<p>What would be more prestigious and beneficial? Taking a class at Harvard or Stanford next summer (summer after junior year) or applying to RSI, TASP, etc. and going to those?</p>
<p>Also, can someone tell me how hard it is to get into RSI? What kind of caliber do you have to be?</p>
<p>Harvard and Stanford summer programs aren't prestigious. RSI and TASP are pretty much the only prestigious camps and are very difficult to get into.</p>
<p>I think Harvard's SSP (<a href="http://www.summer.harvard.edu/2006/programs/ssp.jsp)%5B/url%5D">http://www.summer.harvard.edu/2006/programs/ssp.jsp)</a>, RSI and TASP serve somehow different audiences. </p>
<p>SSP is designed to provide college experience in a very real sense. That is, you live in a dorm/house, take a college-level class along with other SSP, Harvard College or even graduate students, and experience the academic/social resources of Harvard. A few (very smart) SSP students that I met in my class this past summer were extremely excited about the program.</p>
<p>RSI and TASP are better, they have a much lower acceptance rate, accept few people, and are free, which is why they are hard to get into. Harvard and Stanford's summer programs basically accept anyone who will pay for it and is basically for experiencing college life, although I do know Stanford has this one program (math related I think) that is prestigious.</p>
<p>How hard are TASP and RSI? What kind of precredentials do u need to get in? Do you have to be like a Siemens semifinalist and **** or like a science fair winner, etc.?</p>
<p>TASP isn't a science program. So, no. You don't need to be Siemens seminfinalist.</p>
<p>If you're truly interested in the subject areas RSI covers, I think that RSI would be a more beneficial and stimulating experience. Prestige-wise I'd say RSI is hard to get into. However, if you're looking for the college experience, then Harvard SSP is a good choice too. In both cases, I'd say it'd be a good academic experience.</p>