Harvard SSP

<p>Okay quick update, that open house I went to the video is now online. The link is on the main page of their site <a href="http://www.ssp.harvard.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.ssp.harvard.edu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>hey im just wondering....do any of you do track or cross country in HS because if you do and you want to run like 5-10 miles a day in and around boston lemme no because i need some running partners....oh ya, and i got into the ssp, I personally just truthfully answered all the questions...so ya thats about it....if ne of ya wanna chat my sn is questionboy89</p>

<p>hey I run Cross country, but sorry I did SSP last year... I tried actually running a course around the river, but I ended up running on treadmills all summer, the gym was just much more convient for me... and plus you need a lot of dedication to go through with 5-10 miles a day, sometimes I found I had no time...</p>

<p>I'm feeling so old here...hey folks, I went to Harvard SSP last summer (am a senior now), and I'm willing to answer any questions you might have (give me a PM, or e-mail me, if you want a prompter response, I'm rather new to this site, and might do something stupid and lose the ability to find this thread, but I'll do my best).</p>

<p>As to running, one of my roommates and a dormmate were absolutely nuts (my dormmate hannah won her state cross country meet), and they used to take random runs at 2am, and once ran all the way to the aquarium and back (easily over 15 miles) just for the heck of it. I really wouldn't recommend that, since they ran through some very shady areas, and I'm lazy as hell, but I will tell you that there is plenty of space to run, plenty of peopel do it, the gym's not far away, etc.</p>

<p>As to exeter v. harvard, i'm not overly-familiar with exeter's prog., but Harvard's gives you 8-units of credit, (mostly) harvard professors, and cambridge. The atmosphere is absolutely amazing, classes (for me at least) were awesome, and I have very few regrets.</p>

<p>My roommate was from alabama, my other suitemates were from dallas and california, and I'm from indiana, so the diversity's pretty sweet too, the dining hall's ridiculously cool, the dorms are great, yadda yadda. Also, all 3 of my roommates got financial aid, one got a half-scholarship, his mom called and yelled at them for awhile, and eventually only had to pay about $500, so it's definitely negotiable, apparently. Like I said, hit me up if you have any other questions, I highly recommend it (the program, haha).</p>

<p>HEY! sophomore12 I was actually planning on asking people once there, but ya I run XC. I ran winter track last year also. I don't mind running with you keep in mind though I'm a bit slow so if you don't want to I can understand. What courses are you planning on taking? </p>

<p>hanumang06 thanks for the info, I'll be sure to give you a PM if I have any questions. I already got in, do you think its worth asking for financial aid now? Or is it to late?</p>

<p>hmmmm...i dunno, but i don't see why it can hurt. and considering that they have rather limited financial aid (meaning their $24 billion endowment wasn't worth tapping into for us all ;-) ) I'd recommend doing so sooner rather than later if you're going to...that's all I can say, let me know if there's anything else. You can always try calling them and asking them "is it too late to apply", and unless they say unequivocally "YES!" apply...like i said, they're obviously somewhat negotiable, and if you give them the proper sob story, or even a good explanation, they might be willing to hear what you have to say. good luck.</p>

<p>Awesome--I found the link to this forum via google. It's cool seeing other people that wish to/are going into SSP this summer :D </p>

<p>Just to chime in, tennispro, I'd ask for financial aid ASAP. My friend requested aid in early March and heard she'd been accepted for it last week.</p>

<p>And here's a site with reviews of the program by previous attendees, if anyone's interested: <a href="http://www.teenink.com/Reviews/SummerAZindex.html#H%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.teenink.com/Reviews/SummerAZindex.html#H&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I agree, I know some people who've used that site, the Harvard testimonials are good stuff</p>

<p>Nice, I've seen the site before but it seems like they have added a few articles. What classes are you all planning on taking? And what grade are you guys in?</p>

<p>I'm planning on taking Beginning Fiction and Practical Japanese--already registered for them, in fact. As for grade, I'm a sophomore in for early graduation so I guess I'm some weird sophomore/junior hybrid. What about you? Or did I miss that post?</p>

<p>It's neat having an alumni of the SSP program posting, by the by. I wasn't too impressed with open house. It didn't real feel all that, I dunno, specific. It only really skimmed the campus/program--I was expecting a more detailed tour I guess.</p>

<p>Hey, were MercurialSin where you there at the open house? I'm taking Mobile Robot and Embedded Programming and Principles of Economics: Microeconomics. I'm also a sophomore, but just a normal one lol.</p>

<p>haha, the open house at most places is vague...summer program or college itself...it's always better to talk to (preferably multiple) people who've "been there, done that". Also, for mercurial, are you registered as a sophomore or a junior in the program? I ask that somewhat important detail, coz the social lives of the two are significantly altered. Sophomores are all put in one dorm to be watched over, have a curfew, and are generally just a bit more regulated...they give the juniors far more leeway on issues social. my dorm had one person whose friend was a sophomore, and she had to literally sneak out if it was later at night to come visit us...but there's still a decent amount of freedom, i just hope you aren't a night owl/prone to late-night walks.</p>

<p>Oo, a techy. If I didn't have to get more credits to graduate high school I'd have gone for an art class and a comp sci class :S Ah well. And yeah, I was at the open house.</p>

<p>I think I applied to SSP as a junior as they never did ask what grade you were in, just your graduating year. I am a bit of a night owl--the highlight of my summer is the fact that, even if it has to be educational, I get to sleep in and stay up late. Speaking off which, I better get ready for school. XP</p>

<p>of course the sleeping in is contingent on your class hours, but yeah. And if you're stated to be graduating in 2007, that means you'll go in with "senior" standing, and won't get the restrictive curfew, etc. One of my classes met monday-wednesday, 3:30-6:00pm, which was pretty kickass for purposes of sleep :-). The other one was 9:30-Noon on Tuesday-Thursday, but it wasn't so bad, since i actually got up for breakfast :-). Besides, I could then spend the afternoon relaxing, napping outside, and generally enjoying the fact that I had no more academic obligations for the day.</p>

<p>Hehe. I ended up scheduling both my classes on the same two days--figured it'd be nice to have more completely free days. n_n </p>

<p>Oh yeah, any tips on things to bring? Like, I've heard there's equipment you can rent but it's not great so I'm wondering if it's hot enough to bother trying to pack my own fan. :p</p>

<p>either rent a fan, or pack a fan, but whatever you do, BRING A FAN!!! July will most likely be completely intolerable, I had enough evil nights for hte week that my fan decided to break...it used to blow itself off the table i had it on...and that's when the dear lord decided to send a heat wave my way...but yeah, you can't bring a fridge, but my roommate did anywayz, it prolly depends on the proctor (RA) you get whether they'd go nuts over it...computer is pretty useful (i'd say essential, but i'm a rather large nerd, so that's that, and the computer centers are pretty good). Other than that, use your own discretion (hangers, etc.)</p>

<p>And the same day classes can be nice with the break-days, but it increases the hw on those days, and it'll make the days you have classes rather long. We had a monday off of classes for July 4 last year, so a friend of mine who only did Mon-Wed didn't have classes for a full week, but he still moaned about how long hsi day was. It all depends on the individual, I suppose...</p>

<p>my friend did Harvard SSP and he said they repeatdely told them that it will in no way affect their chances... he LOVED it and said the people aare mad fun</p>

<p>but, if nothing else, it'll make your harvard college interview MUCH better...since you can get along with the interviewer from the perspective of someone who has "lived" harvard...i know it helped me nail my interview</p>

<p>So what classes are everyone taking?</p>

<p>Wai~ Forums are alive again. I thought they'd manage to lose the whole database since January >>;</p>

<p>I've actually taken some instruction in one of my classes, so I'm kind of counting on that to at least help me adjust to the workloads in the beginning. Being the born procrastinator that I am, I figured it'd be easier for me to leave off work to the next day and rush to do it in the evenings…Kinda like right now. I assume workloads vary from class to class, but in your experience are they many steps above AP level courses? I'm counting on that, being that the AP classes offered at our school have grossly exaggerated difficulty levels.</p>

<p>--I listed my courses on the last page, but, Practical Japanese and Beginning Fiction are the ones I registered for.</p>