Campus Life
Housing
Secondary school students live together in Harvard College dormitories in and around historic Harvard Yard. Many dormitories are more than a century old, and recent renovations have made them safe and comfortable while maintaining their unique ambience.
Students live in double or triple rooms, equipped with a bed or bunk bed, mattress and pillow, dresser, desk, bookcase, and chair for each student. Additional furnishings, such as lamps, wastebaskets, and decorations, can be purchased on or off campus.
These rooms once housed such noted individuals as Henry David Thoreau, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Bill Gates, and Matt Damon.
All students eat their meals in Annenberg Hall and are on the meal plan, which covers three meals a day, seven days a week.
Residential advising. Carefully chosen resident proctors, who are Harvard College undergraduates and graduates, live with students and serve as advisors on all matters great and small. Proctors are available daily to offer support and guidance—helping students adjust to college and dormitory life, keeping general order, suggesting cultural and recreational activities, and helping students find their way around Cambridge and Boston.
Sophomores. Rising juniors (that is, students graduating in 2009), being as a rule younger than other SSP students, are housed together, have a higher ratio of proctors assigned to supervise and assist them, and observe a curfew.
Computer Services
All Summer School students receive computer accounts on the Harvard network. Computer accounts allow students to send and receive e-mail, access the Internet, and use Harvard’s on-campus computer labs and laser printing facilities. Students are encouraged to bring their own computers, and those who do may access the Harvard network via dormitory room connections, provided their computers have Ethernet cards that meet University specifications. (It is preferable that students bring computers with English-language operating systems.)
Commuting Students
Students who live within commuting distance of Harvard may apply as commuters. If they wish, they may purchase a meal plan, participate in intramural athletics, join the summer musical groups, visit museums, study in the libraries, and take part in trips and social activities organized by the SSP and Activities Office.
Commuting students who wish to access Harvard’s network from their home computers should subscribe to an Internet service provider.
Health Services
For students living on campus, the facilities of the University Health Services are available 24 hours a day for urgent care needs. A dental clinic and an eye clinic operate on a fee-for-service basis and are also available in cases of urgent need.
Religious Activities
Harvard University has no religious affiliation; opportunities for worship are available on campus for members of many faiths.
Students with Disabilities
The Summer School is committed to creating an accessible community where students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to benefit from its academic and residential programs.
To this end, the Summer School makes reasonable accommodations for qualified students as stipulated by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
We highly recommend that students in need contact the disability services coordinator, voice (617) 495-0977, TTY (617) 495-9419, as early as possible. Students may also visit the Summer School website, and follow the link to disability services for specific information on applying for accommodations.
"Being able to manage my life at my own pace and learning self-reliance was a wonderful experience."