Getting into the HARVARD (SSP) summer school program, what does it take?

Pre-College Topics Summer Programs
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<p>I am a sophomore and these are my stats:</p>

<p>School: ALABAMA SCHOOL OF MATH AND SCIENCE- (state funded boarding schoool) part of NCCSMT</p>

<p>GPA: 3.95</p>

<p>Courses taken: Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2/trig, Trigonometry,(I placed out of Precal) Differential Calculus, Adv. Biology, Human Anatomy/Physiology, Directed Research Biology, Introduction to Genetic Analysis 1, Freshemn English 1/1, Sophomore English 1/2, Adv. World History, Western Thought, Adv. American Studies 1, Adv. Leadership Skills/Writing, Electrical Engineering, Fundamentals of Engineering, Health, (I placed out of Beggining Spanish 1 w/out evertaking spanish before) Beginning Spanish 2, Intermediate Spanish 1, Directed Research Math, (taken again but course concerned differnent aspects) Directed Research Math, Introduction to Chemistry, Weight Training.
Volunteer Work: approx 100 hrs. </p>

<p>Clubs: Student Council, Mu alpha theta, math team, science olympiad (3rd Place regional), scholars bowl (top ten scorers), tsa (treasurerer), Chess team (captain), Technology bowl, Best robotics (president fo presentation commitee), engineering academy, decorated cafeteria for christmas, decorated scholars bowl float for homecoming parade, toys for tots, collected money for united way, helped sponser 2 chrismas angels, collected can goods for salvation army, key club, junior civitan</p>

<p>Awards: a/b and a honor roll, perfect attendance, spotlight in school newpaper (one every month), 3rd place bridge building contest (30 participants), top 10 8th grade, highest average: biology, geometry, history, english, algebra 2/trig, anatomy, algebra 1, and leadership skills/writing. No awards given for other classes so i couldnt get one., 1st Place Team: State Mathematical Competition at the University of Alabama in Comprehensive Test-(All Math Topics Covers) 50 teams of 6 people, 1st place school wide chess tournament 50 participants, 1st place spanish vocabulary bee 60 participants. 1st place goofy Olympics (tug of war, egg toss, speed dress, and hula hoop race), 3rd highest placing unrated player in the K12 championship section of the national high school chess championship in atlanta georgia in 2008, 14 place unrated team in same tournament, placed 301/1200 players in tournament, 1st place regional chess league team, 1st place multi regional chess league, 1st place state chess championship, 3rd place state chess championship.
Standardized test scores: 28 ACT, 183 PSAT</p>

<p>I am thinking of just applying with this but if i wait until about april 18 then i can apply with this plus 34-36 on ACT and USABO semifinalist (at the least). </p>

<p>The website says addmission is given on a rolling basis so should i apply with what i have in early january or wait until april when the deadline is almost near (may 5) </p>

<p>btw i also would need financial aid to go to this since both my parents are disabled and their income is less than 10, 000 a year</p>

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<p>It doesn’t take much to get in. I didn’t even send any SAT, PSAT, or ACT scores and I got in =P</p>

<p>Don’t worry! You’ll be fine.</p>

3

<p>harvard ssp is really easy to get in to. I would recommend that you apply to another summer camp with a more rigorous admission process, unless you really want to take a class that you see, because harvard ssp really won’t look that good on your resume.</p>

4

<p>dear canned_dice or to whoever got in before, what were your stats like and how did you enjoy the experience</p>

<p>dear rosee09 harvard is my number one college choice followed by JHU and then Stanford and MIT. If you know of any programs that may be better (or i can possibly get accepted to) please let me know. Also, wouldn’t going to ssp improve my chances of getting in to harvard pre-med. I’m planning to take neurobiology or biochem in the summer.</p>

5

<p>well generally then u should go to harvard first, and then apply to some really rigorous programs as a JUNIOR… but anyway, with that said, u at least need some basic course work, and u’ll be able to talk about ur experiences at harvard summer school when it comes to college apps, so it’ll be a good thing for u :)</p>

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<p>do you think i should apply now with this resume or wait until april?</p>

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<p>Phillips Andover Academy FTW! Best time of my life. Such an awesome summer program experience, and I believe it’s way more prestigous than Harvard’s</p>

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<p>I’d rather go to harvard. and not to sound rude, but should i apply now or wait?</p>

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<p>can anyone tell me how to delete this or take out the info about my school and personal info</p>

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<p>it takes money to get in</p>

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<p>So is it difficult to get in with a average GPA and stuff?</p>

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<p>its not THAAAT easy to get in yeah its not as hard to get into as harvard college (5-6%) but its like around 25-33%</p>

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<p>i think it is close to open enrollment. 1000 students, 3000 apps, but i presume yield of 33 percent.</p>

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<p>I have read mostly positive reviews regards SSP. I was also impressed with the organization and the motivation based on the recent weekend information session. The proctors were absolutely amazing, the intent seemed very genuine.</p>

<p>Having said that, it seems to be commonly held that this is not a major boost to a person’s Harvard chances ( I can’t help but think it is a minor benefit). I notice that there seems to be a high proportion of visiting professors, based on the small sample I researched, who are teaching the classes. Not sure if there is some sort of negative summer meritocracy for the profs (just a hypothesis). </p>

<p>All in all, it does look like an excellent way to spend the summer and I have not seen any regretful participants. As a final word, I think that 2/3 of the accepted kids may not attend and that would mean open enrollment policy (slightly educated guess). The social activities, trips, college visits, and information gathered may equal the Academic aspect of the program.</p>

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<p>What does it take? Money. ;)</p>

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<p>I presume that outlier poor students might be rejected. Chances of admission are not the only reflection of the benefit of a program. However I do think that the 10000 dollar cost would deter most people from attending. Most kids who can navigate the application process probably are self-selecting for well-organized individuals.</p>

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<p>there is a thread here with a list of programs. some of them paid kids a stipend to study/research if i recall correctly. let me know if you need help finding the thread</p>

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<h1>1. Lots of money</h1>

<h1>2. Good open-ended responses (essays/recs)</h1>

<h1>3. Good grades (Don’t have to be perfect)</h1>