Harvard SSP

<p>SOBELVR - i'm a first gen minority with good academics and Questbridge denied me a scholarship. I think it's because my income was too high (even though I explained to them that it's temporary) LOL. oh well. Harvard's FA is amazing though.</p>

<p>I was denied by QB, too (but definitely not for lack of income!)
So now I am applying to SSP independently</p>

<p>Given the date, do you think FinAd resources will be exhausted?
Can I still get a considerate amount of aid for me to be able to attend? =/</p>

<p>hey auxsoleil---</p>

<p>theres not really an opening week thing (if you mean shopping week then i think they might but its probably not as varied since they probably only have so many 4 week courses for session 2 so you would be able to only shop those...) but as far as welcome goes you really just register get yourself a harvard id then go to your dorm and meet your proctor then meet your rommates (not really a big welcome...more like registering and finding dorm) although everyone gets a harvard blankets and a cute goodie bag(last year they actually had this cool portable fan that lighted up saying "harvard ssp"!!!)</p>

<p>yeah pretty much ANY college prep workshops that are during your 4 week stay you can go to!!!! and with the college workshops they were REALLY good about having them twice during the summer so ppl from both sessions could go to one! now as far as the activities it seemed that there was way more activities/trips during the last 4 weeks therefore you should be able to go on them and let me tell you even though it says its sold ot just go to the bus/meeting place in the mornig of the trip and at least 5 ppl probably didnt show up so you shouldnt have any problem going on trips!</p>

<p>you room with someone who is just staying the 4 weeks! althouh you would probably be in a dorm where there re ppl who are there for the 8 weeks!</p>

<p>hope that helps if you have anymore questions just ask!!!:)</p>

<p>The prob w/SSP FA is that it only covers the tuition and not room and board charges or the expense of traveling and incidentials. IMO anyone who has the 4K or more needed for these expenses probably wouldn't have qualified for Questbridge.</p>

<p>Actually FA covered only tuition for me, and somehow I only need to pay $1700. I think part of the reason is becuase I have my own health insurance so I didn't sign up with their health plan. I don't think that would have anything to do with QB.</p>

<p>But yeah I know my income was wayy too high to qualify for QB so that's probably the reason.</p>

<p>oii, this is annoying - im on the waitlist for the International Law class by Beth Simmons ... hmm</p>

<p>dose anyone know how many ppl are in one class, usually?
Is it rather cosy and personal, the teacher knowing all the names, caring about every student?
What kind of activities and trips can you take part in?
Do you get a list of them beforehand or do they inform you at campus?</p>

<p>You can check course enrollments online by click on this link</p>

<p><a href="http://dceweb.harvard.edu/prod/sswckce.taf?wgrp=SUM%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://dceweb.harvard.edu/prod/sswckce.taf?wgrp=SUM&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>look up the room. if it's a huge lecture hall then chances are that there will be a lot more people in it than a small ROOM. :]</p>

<p>Oh yea! got accepted Today! Have to finish the rest of the application forms though. Will everyone give their current stats:</p>

<p>Program Type (sessions):
Courses (possible):
Home State:
Grade/Age:
Why you are going there?:</p>

<p>Mine:
Program Type: most likely 8 week
Courses: Chemistry(hopefully); if not then Calculus
Home State: Georgia
Grade/Age: 10/16
Why?: Because I have always wanted to go to harvard, and I think this will be a great opportunity for me to get to know the school better. And I want to exprience the Ivy League.</p>

<p>I also have some questions though before I apply to the courses:</p>

<p>To all alumni SSP students:</p>

<p>Did you take any of the chemistry and/or math courses. I know that for Calculus they have the 2 sections, where both are over the course of 8 weeks but only do about half a semester of calculus. However, I want to take a full class of calculus, so that would be the MA: S-1AB Calculus I & II. Do you think this would be too hard for me to take? I would like it to overlap into AB calculus, but im not sure about BC. I currently take functions/stats/trig at my school, and i dont know if i will be able to keep up with the course load. So has anyone taken this class before? If you have any insight on the Chemistry class also, please post. Anything helps. Thanks</p>

<p>I attended Harvard SSP last year as a 4-weeker, and it was honestly one of the best experiences ever.</p>

<p>First of all, all the people you meet are really intelligent and talented, and the learning atmosphere is really different from that of your everyday classes. If you go as a rising junior, you'll most likely develop pretty strong bonds with the other people in your dorm (I was in Thayer) because curfew is generally at 11 on weekdays and 12 30 on weekends. So after those hours, you're free to chill within your building, but you're allowed to go to other rooms. If you go as a rising senior, you dont have curfew, so you'll have greater opportunities to meet other people.</p>

<p>The campus is amazing, its not that hard to find buildings, so dont be intimidated at first. The people are really friendly, and usually, you'll meet other people in your classes quickly, especially if you're a 4-weeker. There's quite a bit to do in Cambridge, but Boston is only about 30smth minutes away by metro. </p>

<p>Be sure to take advantage of the time you spend at Harvard. They offer a lot of sessions on admissions etc, and if you have time you should attend. I also know a lot of rising seniors who conduct their interviews ON campus during summer if they're planning on applying during fall.</p>

<p>That's about all I can think of right now...OH, also, when you get there, you'll be asked to go to this building within the first few days to get your student card. They'll be taking your picture, so make sure you look decent that day, cause I didnt and I was stuck with this horrible looking ID for four weeks. Attach the ID to your lanyard (they'll give one to you) so you dont lose it haha. I lose mine and I had to pay 20 bucks for a replacement...</p>

<p>If you have any questions, feel free to ask!</p>

<p>to Luci89--- honestly each class is different (ie different classes have different class sized) but honestly if you take an effort to get to know your prof. he/she will get to know you (such as intoducing yourself first day class-giving your name and saying you are looking forward to there class- and talking to the prof after class sometimes...keep in mind you can get a reccomendation from them if you ask[therefore it will be beneficial that the prof knows you] also keep in mind though that the teaching fellow[tf] most likely grades your exams, holds session, and help write reccomendation so its beneficial to get to know the tf as well)</p>

<p>my prof was really nice and from what i heard from others it seemed all the prof were nice! all the profs. generally want to get to know you but in some circumstances its hard to know everyone in a class of 40 plus...(from what my friends said classes seemed to range from 5-50plus...) keep in mind though not everyone attends everyday i was in a class of like 40 but like only 20ish showed up everyday i only saw all 40 or so students on exam days. lol)</p>

<p>from what i understand the prof gets a list of names of the students in their class and a picture by a name (the pic you take when you get you harvard id card)</p>

<p>you can take part in any of the trips and activities(keep in mind they cost...i only went to like 3-5 trips and it cost me upwards of 120$ which cut a big whole in my alloted money for the summer)...like a few days before ssp starts they post a calender of events online which you can look through. they also give you a list to look through once you get there.</p>

<p>to Yass1211----
i didnt take any math/chem class but if i were you i would just sign up for the class you like and go see how its like the first day (see the syllabus talk to the prof and/or tf get a feel for the class) and then go visit all the other classes you are interested in and do the same thing then choose which class(es) you like better. and if you do like a class but you are worried about keeping up you could always ask the prof if you can audit the class(therefore you gain knowledge that can help with ap tests in the future, get another reccomendation from a prof saying you like to learn so much that you decided to audit there class while taking another, and you can focus on your other class(es) and get a good grade on them since that is what will be on your transcript)</p>

<p>umm i did have some friends who took the 8 unit chem class it did take alot of studying (it seemed that the average of a test was extremely low(like 30-60%...but in the end they got a fairly good grade thanks to the curve) and they seemed to enjoy it. </p>

<p>if anyone has any further questions feel free to ask!</p>

<p>hi again guys,
so my mother finally got around to paying :) there is a 11 person waitlist for the international law program .. so we'll see what happens with that</p>

<p>im so excited!</p>

<p>Hey I`m from VA and I just got accepted into it yesterday...</p>

<p>I want to take the Expository writing courses, are they any good?</p>

<p>Plusssss, I<code>ve read that the admissions rate is lower than 20% and then I</code>ve read its as high as 60-70%. I don<code>t really know how to decipher that... I think I</code>ve also read that Harvard SSP only takes 1,000 kids for a summer there.</p>

<p>Do you guys think an 8-week stay there is too pricey? I mean, it is a lot... But is everything there WORTH it?</p>

<p><a href="http://www.ssp.harvard.edu/2007/about/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ssp.harvard.edu/2007/about/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>"Every summer, approximately 1,000 motivated high school students from the United States and abroad who have completed their sophomore, junior, or senior year experience college life at Harvard, America’s oldest university. As a Secondary School Program (SSP) student, you will find Harvard Summer School challenging, rewarding, and exciting both academically and personally. You will test yourself by taking college-level courses along with undergraduate students and explore subjects not available at your high school. You will work with a distinguished faculty, use well-equipped labs, and study in the largest university library system in the world. In addition, you will learn to make choices and organize your time while becoming better prepared for college."</p>

<p>Yea, that`s where I read that lol...</p>

<p>I think it's about 50%...</p>

<p>when i went lat year i heard it was like 64% but who knows that could have just been a rumor...honestly though when you get there you will meet some ppl who you will be like how did they get accepted let alone have the fortitude to apply. but mainly everyone there is really smart!! and very qualified. you really are a part of a group of bright kids!! (wow when i wrote that last sentence i felt like one of speakers at the welcome speech...lol)</p>

<p>oh! lol thx</p>