<p>i was wondering if any of you have participated in the summer school program at Harvard. i myself am thinking of taking classes there this summer but i'm not sure if its right for me. i go to a decent college in the northeast and am performing really well. i have always wanted to study at Harvard and i thought this could be my chance. </p>
<p>can any of you tell me what the program is like? if you dont attend the college itself, are you basically considered a nobody among professors and whatnot? i have so many questions but i really dont know how to portray them into words. if any of you could elaborate on the program i would greatly appreciate it. thanks a lot</p>
<p>The Summer School is amazing regardless of where you go to school during the regular academic year. </p>
<p>The professors are not all from Harvard, but you can make sure yours are when you sign up for the class. Some of the non-Harvard professors have been noted as being less than fantastic, particularly the Intro to IR teacher. I made sure my profs were from Harvard - American Foreign Policy taught by Dr. Rezvani from the Kennedy School of Government and a CompLit course covering Dante, Homer, and Joyce taught by Theoharis, and both of my professors were wonderful. They don't care if you are a Harvard student or not.</p>
<p>As far as the general atmosphere outside of the classroom, everyone is incredibly friendly and a lot of fun (unless they are in Organic Chem, because then they are there strictly to study). </p>
<p>What kind of class(es) are you interested in taking?</p>
<p>well i'm a business major so i most likely want to take courses pertaining to that study. but the fact of the matter is that business is not very interesting to me. i'm only majoring in that field strictly for monetary purposes in my future. although thats a terrible reason to major in a subject, it makes the most practical sense; at least to me. i was thinking about taking one class in the business/economics area, and one in the humanities where some of my true interests may lie. </p>
<p>im glad to hear that there are no biases towards non-harvard students.</p>
<p>Oh man, I got this thing in the mail today and I almost peed my pants. I really want to go to this, or a similar program.</p>
<p>The only problem is, of course, the price tag. That's ****ing ridiculous. Who can afford this? My family is very high upper-middle-class, but my parents certainly don't have $8500+ lying around. I've looked into others and they're all SO expensive. I understand that college is expensive, but for a high school student who just wants to live in the dorms and take a couple classes for a few weeks? Gah.</p>
<p>So, yeah, I'm discouraged and upset. Maybe I'll just learn how to drive this summer instead of expanding my mind. :(</p>
<p>I had some friends who took macro and micro econ and did well. If I remember correctly, at least one of the classes was taught by a Harvard prof, but I think he was very old and a little on the dry side. I could be totally mistaken though. Regardless, it is so worth it. It is the experience of a lifetime - it's more than just the classes. You'll make amazing friends and have wonderful, totally unique experiences that can only be had at Harvard. Some people diss it, but for others the program is one of the greatest summers ever.</p>
<p>The price does suck though. I feel you on that.</p>
<p>I had a fantastic time at SSP.. It's ridiculously overpriced, after my common sense kicked in a few months later, but there are some scholarships. I went in summer 2004, and still keep in touch with my good friends. I grew so much as a person, but I don't know if that's attributed to the summer program itself or the people around me. In any case, I wouldn't take back my summer for anything... I do regret not taking all the opportunities that I could've taken, so if you do go, take them, as long as they interest you. Great program to explore Boston and the surrounding area, along with other colleges.
However, there are plenty of great summer programs out there that you should take advantage of. Some UCs offer a summer quarter that high schoolers can enroll in, for a much cheaper price than Harvard's. You could try Habitat for Humanity or another abroad program. I don't think I really expanded my mind too much that summer (probably just me), and if you really want to work through your summer, look for an internship (that you'll actually do valuable work in) or apply for RSI, MITES, PROMYS, TASP, etc.</p>
<p>I went to Georgetown's program and it was absolutely amazing, the price is a bit less. JSA Summer School is also really great. It will really test you. Classes are 6 days a week, it was the hardest thing I have ever done. They have it at Yale, Princeton, Stanford, NWestern and Georgetown. While it is not Harvard it will look really good on the app, and you will get the environment you want.</p>
<p>My son attends a college in the northeast as well. He is considering taking Physics this summer at Harvard Summer School provided it is ok with his current school and credits will transfer, etc. Anyone know anything about Harvard Physics?</p>
<p>i looked into the JSA program but its only for high school students. i'm a freshman in college, therefore Harvard might be the best bet. can anyone comment on how hard the classes are when you get there? i dont mind a challenging course at all, i just want to make sure that non-harvardian type students can prosper there. thanx a lot everyone..</p>
<p>This is hilarious - I just picked up a card today for Harvard's SSP in my school library. I want to go reallll bad, too bad my summer's all booked! Maybe next year, it looks AMAZING.</p>
<p>I went to Harvard's SSP in 2004. I took a very small language class. Of around 10 students, two girls went to Harvard, one to Smith, and one to Reed. The others were high school students. It was definitely one of the best experiences of my life. Coming from rural CA, Boston was awesome! My parents couldn't afford the price. Luckily, both sets of grandparents chipped in to make ends meet. The program did host various workshops, but they weren't very proliferated.</p>
<p>wrt price tag:
Yale Summer Session (5 weeks for each of 2 sesssions) is shorter in length, & therefore also more affordable.
Each course is $2200.
If you take a Lab course, that's less.</p>
<p>Room/Board extra, can live off campus for less.
Hope the data helps.</p>
<p>i went as a sophomore summer of 04. I don't advise you go sophomore year because (unless this has changed) they impose a curfew because some stupid asses did something really bad a few years back and they happened to be younger. Of course we snuck out and stuff but some people had really *****y proctors and we nearly got caught a few times (they make you see the dean in the morning and punnishments would vary unpredictably) It costs a ton of cash as well. </p>
<p>It was, however, a great experience for me in particular for a number of reasons. Firstly, i got a taste of college life and now that i'm going to college i'm not daunted by the idea in anyway at all. Secondly, being an overachiever, i'd always wanted to go to harvard for the name. Having been there, i got it out of my system and realized that it wasn't the school for me (my profs had some interesting comments and advice to me about the harvard undergrad experience which proved helpful.) I accidentally took the s-111 compsci class which turned my life into a living hell but i did alright in it and i got a recommendation letter out of my prof which no doubt helped me get into wharton somewhat. People were really friendly and i think i found a wide range of social scenes. The experience really is what you make of it just like with any other program. I personally used my opportunities well and got A LOT out of the experience. Just make sure that you do it for the experience itself and not to get a leg up in admissions. Everyone i know except my classmate who applied from ssp was deferred (interpret that deferral any way you choose). 1 got into dartmouth, 1 yale and i got into wharton. It's hard summing it all up in one post but i hope that helps.</p>
<p>thank you so much for the feedback. hopefully that most of the points that you bring up are the same for the college level program as well as the ssp for high schoolers. following up the last post, i have two reasons for wanting to participate. mostly, i want to go for the experience itself. i love the notion of studying at a world famous university and i think it could be an excellent boost to my intellectual curiosity. on the other hand, i am trying to transfer to Cornell and i thought that the taking part in the program could help with that somewhat, although footballer brings up a good point that its terrible reason to want to study at Harvard for the summer. none the less, all your feedback has got me really excited about the program and i think i'm going to do it. thanks a lot!</p>
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am trying to transfer to Cornell and i thought that the taking part in the program could help with that somewhat, although footballer brings up a good point that its terrible reason to want to study at Harvard for the summer.
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<p>That your summer credits are coming from Harvard will not help significantly in the admissions process.</p>
<p>Edit: I am vacillating between Harvard and Middlebury's language immersion program for the summer, though I am leaning toward the latter since it is more useful.</p>
<p>yes, they live seperately. When I went as an incoming junior in hs, all the juniors were in seperate dorms, w/ curfew. They were on the Yard, and mine, Canaday, was right near the dining hall, Annenburg. HS seniors were also on the Yard or in dorms off Harvard Square. College students lived mostly in the Upperclassman housing near the Charles river.</p>