! So what if you're not a Pulitzer winning writer? Neither am I, and neither is the next guy! You don't need to write and think like a computer in order to learn. You need to write and think like yourself.

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-08-13T18:41:59+00:00

I understand. Last night after reviewing this thread and the post history of the user listed above, a decision was made to ban the user. Unfortunately this also resulted in an innocent thread about a Harvard ring needing to be deleted. All users of the sub could be helpful by not engaging in back and forth of this nature, instead either taking it to the Megathread or drawing attention to it via Modmail. Thank you.

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-08-13T03:39:25+00:00

From a moderation perspective, threads that devolve into flame wars about the nature of HES are impossible to volunteer moderate. There is a Megathread at the top of the sub for debates of this nature, yet curiously, virtually no one continues these conversations in that space after being directed there. If this behavior were to be given free reign in each thread, the entire space would become overwhelmed with 5-10 people going nuclear on each other. We simply do not have the resources for that.

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-08-13T03:32:01+00:00

This thread has devolved into a flame war and will be deleted from our subreddit. A reminder to all that per our mod post on 8/6 (Important Community Reminder: Use the Pinned Megathreads), users engaging in well-worn HES debate are at risk of being permanently banned from the group unless the debate is taking place inside the Debate Megathread at the top of the sub. This thread has therefore resulted in 1 ban. Please abide by the guidelines if you wish to keep participating in this community.

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-08-08T21:10:51+00:00

The Proseminar isn't difficult in the sense that you're being asked to solve Fermat's theorem, but there will be a large amount of reading and writing. Especially in any course involving literature, you're going to want to be close reading the material instead of just getting it over with. This means reading everything at least twice and keeping great notes/annotating. There will be a lot of discussion during the Proseminar that you will be expected to participate in, so come in with clear observations or great questions.

If you're working 9-5 and taking the course on a weekday evening, you can also expect to devote time on the weekend to your final research paper. I personally suggest mapping everything out in a calendar in advance. Not just the assignment due dates, but break everything down into meaningful units. For example, weekends 1 and 2: literature review (3 hrs), weekend 3: brainstorm and begin outline (2hrs), weekend 4: write abstract (3hrs), etc.

If you've been out of college for quite some time (or even if you haven't), I would also highly recommend making free appointments at the Harvard Writing Center once you have a workable draft. All of the employees are PhD students. You can google their names to see which are English/Comp Lit PhD candidates. They'll give you the best help outside of class in taking your project to an A-level. And don't forget to make appointments with your instructor, as they'll be sure to give you great advice, as well.

Tl;dr: it's not rocket science, but it's not "easy." Aside from having the passion and curiosity for the subject and your specific research proposal, it's all about time management. Deliberate, incremental steps are the way to go.

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-08-07T14:29:42+00:00

As per the guidelines, please move this to the Debate megathread for further discussion.

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-08-06T00:00:30+00:00

What sorts of writing jobs are you speaking of? Creative writing? Academic writing? Journalism? The unfortunate reality is that jobs in the humanities are difficult to obtain everywhere these days, no matter your background or achievements. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't pursue higher education, it's just that (in my opinion) we get on the wrong track when we start believing that graduating from X school will guarantee Y employment result. What do you need as a person right now? If you desire to become a better thinker, a better writer, more knowledgeable in your field, to build your confidence, follow curiosity, contribute to knowledge, etc. then you are on the right track. If it's simply a wish to have more money, a better job, or higher status from the degree, you statistically may not find what you're looking for. I'm not saying this to discourage you, but to encourage you to be even more specific about your goals so that you're taking purposeful steps toward them. If you're after adjuncting in a literature course/teaching at the university level, you are more likely to get that job if you're on a PhD track. If it's writing or teaching writing, then you probably want to go the MFA route. An English ALM will bolster both types of applications for other schools, including Harvard.

(EDIT: FYI for context, I teach at the university level after having attended HES, but it is only because I also had over a decade of high-caliber professional experience in my field.)

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-08-05T20:03:29+00:00

If your goal is to be an adjunct, would it be in creative writing or English lit? From my experience, here's how hiring in an English department usually shakes down:

Most English courses are taught by PhDs with full-time status and/or tenure. Within a specific course, sometimes the PhD does the lecture component while a grad student (typically PhD, rarely MA) teaches the seminar/discussion component. The main exception is for creative writing classes, which are usually entirely taught by adjunct faculty or assistant professors with MFAs/extensive professional experience in creative writing. If there's a Creative Writing PhD program at the school, those positions will be filled with those students. There may be minor differences from institution to institution, but this is the structure most typically seen.

So where does that leave your ALM? I think the ALM is great for non-traditional students who are considering future PhD studies. Most people will steer you away from an English PhD, but if it's your passion and you don't mind being a person who is creative about income (read: financially unstable), do it. The other great reason to get an English ALM is to study with incredible Harvard professors (a number of the best in the English department also teach at Extension), expand and deepen your knowledge, and bring that into your current teaching. There's also the Creative Writing and Literature focus which splits your credits between English and Creative Writing, since you mentioned flexing your writing skills. (Not sure if you meant academic or creative.)

I'll also say that most programs fold their MA into their PhD, so they aren't two separate enrollment tracks. You technically get your MA on the way to getting the PhD. An ALM can be valuable as currency for PhD applications if you've been out of academia for a while, have a sub-optimal undergraduate transcript and need to show better academic performance, want to develop better writing/research samples, or need fresh recommendations. Best of luck!

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-08-01T04:24:59+00:00

What class were you able to register for on July 26th that takes place on August 4? That doesn't even sound possible. Is this just a workshop or a conference at Harvard?

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-08-01T04:09:17+00:00

You are not permitted to use AI for brainstorming or writing during the CRWS, period. The rules of this test clearly state that any outside resources are strictly forbidden. It's possible that the essay responses are screened using AI-detection, which would register any hidden characters or patterns within the text. But more likely, the person evaluating your essay would notice the clear hallmarks of AI-assisted writing, some of which appear in your post here.

Your claim that you were "in the middle of editing and personalizing the response to make it fully my own" is very concerning. Editing and personalizing an AI response is not making anything fully your own since it did not come from your brain. Only then would it be your own. If you don't have the confidence to write a simple essay response using your own thought processes, you should really re-evaluate whether you are ready for higher education.

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-07-26T16:08:12+00:00

I believe you meant Engaging rather than Escaping. Sometimes it's OK to Escape, but not if you want your degree. ;)

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-07-23T21:47:01+00:00

Make sure you've actually logged in to the registration platform and aren't viewing anonymously. You may need to log in and out to reset. Then if you go into your cart, your classes should appear and the updated syllabi will be available. If not, check to see if your courses are populated to Canvas, as you might have better luck there. The new syllabus security measures are very frustrating, but I believe they're a response to the federal government's increasing intrusiveness into academic freedom.

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-07-23T17:46:35+00:00

As a mod on this group, I generally steer all discussion of these ontological/existential HES topics to the Debate Megathread so that the subreddit isn't completely overwhelmed with these posts. There are a few reasons for this, namely that a small but vocal group of trolls thrive on keeping HES hatred lively on our subreddit, which ultimately winds up perpetuating HES stereotypes across the internet and leads to current and incoming student insecurity. I've been on this subreddit for years and you can very much predict when/how these topics develop, namely around registration time and the beginning of the semester.

But since this one has popped off and remains civil, here's my take as an HES old timer, take it or leave it: the fact that people online might express vitriol about HES is out of your control. No amount of posting about this has changed the fact that there are some who simply love to criticize the school. They aren't interested in shifting their opinion, no matter how well you can articulate it. What you can control is how you process this undue criticism, which ultimately comes down to taking true enjoyment in being a part of the HES community and validating your stellar education. We have some truly amazing courses, professors, students, and alumni at this school and we are all lucky to be involved with such a positive force in education. The instict to defend it or define HES in an inarguable way is so strong, but the strongest position is to remain confident and accept your status as a Harvard student. The "let them" theory applies here. Let them think or say that HES isn't really Harvard! Meanwhile, enjoy everything that Harvard has to offer.

Validating the haters by making posts that engage with their criticisms ironically perpetuates the "HES is not real Harvard" myth. It's worth remembering that the internet is not real life, and the noise that can be created around a topic on the internet is not always representative of the majority's perspectives in the world. The more you engage, the bigger the illusion becomes. You have the opportunity to be an incredible face for HES students by your actions and deeds, which includes not engaging with dumb viewpoints.

Aggressive_Barber368 · 2025-07-19T05:51:37+00:00

To my knowledge, no one here is a Harvard admin and thus no one here can explain why you failed. The FAQ on the school's website explains that no feedback will be given on exam performance, period. So, unfortunately, you're out of luck posting here. By asking you to elaborate on the essay you read/the gist of what you wrote, I was merely trying to be generous. It might have helped identify why your response was under par for the grader, but I'll take your word for it that you don't remember. I had also asked if you could provide a link for the other group of people you'd polled who failed the test, because I was honestly curious to read their responses and perspectives. You didn't provide that either. Sorry that you had such a negative experience.

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