There is systemic injustice at Harvard Extension School. Their policies as stated on their website…read moreare not upheld. I had a professor who graded anything beneath a 90% as a 0%. So, in other words, if you don't get an A you fail your assignments. I withdrew, brought this to the attention of the Dean, and asked for financial credit so I could take another course instead. She did not respond but simply forwarded my concern to a registrar who refused to do anything about it. The registrar said, wrongly, that the professor was acting in accord with HES policy. The grading system on the website does not in point of fact map onto the grading system of all the professors. So be forewarned that you may end up with a professor who will give you an F if you get less than an A. Don't waste your money at HES and don't expect the administration to act justly. I've matriculated a different program. HES just lost the 30K they would have made if they would have simply rendered a just decision.

I am extremely saddened to say that HES does not help International Students solve their financial…read moreissues at all. There are no Financial Aid options coming from the university itself, and 2 out of 3 student loan companies that their office recommends actually don't really accept Extension School students. The third one needs a lot of extra paperwork that the school isn't willing to help with. In order to enroll you need to pay in full and you don't get a letter of enrollment until after the drop out period, when it's too late. You can't get a loan without paying and you can't get enrolled without a loan. So it's a chicken and egg situation that has no end. They say the university helps cover for you until the loan is approved, but in reality, you have to pay in full first and they will reimburse you after the loan is paid. Which defies the entire point of asking for financial assistance. There is a very short window in which to apply for the loan after registration before being dropped out for non-payment. Paperwork takes more than a month, which is not nearly enough to get everything done. I've spent hours and hours with both the lending officers and the financial aid officers, and in the end, nothing got solved. Nothing. I am unable to join the courses. I am unable to get a loan. I feel like my potential is wasting away... Harvard has failed me.

I prepare for TOEFL test by myself more than one year and the score is lingering around 90, that is…read morenot enough to apply for good school. So I joined the half day program in order to get TOEFL score 100+. It has been 10 weeks now. I feel the time and budget spent in the Academy at Harvard Square is worthwhile no matter when I can get the satisfying score. The skills I learned are very helpful for the TOEFL test. Most importantly, the staff in this school are very professional and friendly. I got a lot of encouragement and help.

I strongly believe that with great caring instructors of The Academy at Harvard Square, anyone can…read moreachieve their target TOEFL score quickly. I raised my score from 50 to 93 in 4 weeks!

Overall, I enjoyed the classes they have here and had a lot of fun taking the sewing and guitar…read morelessons. The team is pretty responsive if you run into any issues with the class scheduling and pretty understanding. I qualified for financial aid and it got approved in less than 48 hours. I'd definitely wound love to check out their other classes sometime.

I took the intensive drawing bootcamp with Brett Xavier Gamache and really enjoyed it. Brett is a…read morepatient and generous instructor. He provided just the right amount of advice and instruction regardless of each person's level of experience. I have some drawing experience but it's been many decades since I took a formal class. Many of the techniques that Brett shared were familiar to me but good reminders. Most helpful was having Brett review my work at different points during the process, and offer advice on how to proceed. Thank you, Brett, for an enjoyable reintroduction to drawing. I look forward to taking another class. The CCAE could do better in communicating what to expect and in keeping the listing up to date. The description says it's 6 hours but it's listed as running from 10am-2:30pm. The supply list was incorrect so I purchased much more than I needed and didn't have items that I did need. They should also note that you only have about 30 minutes for lunch and Cambridge eateries can be very crowded on a Sunday. I would have brought a lunch.

LMFAO at all these fake 5-Star reviews clearly written by EF Employees. No parent with a brain…read morewould send their kids on an EF trip. That's why now they have increased their recruitment of college students and single adults (EF College Study Tours and EF Go Ahead). EF Go Ahead Tours usually uses 3 Star hotels and above but K-12 and college students get ripped off. Right now I'm trying to advocate to my college campus to cancel our trip to London because the U.K. government has essentially banned all leisure travel. This greedy company won't even lower the cost of our trip as a courtesy for their previous bad behavior in the public eye. As long as London remains at Level 3 Travel Advisory they (EF Tours) can cancel at any time and yet the trip is still happening? Lastly, regardless of when you cancel your tour, you WILL lose between $750 to $3,000 per person in cancellation fees CLEARLY meant to ensure EF still cuts a hefty profit. I can already see 2021 trips being cancelled. They started cancelling 2021 trips months ago (these were re-scheduled from 2020). And guess what? Yep, this criminal enterprise will steal your money again and again with zero remorse. Dont people ever learn anything? This company will cancel your trip at the very last minute, try to convince you to "accept" a worthless travel voucher, then take nearly $1,000 in cancellation fees PER PERSON (after you demand your refund) despite noone going anywhere. But the most pressing concern is this: Why would you give this company any of your hard earned money after this? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy_PKuljk0s&t=702s https://eftourslitigation.mcgranepc.com https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/coronavirus-covid-19/education-first-class-action-says-tour-company-canceled-trips-over-coronavirus-refuses-refunds The truth is a hard thing to accept. Believe me, I know.

A Disappointing Bait-and-Switch: Not the Parisian Experience We Paid For…read moreMy experience with EF began with a very enthusiastic, bubbly, and responsive salesperson who painted a wonderful picture of the program. It's clear they have a large, polished sales operation--it feels very "pitchy," and we learned they have an entire floor of people dedicated to selling these programs. However, once the contract was signed, the reality was starkly different from what was promised, leading to a deeply disappointing two-month experience for my 21-year-old son from February to April 2025. 1. Misleading Location & Unresponsive Staff (The "Bait-and-Switch") The primary reason we chose EF was for an immersive experience in the heart of Paris, a fact I made explicitly clear as our family is originally from France but my son was raised in the U.S. . We were assured this would be the case. Instead, just a week before his departure, we discovered my son was placed with a host family a 40-minute train commute outside the city (Enghin les bains). This completely defeated the purpose of the program. When I raised this critical issue, the once-bubbly salesperson was suddenly unavailable. I was passed on to staff in Paris who were dismissive and offered no solutions. Their justification was that the fine print allows for a commute of 'up to one hour,' and I was essentially told I should be happy it was only 40 minutes. They made it clear that a move into the city was impossible and no refund would be considered. The communication and accountability vanished the moment there was a problem. 2. Subpar Host Family Experience The issues continued with the host family. Upon arrival, my son was informed of an unexpected 50 euro fee for laundry. More concerningly, the meals provided were so inadequate and unhealthy that my son lost a significant amount of weight during his stay. There were also unsettling instances where the host would eat certain foods while telling my son he was not allowed to have any. This is not the safe and nurturing environment you expect when you entrust your child to a program like this. 3. Ineffective Language Immersion and Academics From an educational standpoint, the program also fell short. The curriculum focused heavily on grammar, verb conjugation, and writing--skills that are not the most useful for developing day-to-day conversational fluency. Furthermore, the social environment did not foster language practice, as my son found that the majority of his new friends from other European countries spoke English together. The advertised daily activities were also a letdown, with very low attendance, suggesting they were not engaging for the students. 4. Questionable Review Integrity Perhaps most concerning is the integrity of EF's review system. When my son initially gave the program an honest 3 or 4-star rating at the end of his stay, he was brought into an office and spoken to by staff, after which he felt pressured to change his rating to a 5. This practice makes me seriously question the authenticity of the glowing reviews they feature and suggests a focus on maintaining a perfect online image over providing a genuinely quality experience. Conclusion: Overall, our two-month experience with EF was a lesson in over-promising and under-delivering. It felt like a classic bait-and-switch scheme, from the location to the quality of the homestay to the effectiveness of the program itself. I cannot recommend this program to parents seeking a genuine, supportive, and immersive experience for their children. I would urge others to exercise extreme caution, get every single detail (especially accommodation location) in writing before paying, and be very wary of the overly positive ratings.

Beautiful school, great activities, perfectly located, everything around so great, classes are so…read moreinteractive and joyfyl, wonderful staff members!

Amazing experience!!!! Wonderful school and city. The atmosphere is awesome and the staff is super…read morefriendly!!! It was the first time I took an English course, and that was the best choice I could have made. THANK YOU for excellent instruction, facilitators and facilities.

Great school! So happy to be part of BIAs students! It's a place where we can learn English, make…read morefriends, see different cultures. Just love the staff and teachers!