<p>I am thinking of spending 6 weeks next summer at Harvard Summer School Secondary School Program or the Columbia Summer Program for High School Students. I like the courses in both. Columbia is cheaper, but doesn't assign grades and college credits, like Harvard's does. It only has an instructor written evaluation. Will these programs be useful when applying to college anyway? Which should I choose?</p>
<p>Yes, summer programs provided by colleges do offer high school students college credits, which means that you won’t have to earn those credits once you get to college. </p>
<p>To answer your second question, I think you should choose your ‘preferred’ school over the other, because when you apply, admissions committee from Columbia/Harvard will take the fact that you’ve attended its summer course into consideration, and this could be an advantage. </p>
<p>Good luck,
Janey</p>
<p>I really loved Harvard Summer School. It definitely made me want to live in Cambridge.</p>
<p>I do appreciate that I got 8 undergraduate units for my class, and the fact that there were many grad students there, but you have to take classes you enjoy.</p>
<p>I would look at all the classes that are available, find the ones that you would enjoy taking, then look at the campuses. Which one has more classes that you would want to take? At Harvard many people took 2 somewhat easier classes as opposed to a single 8 unit class, so you might want to do that if there are 2 classes you want to take. </p>
<p>You should be able to get financial aid as well. They paid for a good portion of mine. </p>
<p>It also depends on whether you would rather experience Cambridge or NYC.</p>
<p>So, look at the classes and figure out what you think would be more enjoyable/a more worthwhile experience to you.</p>
<p>I went to the Columbia Program last summer and am planning to attend the Harvard Program (knock on wood if I get accepted!) this summer. Although you will have the time of your life in NYC, the recommendation from Columbia is seriously worth nothing and I am not planning to include it when I apply to colleges because I asked a TA if a professor wrote it personally and she said that the TA’s made a generic letter then inserted your name, which was definitely true of the letter I received.
I think that college credits are more important than a generic letter of rec.</p>
<p>It is definitely not true that there is an admissions advantage when applying to a school if you have attended their summer program. Harvard is not going to be more impressed with you attending SSP than than someone who attended TASP, RSI, Columbia’s program, etc. Your summer program should be in line with your interests and ECs, not chosen for the prestige of the university it’s associated with.</p>
<p>If you look on the websites of these programs, they readily admit this. </p>
<p>From Harvard SSP:
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<p>One of the advantages of Harvard SSP is that courses are taught be actual Harvard professors. If you do well in a class, and can impress the professor, they will write you a personal letter of recommendation to the college. This approach worked for my daughter, who attended Harvard SSP two years ago, and is now at freshman at the college.</p>