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Challenge yourself in college-level academics.
Meet new friends from around the world.
Strengthen your college application.
Build life skills to be successful in college and beyond.
Choose between 2-, 4-, and 7-week options.
Choose from rigorous non-credit or college-credit courses.
Harvard’s Summer College Programs for high school students are intensive programs designed to give students a glimpse of college and the opportunity to challenge themselves in college-level academics. You’ll meet new friends from around the world and build important life skills that can make your future college experience a success — all while strengthening your college application.
The Secondary School program offers over 200 for credit college courses in total between the 4- and 7-week programs.
The Pre-College program is exclusively on campus and has three, 2-week sessions you can choose from over the summer.
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From rigorous coursework to trips to Cape Cod, spending your summer at Harvard will expand your horizons and create memories that will last a lifetime.
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Experience what it’s like to be a college student for 4 or 7 transformative weeks.
The Secondary School Program provides high school students an opportunity to earn college credit, get a true feel for college life, and learn alongside high school students, college students and adults from around the world.
No longer accepting 4-Week applications for Summer 2024.
The Secondary School Program is suitable for mature, academically motivated high school students ready to excel in college courses for college credit.
Hear all about the Harvard Summer experience directly from some of our students.
An academically rigorous on-campus program for exceptional high school students.
The Pre-College Program is a non-credit two-week residential program designed to give high school students a glimpse of college life on the Harvard campus. Students take college-level courses alongside peers from around the world.
This program is suitable for mature, academically motivated high school students interested in exploring a potential major or finding out what college is really like.
Which Harvard Summer Program is right for you?
While there are many similarities between the two programs, they are quite different. You can apply to only one, so you’ll need to understand what each program offers — and choose which one is right for you — before you submit your application.
The good news is that whatever program you choose, your summer at Harvard will be a truly special experience.
Harvard’s summer programs for high school students will help prepare you for success in college. Whether you participate in the Secondary School or Pre-College program, you will have the opportunity to build core life skills like time management, career planning, and living on your own.
Participating in either program will also help you expand your academic skills at the college level and to thrive outside your comfort zone.
Harvard’s Summer programs affords you the opportunity to learn from and be among top students from around the world — making connections and memories that will last a lifetime.
After only two weeks of classes, I feel much more knowledgeable and open to critical thinking. Through assigned readings, discussions, and projects, I got to taste what the college experience would look like.
Pre-College Program Student
I truly enjoyed having classes in a seminar style that encouraged asking questions to learn. I formed such a deep bond with those in my class through our shared passion for the topic as well as our learning journey that we shared.
Secondary School Program Student
Tuition, deposits, and fees for Harvard Summer School differ based on program and format.
The total cost of the Secondary School Program depends on the number of courses taken and in which format. Learn more about the cost of the Secondary School Program .
The total cost of the Pre-College program is $5,550, plus a $75 application fee. Learn more about the cost of the Pre-College Program .
For Summer 2024, students who will graduate from high school and enter college in 2025 or 2026 can apply to the 2-week, non-credit Pre-College Program; students who will graduate from high school and enter college in 2024, 2025 or 2026 can apply to the 4-week and 7-week, college-credit Secondary School Program.
Participating in both the Secondary School and Pre-College summer programs at Harvard demonstrates your ability to succeed in a rigorous college course to admissions committees.
Both programs also give you the tools to navigate the college admissions process:
The program you choose will depend largely on the course-load you’re looking for. While all Harvard Summer School courses are college-level, the 2-week Pre-College program does not offer college credit so you don’t have the pressure of grades. The length of the program may also impact your decision, depending on how much time you are able to commit — the Pre-College Summer Program is only 2 weeks while the Secondary School Summer Program has 4 and 7 week options. During the 7 week option you may take two, full-term courses.
The Division of Continuing Education (DCE) at Harvard University is dedicated to bringing rigorous academics and innovative teaching capabilities to those seeking to improve their lives through education. We make Harvard education accessible to lifelong learners from high school to retirement.
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Search the site, search suggestions, commonly asked questions: college essays.
A blank computer screen. That was what the summer before my senior year looked like.
A pretty familiar sight my senior summer...
The Common Application opened August 1, and in my summer schedule I’d left myself a whole four weeks to sit down and figure out what I was going to send to colleges.
Or so I thought. The reality of that August--beach trips, field hockey pre-season, and just generally anything I could do to avoid sitting in front of a blank computer screen with a document titled “Common Application Essay”--was a little different from the four weeks of writing, revising, and finishing my college essays that I’d planned out in May.
The college essay (officially your “personal statement,” at least at Harvard) was the most intimidating part of my application process--because, by the beginning of my senior year, it was the only thing I had any real control over. Think about it this way: by the time you hit the summer before you apply to college, most of your application is already complete. You probably have a pretty good idea of what your scores are going to look like, the majority of you high school grades have already been entered into your transcript, your recommending teachers already know you (I hope…), and you’ve already gotten involved in whatever school activities you’ve filled your last three years in high school with.
I thought of the Common App essay as my chance to have a voice in the committee room when [fill in college-of-choice here]’s admissions officers sat down to decide my fate--and that made a blank Word document utterly terrifying. I mean, what do you say to convince someone to let you into Harvard?
This week, I’ve been asked 14 (I counted…) questions about the essay component of the Harvard application, and most of them have started with the unassuming, “What did you write your application essay on?”
If you really want to know, after hours of debate over whether or not writing about my failures was really a good way to attempt to get into college, I picked the Common App essay prompt, “Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure,” and wrote about the two years in high school I spent generally making a mess of my time in a Navy JROTC program--complete with exactly five terrible nautical puns.
But, if you ask me, I think you’re asking the wrong question.
The whole point of your application essay--and the reason Harvard calls it your “personal statement” instead--is that it’s personal. I wouldn’t recommend including my nautical puns in your writing to Harvard for a lot of reasons, but the most important is that they’re a part of my story, not yours.
I’m sitting in an office with four other students right now, and (after a brief poll) it turns out we wrote about everything from writer’s block to being a pastor’s kid to the U.S. Navy. So the answer to the all-important question, “What do you say to convince someone to let you into Harvard?” is that you talk about you .
You spend all day with yourself, but your admissions officers meet you for the first time the day they pick up your application. They meet you through your transcript and teacher recommendations and extracurricular resume, but mostly they meet you--the parts of you that don’t revolve around a list of leadership positions or your stellar (or not-so-stellar, in my case) math grades or how helpful you were in English class that one time--in what you write to them.
So write about you: what matters to you, how you spend your time, what makes you tick and keeps you up at night. Don’t try to write what you think Harvard wants to hear, whether that’s an essay about a love of mathematical theorems you don’t really have or your “life-changing” experience helping poor orphans in Indonesia that wasn’t really that life-changing at all. If you’re reading (or writing) your essay and it feels like you’re describing someone else, there’s a big problem.
So write about your grandmother. Or your gym teacher. Or your after-school job bagging groceries. Or math theorems, if they really are your favorite. Write in your voice, whatever that sounds like--whether you love dialogue or description or have a soft spot for terrible Navy puns. Come up with something that’s uniquely you--no matter how long it takes. I spent the first 27 days of those four August weeks trying to wrap my head around how I was even going to put an essay on that blank page at which I was staring. And on the 28th day, in a corner on the floor of my high school’s senior homeroom right before my last first day of school, something clicked, I grabbed my laptop, and I went from lamenting having nothing to say in my college essay to having 2,500 words of stuff to say that I spent the next eight weeks cutting down to 650.
My preferred essay-writing spot.
Colleges aren’t asking for your whole life story (please…) or a piece of art in which you expound upon your love of all things Harvard; they’re asking for a little more information about you, and you’re the one who gets to decide what you tell them. It’s a daunting task, but no one is better prepared to write about your life than you are.
No one’s college process is all smooth sailing, and that’s because figuring out what you’re all about and then trying to tell someone else about it is hard. As stupid as it can feel sometimes to write answers to canned prompts like, “Write about a person who has had an impact on you” and “Tell your story,” eventually you just have to conquer the blank page, test the waters, and come up with something--even if you end up throwing 2,499 of your initial 2,500 words overboard.
After all, I used nautical puns in my college essay (and in this blog post...) and got in. How much crazier could a Harvard application essay get?!
Dear homesick international student at harvard college.
David Class of '25
Denzel Class of '24
The essays are a place to show us who you are and who you’ll be in our community.
It’s a chance to add depth to something that is important to you and tell the admissions committee more about your background or goals. Below you’ll find selected examples of essays that “worked,” as nominated by our admissions committee. In each of these essays, students were able to share stories from their everyday lives to reveal something about their character, values, and life that aligned with the culture and values at Hopkins.
Hear from the class of 2027.
These selections represent just a few examples of essays we found impressive and helpful during the past admissions cycle. We hope these essays inspire you as you prepare to compose your own personal statements. The most important thing to remember is to be original as you share your own story, thoughts, and ideas with us.
Ellie’s essay skillfully uses the topic of entropy as an extended metaphor. Through it, we see reflections about who they are and who they aspire to be.
In Pablo’s essay, the act of packing for a pilgrimage becomes a metaphor for the way humans accumulate experiences in their life’s journey and what we can learn from them. As we join Pablo through the diverse phases of their life, we gain insights into their character and values.
Julieta illustrates how the concept of Tikkun Olam, “a desire to help repair the world,” has shaped their passions and drives them to pursue experiences at Hopkins.
Kashvi’s essay encapsulates a heartfelt journey of self-discovery and the invaluable teachings of Rock, their 10-year-old dog. Through the lens of their companionship, Kashvi walked us through valuable lessons on responsibility, friendship, patience, and unconditional love.
Maddie’s essay details their intellectual journey using their love of Greek classics. They incorporate details that reveal the roots of their academic interests: storytelling, literary devices, and translation. As their essay progresses, so do Maddie’s intellectual curiosities.
Alyssa’s essay reflects on special memories through the creative lens of Spotify playlists. They use three examples to highlight their experiences with their tennis team, finding a virtual community during the pandemic, and co-founding a nonprofit to help younger students learn about STEM.
We share essays from previously admitted students—along with feedback from our admissions committee—so you can understand what made them effective and how to start crafting your own.
Our interactive workshops—on topics like the college search process and essay preparation—will help you build your strongest application when you’re ready to apply.
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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, calculating gpa for harvard.
Hello! I want to apply to Harvard and was wondering if anyone knows how they calculate your GPA for admissions purposes? Any info on how Harvard converts your current high school GPA into something they use would be super helpful.
Harvard, like many colleges, generally recalculates GPAs for applicants using their own system to ensure that they're comparing students on a consistent scale. Although Harvard does not release its specific formula for calculating GPAs, we can provide some general guidelines to help you better understand the process.
First, Harvard typically focuses on your academic core classes for recalculation. These classes include English, math, science, history, and foreign language. Non-core classes like physical education, art, or music, for example, may not be included in their recalculation.
Second, if your high school reports both weighted and unweighted GPAs, Harvard tends to lean towards the unweighted GPA. However, they will still look at any weighted GPA to get a sense of your course rigor.
Another point to consider is that different high schools utilize different grading scales (4.0, 5.0, or even percentages). So, to standardize applicants' GPAs, Harvard will convert them to a uniform 4.0 scale. For instance, if your high school uses a 5.0 scale, where an A in an AP class is worth 5.0 points, an A in a regular class will be adjusted for the 4.0 scale, like 4.0 points for an A, 3.0 points for a B, and so on.
While GPA is an important component of the admissions process, it's crucial to remember that at elite institutions like Harvard, admissions are holistic. This means they evaluate your application based on multiple factors such as test scores (if submitted), essays, extracurricular activities, recommendation letters, and other aspects that showcase your talents and potential.
To sum it up, while GPA is a significant criterion, it's only one of many aspects of your application that Harvard will consider. Focus on building a well-rounded and compelling application that highlights your academic achievements, personal growth, and extracurricular involvement. Good luck!
CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.
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Successful Harvard Essay. When I was a child, I begged my parents for my very own Brother PT-1400 P-Touch Handheld Label Maker to fulfill all of my labeling needs. Other kids had Nintendos and ...
The Common Application essay topics are broad. Please note that Coalition essay questions may differ. While this might seem daunting at first, look at it as an opportunity to write about something you care about, rather than what you think the Admissions Committee wants to hear. ... Harvard College Admissions Office and Griffin Financial Aid ...
First, identify one or two goals you have for the future—with just 200 words, you won't have space to elaborate on any more than that. Ideally, these should be relatively concrete. You don't have to have your whole life mapped out, but you do need to be a lot more specific than "Make a difference in the world.".
You may pay your application fee online with a credit card via the Common Application or Coalition Application, Powered by Scoir websites. You may also send a check or money order to Harvard College Admissions, 86 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.
In this guide, I'll show you the entire college application that got me into Harvard—page by page, word for word. In my complete analysis, I'll take you through my Common Application, Harvard supplemental application, personal statements and essays, extracurricular activities, teachers' letters of recommendation, counselor recommendation ...
Application Requirements. All applicants—both international and U.S. candidates, first-year and transfer— must complete the following application components: Common Application or apply Coalition, Powered by Scoir. Harvard College Questions for the Common Application, or Coalition Application Harvard supplement. $85 fee (or request a fee ...
Some applications ask that you write an essay that draws on more personal reflections. These essays, sometimes called Personal Statements, are an opportunity to show the selection committee who you are as a person: your story, your values, your interests, and why you—and not your peer with a similar resume—are a perfect fit for this opportunity. These narrative essays allow you to really ...
Fifty all-new essays that got their authors into Harvard - with updated statistics, analysis, and complete student profiles - showing what worked, what didn't, and how you can do it, too.With talented applicants coming from top high schools as well as the pressure to succeed from family and friends, it's no wonder that writing college application essays is one of the most stressful tasks ...
First-years recount the agony and the ecstasy. Late nights. Discarded drafts. That one great idea. Most high school seniors would agree that the admissions essay is the hardest part of a college application. The Gazette asked first-year students to reflect on theirs — the writing, the inspiration, the hand-wringing — and the lessons learned.
Extracurricular Short Response. Required. 200 Words. Briefly describe any of your extracurricular activities, employment experience, travel, or family responsibilities that have shaped who you are. Read our essay guide to get started. Submit your essay for free peer review to refine and perfect it. Submit or review an essay.
For more help with your Harvard supplemental essays, check out our 2020-2021 Harvard University Essay Guide! For more guidance on personal essays and the college application process in general, sign up for a monthly plan to work with an admissions coach 1-on-1.
The Largest Collection of Successful College Application Essays Available in One Volume These are the essays that helped their authors gain admission to Harvard, Yale, Brown, Columbia, Wellesley, Pomona, and other outstanding schools—followed by invaluable comments by experts in admissions, placement, and college counseling at some of the best learning institutions around the country.
Here are a couple of resources to help you understand what kind of students get accepted and gain insights into what makes their applications stand out: 1. Essays: Many websites, blogs, and articles showcase successful college essays from Harvard applicants. Remember that your essay should be unique and personal to your own experiences, so use ...
How to Write Harvard Supplemental Essay #2. Briefly describe an intellectual experience that was important to you. (10-200 words) For this short essay prompt, you'll aim to share a brief story that highlights your intellectual curiosity, growth, and maybe even a profound realization.
The Largest Collection of Successful College Application Essays Available in One Volume These are the essays that helped their authors gain admission to Harvard, Yale, Brown, Columbia, Wellesley, Pomona, and other outstanding schools—followed by invaluable comments by experts in admissions, placement, and college counseling at some of the best learning institutions around the country.
Once you get some words down on the page, you'll get more ideas, and you'll feel good. Even if what you have on the page at first is stinky, the essay will at least start to take a shape. WRITE A LOT. Write as much as you can about your topic. Even if it doesn't really make sense, just pour those ideas down on the page.
Harvard University has released its supplemental essays for the 2023-2024 college admissions cycle. The Ivy League institution, which defended the practice of Affirmative Action for all American universities and was defeated in a late June 2023 ruling of the United States Supreme Court, is arguably being watched more closely than any other university with respect to its response to the ...
Harvard University 2023-24 Application Essay Question Explanations. *Please note: the information below relates to last year's essay prompts. As soon as the 2024-25 prompts beomce available, we will be updating this guide -- stay tuned! The Requirements: Five essays of 200 words or fewer. Supplemental Essay Type (s): Diversity, Activity, Oddball.
The best essays have clear, coherent language and are free of errors. The story is clearly and specifically told. After drafting, take the time to revise and polish your writing. Seek feedback ...
Avoid passing your paper along to too many people, though, so you don't lose your own voice amid all of the edits and suggestions. The admissions team wants to get to know you through your writing and not your sister or best friend who edited your paper. 5. Revise your essay. Your first draft is just that: a draft.
To help, this completely new edition of 50 Successful Harvard Application Essays gives you the most inspiring approaches, both conventional and creative, that won over admissions officers at Harvard University, one of the nation's top ranked colleges.
Our courses are open enrollment, requiring no application to enroll. Whatever your goal, you'll find courses that balance academic rigor with flexibility and value. 800 courses in over 60 subjects. Harvard faculty and industry-leading professionals. Flexible course formats to fit your life. High-impact learning designed for real-world ...
Overview of our Summer College Programs for High School Students. Challenge yourself in college-level academics. Meet new friends from around the world. Strengthen your college application. Build life skills to be successful in college and beyond. Choose between 2-, 4-, and 7-week options. Choose from rigorous non-credit or college-credit courses.
The college essay (officially your "personal statement," at least at Harvard) was the most intimidating part of my application process--because, by the beginning of my senior year, it was the only thing I had any real control over. Think about it this way: by the time you hit the summer before you apply to college, most of your application ...
The essays are a place to show us who you are and who you'll be in our community. It's a chance to add depth to something that is important to you and tell the admissions committee more about your background or goals. Below you'll find selected examples of essays that "worked," as nominated by our admissions committee.
So, to standardize applicants' GPAs, Harvard will convert them to a uniform 4.0 scale. For instance, if your high school uses a 5.0 scale, where an A in an AP class is worth 5.0 points, an A in a regular class will be adjusted for the 4.0 scale, like 4.0 points for an A, 3.0 points for a B, and so on.
Mission. The Purdue On-Campus Writing Lab and Purdue Online Writing Lab assist clients in their development as writers—no matter what their skill level—with on-campus consultations, online participation, and community engagement. The Purdue Writing Lab serves the Purdue, West Lafayette, campus and coordinates with local literacy initiatives.