Special student Harvard in Mathematics I am a master student in Mathematics. I got a scholarship that would pay me a 1-year stay (including housing etc.) at Harvard University. All I need to do, is to apply for admission as a Special student at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (and be admitted of course).

Searching through the internet, some people indicated that admission as a special student is a: if you pay, you are in-system. Is this true? Or is admission as competitive as the one for regular students in the PhD programms?
You need to check on the rules at Harvard, but in general, "special student" generally means that a student is allowed to take courses but not to get a degree from the university.  The phrase "non-degree seeking student" is also sometimes used for this status.  

It can be easier to be admitted as a special student than as a regular student, but it's also typically hard (as hard as getting admitted as a regular student) to switch from "special" status to regular degree seeking status.