<p>Whooo...anyone else going this summer? I am soo excited, especially now that I can finally see the campus in person. Anyways...anyone wanting to chat, my AIM screenname is Koukris. Yay for Stanford! :)</p>
<p>My son went last year, and it was an incredible thing for him. He'd go again in a heartbeat -- he can't stand not being at Stanford every day <em>now</em>, and has to settle for 3-4 days a week for internship and meetings. </p>
<p>This year, he's going to spend the summer at U. Chicago, if I can find the money.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how many students actually apply and go to Stanford's High School Summer Session?</p>
<p>Does attending the summer school adds a major boost to your chances of getting accepted into Stanford?</p>
<p>I think there were about 250-260 last summer</p>
<p>Someone asks, "Does attending Stanford Summer College increase your changes of getting into Stanford?"</p>
<p>The official answer is No. According to the Stanford website: "Acceptance into our High School Summer College program does not imply admission to Stanford University as a matriculated undergraduate student." </p>
<p>I also remember a statement in the materials that it doesn't automatically help, but that like any summer program, how you use it can help your application. </p>
<p>As I've said in another thread about this in the past, I don't think that you should go to SSC because you hope it will get you admission to Stanford, because many students who attend and later apply to Stanford aren't admitted. However, I think that participation can help you show passion and enthusiasm about your interests. As an example, my son really loves studying Psychology and was able to pursue that by attending SSC. He's become really absorbed in neo-Freudian thought as a result, and may spend the summer at U. Chicago this year, in part because it's where Jonathan Lear (author of one of his texts for SSC) teaches.</p>
<p>Thanks TrinSF! Also, is the SSC program competitive to get into?</p>
<p>Well, I thought it was at least somewhat selective, but people who don't care for the program and others like it say that it's not, because the cost is such that not that many people can afford to attend. I have no idea, though. I can tell you I'm pretty sure it's easier to get into than Stanford regular undergrad admissions. :-)</p>
<p>Thank you for all the information TrinSF! Ahh if only regular Stanford admissions could be like summer school admissions. I'm keeping my summer school acceptance letter anyways, and I can always tell people that I've received an acceptance letter from Stanford haha. :) </p>
<p>Do you happen to know how many summer school students attend this program? Will we get pretty close or does everyone pretty much does his/her own thing? Do actual Stanford professors teach the course or is it mostly TAs teaching the courses?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I think some are professors, and some are TA's. There was <em>no</em> problem with the quality of instruction, though.</p></li>
<li><p>Yup you were admitted, and at the end of the summer, you get a nice certificate saying you attended. I tell my son, "No matter what else happens with your college career, you have a 3.85 at Stanford, and nothing will ever take that away from you." The courses will transfer to other colleges, if he doesn't get accepted to Stanford. </p></li>
<li><p>As I said earlier in the thread, there were about 240-260 students last year, I think. About that range. </p></li>
<li><p>My son chats almost daily with some of his SSC friends, and hangs out with them when they're in the area. I think that friendships are partially interests, and partially your dorm location. The halls form close bonds, I think, and those last for a while. OTOH, we were at a quiz tournament a few weeks ago and someone on another team said, "Do I know you from other tournaments?" and it turned out the guy had been at SSC with my son. They weren't on the same floor/hall, and hadn't had classes together or interests in common, so they hadn't ever gotten to know each other. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>The SSC staff put a lot of effort into fostering a sense of community. Everyone eats at the same dining hall (if they get time to eat!) and the dorm is West Lagunita -- several small dorms clustered together around a common space. I think, though, that you have to be willing to meet people and hang out to have that sense of community. My son knows students who kept to themselves and didn't seem to spend time with others, and no one ever really got to know them.</p>
<p>Oooh, how are the dorms? I think I heard from somewhere that West Lagunita was like a hole in the wall small.</p>
<p>Teh dorms (West Lag) are small. They are, I think the smallest rooms on campus. (If they're not, they're very close to being the smallest.) On the other hand, I've seen smaller dorm rooms -- GA Tech comes to mind. </p>
<p>A fair percentage of students ended up in singles. My son was in a single. Even if you're not, the rooms aren't horrible, and you're only there for 8 weeks.</p>