One hand rises high in the group of high school students gathered around a long Union table. Another follows. Then, tentatively, a third and a fourth. Sheepish grins all around. A few confessions. "Well, if I get in..."

By many, the summer school experience is considered a sort of farm-team for the first-year class--or at least, a sampler of the Harvard experience, like the tiny promotional cereal boxes and soaps that occasionally turn up in the mail. The mini-Harvard of the summer is a play-ground version of the real thing, which high school students can explore, consider and accept--or reject.

And while some of them are reluctant to admit it, few doubt that a high proportion of summer school students comes here aching to spend four more years in the Yard's classrooms. Elizabeth C. Hewitt, director of the secondary school program at the summer school, estimates that "more than half" of the high school students who arrive here hope to stay.

Sheetal N. Patel and Margaret D. Ledyard thing Hewitt underestimates. "Three-quarters," they agree. Two tanned students, grabbing their empty trays and heading for the trash cans, aim even higher. "Ninety percent," says one. His friend nods her head in agreement. "A hell of a lot."

I've always thought about going to Harvard," declares John H. Lim of Baltimore, Maryland.

And what better time than now to think about it? Senior year of high school is the time of college fever, when SATs, GPAs and APs turn into breakfast-table acronyms, casually sprinkled into every conversation.

Before high school students even set foot on campus, Hewitt says, the calls start to flow in from concerned parents who want to know if Harvard summer school will translate into an overstuffed envelope next spring.

For the benefit of secondary school students' primary concerns, Hewitt says, the summer school runs a college informational program called "College Choices," Harvard hosts a college fair, inviting 27 area colleges.(Harvard itself is not included.) A proctor panel features current Harvard students who discuss "Problems they faced when they were 16." The Dean of Admissions of Bates College addresses the application process. Hewitt herself offers reasons not to go to Harvard-sports, class size, climate.

And in an annual lecture, Senior Admissions Officer Dwight D. Miller addresses the big question--how do you get in--and the smaller, auxiliary questions that shed some light on the closed-door admissions process.

Miller says summer school students ask "very direct, forthright,...conventional questions...they're asking for a variety of examples of what makes somebody interesting."

He hears queries about legacies, about test scores, about well-roundness. He hears queries about whether Harvard summer school actually helps.

"That's one of the first questions off the floor." Miller admits. The answer? Probably not. "It certainly doesn't hurt." Miller says. "but it doesn't change things in any real way."

The percentage of summer school students who gets into Harvard, Miller says, is about the same as Harvard's national acceptance rate. And that, Hewitt says, is fortunate. "We're very pleased," she explains. "We do not like to think that you can buy an edge."

Miller's presentation is meant to destroy myths about the College and to allay fears of rigid formulas and Staggering odds.

Lim recalls that Miller's seminar this year sent swarms to Science Center B. "Pretty much the auditorium was filled up," he says.