<p>I don't know that it's a Harvard thing, or even a elite school thing. If kids were not going to Africa to do community service, they might flip hamburgers or bag groceries. I don't think one type of activity is inherently better than the other. I'm assuming that the hamburger flippers need the money. But I don't know if they have more occasion to see their family and friends than the ones going to Africa for a spell. American kids are expected to keep themselves busy in a way European kids are not. My French nieces and nephews could not get a summer job if they tried before the age of 16, and in fact, I don't know many who do get a summer job while in high school.</p>
<p>
[quote]
the way Harvard seems to rob kids of their childhood
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I don't feel at all like I've been robbed of my childhood......... but thanks for the gross generalization.</p>
<p>UKRUS, you just don't get what the point of going to Harvard is, do you? For many of the students who attend, it is a pleasurable experience of finally meeting people from all over the world who can keep up with what they enjoy doing. </p>
<p>P.S. Your point about social life is STILL wrong. For students like that, staying stuck in high school is not an improvement on social life--birds of a feather flock together.</p>
<p>Yeah Byerly must work for admissions.</p>
<p>tokenadult - I think UKRUS' point is that you get more of a time for social life both within and without high school. I think he makes a fair point, you should stretch yourself and keep your busy, but you shouldn't go overboard like some kids <em>seem</em> to. Still, whatever floats your boat I suppose.</p>
<p>I don't think I would have done what she did (get an AA degree).</p>
<p>Don't get me wrong - by the end of high school I will have taken, in terms of units, about 40% of the number of units required for an AA degree. However, even if I had taken more courses to fill the other 60%, I would still not have fulfilled the requirements for an AA degree; rather, I would have chosen more courses similar to those I've taken in the past and will take in my senior year (which have all been under the categories of computers, science and math). I would have completely overlooked, for example, the English requirements.</p>
<p>I think that the experience has been rather beneficial for me. I have done a fair amount of exploration (within the limits of the things which most interest me). This exploration would have been severely limited if I had tried to fulfill the requirements of a degree program. Whether or not I would have learned more (in terms of facts) is an open question; however, I know I wouldn't have learned so much about myself.</p>
<p>There will be plenty of time, later on, to take English, Spanish and History at the college level.</p>
<p>BTW - I started taking college courses when I was 14. I don't think it's particularly uncommon.</p>
<p>Yeah this is a growing trend. This is perhaps a better option for those who do not have magnet schools or cannot afford more expensive distance learning courses from talent search programs. I too was taking nightly college courses when I was 14. I managed to learn calculus and college chemistry before starting high school. In fact I was on track towards getting two AS degrees before high school graduation.
However, I had to go through lots of red tape in my county and make some sacrifices. My local community college made it hard for those under age 16 to take college courses. I had to get permission from my local school district, which I already distrusted in the first place for subjecting me to a mediocre curriculum. I also had to quit some things I really enjoyed such as music.
But in the end I found that it was a great experience to get a chance to explore academic options along with learning material for AP exams. It gave me the confidence to endure trivial high school. Unfortunately I had to stop taking nightly college courses at age 14 since I decided to go to a residential (boarding) magnet high school. I didn't exactly want to go through high school, but I just thought it was a necessary rite of passage. The only real benefit of my decision was finishing high school in three years instead of four. Had I stayed at home with my local district, I would have done exactly what Yan Yan Mao did. Seeing how Mao's sacrifices paid off, I really regret the decision I made three years ago. Oh well, Mao ended up at Harvard at age 18. I had to settle for that other school down the street in Cambridge at age 17.</p>
<p>Byerly is one of several alumni interviewers who post here, including, IIRC, Northstarmom and myself. We are volunteers.</p>
<p>Do any of you interview in the UK/China?</p>
<p>Ooooooh I have a question. When do people have their interviews? I mean could I organise one for sometime during the next month and a half before I get back to school, or do I have to wait until I've submitted an application?</p>
<p>You'll be contacted after you apply.</p>
<p>Roughly how long do they give you to arrange an interview?</p>
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Byerly is one of several alumni interviewers who post here
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>That is actually quite disturbing</p>
<p>
[quote]
[quote]
Byerly is one of several alumni interviewers who post here
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</p>
<p>That is actually quite disturbing
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</p>
<p>What is disturbing about that? Personally, I find it much more disturbing that high school kids who haven't even been admitted to college yet post replies to chances threads.</p>
<p>Tokenadult: If you're going to attempt to patronise me, you're going to have to up your standard of argumentation. Your argument is not even wrong - it is irrelevant. </p>
<p>What I am arguing is that admission to Harvard and its ilk has now got so competitive that it requires complete dedication from a very young age. The specific case of 14 year olds at college is immaterial. What is significant is that kids out there pay $10,000's for counsellors to tell them which courses to pursue, what EC's to pick, over a TWO YEAR period. You have NINTH graders out here asking what courses, what EC's they should be picking - and people answer them seriously. </p>
<p>It's not Harvard's fault, it's a reflection of society's immensely competitive nature, but it is tragic.</p>
<p>What is it with you Harvard cheerleaders - why are you so damn defensive?</p>
<p>ps your point about chances thread is nonesense. Chances thread are by definition irrelevant, you can't give a damaging response to them.</p>
<p>You certainly have a maximum level of self-regard, don't you?</p>
<p>I don't know about that - but you definitely have a talent for making spurious points when you feel Harvard is under attack. Even when it isn't, amusingly enough.</p>
<p>"Under attack"?? How so? From you? The master of the "spurious point"??</p>
<p>Well, I've just found that when raise an issue about some aspect of Harvard, you're often there making irrelevant points, either to do with me, or with barely related league tables.</p>
<p>This is but the latest example.</p>
<p>"League tables"????</p>
<p>You speak from afar with spurious authority about matters upon which you are essentially ignorant, substituting a provocative point of view for real knowledge about anything.</p>
<p>In "patronizing" you, Token Adult was merely attempting to be kind.</p>
<p>Leah Allen, 17, a rising senior at Gulf Breeze High School, has been admitted to Harvard University's P r o g r a m for High S c h o o l St u d e n t s . Leah will experience everything Harvard's i v y c o v ered campus has to offer this summer while she takes a college-level course in Anthropology and lives in the freshman dorm.</p>
<p>Allen was one of 1,200 students chosen to participate in the Harvard Secondary Summer School program. This program allows high school students to experience college life at the school and take classes not available at the high school level. High School students take classes along side regular Harvard college students.</p>
<p>The credit earned is transferable to an undergraduate degree when she starts college. Students come from all over the United States as well as 42 foreign countries.</p>
<p>"I'm really excited and I can't wait to see Boston," Allen said after opening the acceptance letter from Harvard. "I plan on using this experience to check out the Boston area and maybe decide if I am interested in applying to Harvard...." </p>