Summer School to program for high school kids (Harvard)

Has anyone sent their teen to a summer program at Harvard? Was it worth it? Did it help your student get in or is it simply a money maker for the college?

I can’t remember where I read this, but Harvard SSP, which is run by the Harvard Extension School, admits about 40% of students who apply, so it’s not as selective as the college. Students who have a “B” average or better are usually accepted, especially if you get a teacher to write you a recommendation that attests to your maturity.

Be forewarned though: While you do get the full Harvard experience: you take classes from real Harvard professors, live in Harvard Yard, eat in Annenberg Hall etc – the experience is very expensive and it WILL NOT increase your overall chances to the college.

That said, if a high school student takes a Harvard summer school class that is taught by a Harvard professor, and that class has a limited enrollment (15 students or less) where the professor can get to know you as a student, and you do extremely well in that class (A+ work), a professor MIGHT agree to write you a recommendation to the college. I know there are a lot of “if’s and might’s” in that sentence – but it does happen, and it has helped some students get a leg up in the process.

The reality though is that Harvard Summer school classes are real college classes compressed into a tight time frame. Because the classes cover the same amount of material in half the amount of time, the work load is significant; some classes expect students to read 400 to 500 pages of material a week, with a paper due every class. Very few high school students can keep up with the work load and get A+'s, let alone get a recommendation from their professor.

So, bottom line: While a student may be accepted to Harvard SSP, be prepared to work harder than you have ever done in high school – and do not think that Harvard’s SSP program will help with Admission to Harvard or any other college.

FWIW: There have been numerous posts about this before. If you search the Harvard forum for SSP, you’ll find them.

Also see: http://chronicle.com/article/The-Chimera-of-College-Brands/65764/

Thank you so much for the reply. We have gotten about 10 emails from them about the program and there was no price listed.

FWIW: http://www.summer.harvard.edu/programs/secondary-school-program/cost-financial-aid

Not always. Which is not to say that you will not learn form the non-Harvard instructors.

I do believe that there is some advantage to going to Harvard Summer School, if just for the experience. Anecdotally there are many SSP students on campus (3/15ish in my freshman entryway). However, these students were more than qualified academically and were all ‘deserving’ of their admission regardless of SSP (couple science students who had published national level papers, humanities student who did SSP as a sophomore then did TASP after).

More than for any admissions bonus (perceived or actual), if you do attend Harvard, SSP is incredibly useful. Grading during SSP is far more lenient than actual Harvard grading (and you are focusing just on class as opposed to numerous extracurriculars), so starting with 1/2 A grades in core classes (M-1a/1b/21a/21b, Ec10, etc.) really helps keep your GPA afloat during freshman year. These classes are Harvard-level and cover the same amount of material in a compressed timeframe. If not for any tangible reason (improving GPA, getting into college), at the very least you’ll end up learning college-level material over a summer.