Living in the area I've had pockets of Harvard grads in my life over the years. It's been eye opening in this regard. The opportunities provided to them for having "Harvard graduate" on their resume and/or the connections they made while they were there gave them a leg up in so many ways. Sometimes profound, sometimes subtle, but always there. As an example, I had an ex-gf who had been an undergrad there but moved to NYC to pursue a career in theatre. Instead of the usual waiter/bartender type side gig she was able to do SAT tutoring through a service which only hired Harvard grads, and as it turned out that was their only required qualification. Turns out rich New Yorkers would pay a huge amount per hour to have their children tutored by "Harvard grads". She was making more money than I was as a software developer while working far fewer hours. Granted, software wasn't the sort of wages we see today but the effect was real.

I've taken classes at Harvard Extension out of convenience, but even in cases where it's "the same class" at no point did I tell myself it was the same experience.