Harvard Seconday School Program (SSP)

[Preston16]

Has anyone attended the the Harvard SSP program? If so, was it difficult? I’m thinking about taking the introductory biology class and the neuroscience class, has anyone taken those?

[gibby]

SSP classes are real Harvard courses compressed into a 7 week time period. A college level course taught at the normal “semester (16 week) pace” can be difficult for many high school students, however when high school (and college) students are required to master the material in half the amount of time, it’s very difficult. If you want an ‘A’ in the course, you will have to work harder than you’ve ever worked in high school. Most high school students do not get ‘A’s’ in SSP courses.

Here’s the Syllabus from last year’s S-1ab Introductory Biology

The course meets Mondays-Fridays, 9:45-11:45 am. Required laboratories Tuesdays, Thursdays or Wednesdays, Fridays, 1-4 pm on the fourth floor of the Science Center. You will self-select your lab section and will only attend lab on your assigned days. The first lecture will include a discussion of course logistics, what’s expected, etc. and also a very quick “review” of some of the chemistry required to understand biology at the molecular level. It is my strong recommendation that general chemistry should be completed prior to taking this course. If your chemistry IQ is a concern, you might consider the web-based chemistry tutorial found at
http://www.biology.arizona.edu/biochemistry/tutorials/chemistry/main.html. There is also an excellent and reasonably succinct review of what you need to know called “An Introduction to Chemistry for Biology Students” by George I. Sackheim available from many on-line booksellers.

Alse see pdf: http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic1542232.files/Biol%20S-1%20Syllabus%202015.pdf

[skieurope]

I’ve taken SSP courses, and I agree with @gibby

I’m thinking about taking the introductory biology class and the neuroscience class

You’re a HS student; the intro bio class is 8 credits which is the maximum HS students can take.

[Preston16]

How did you find the syllabus for the courses?

[gibby]

Google is a wonderful tool: Harvard SSP Intro Biology Syllabus ==> Custom Range: Past Year ===> First Link: http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k112053&pageid=icb.page736457 ==> Click on Syllabus

[gibby]

You can also search the Course Catalog: https://www.summer.harvard.edu/summer-courses/course-catalog?f[0]=course_subject%3ABiological+Sciences and then click: REQUEST INFORMATION and ask for the link to the Syllabus.

[Bbarrera00]

Any insight on the Neurobiology class? Wondering if that’d be a manageable choice for a high school student with limited biology knowledge, as the pre-requisite for the course is “introductory biology.”