This is an archive. See the current website at www.ssp.harvard.edu.
About the Program
Secondary School Program
51 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 495-3192
fax (617) 496-4525
ssp@hudce.harvard.edu
www.ssp.harvard.edu
Watch the 2005 open house video.
Every year, approximately 1,000 motivated high school students from the United States and abroad who have completed their senior, junior, or sophomore year spend eight weeks experiencing college life at Harvard, America's oldest university. As a Secondary School Program (SSP) student, you will find Harvard Summer School challenging, rewarding, and exciting, both academically and personally. You test yourself academically by taking college-level courses along with undergraduate students as you explore subjects not available at your high school. You work with a distinguished faculty, use well-equipped labs, and study in the largest university library system in the world. In addition, you learn to make choices and organize your time while becoming better prepared for college.
SSP participants learn from their fellow students as well as from faculty. You meet and make friends with people from all areas of the United States and more than 90 countries around the world who typically attend Harvard each summer. Discussions about politics over dinner in Annenberg Hall, studying in Widener Library with classmates, and playing soccer or volleyball are only a few of the ways you get to know the diverse student body at the Summer School. For many, the Secondary School Program also provides their first experience of dormitory life. You have the independence and freedom to set your own goals for the summer, but when you need advice or help, your resident proctor is available.
By the end of your eight weeks at Harvard Summer School, you have grown both as a student and as a person. Experiencing the responsibilities of college gives you the confidence to succeed as you finish your secondary school career and enter the next phase of your life—college.
". . . A totally different perspective on the world and a better idea of what direction my life will take."
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