But Kim says she "didn't expect to study somuch over the summer."

The intensity of her workload has influencedher overall evaluation of the program, Kim says.Asked if she would have attended summer school ifshe knew in the spring what she knows now, Kimsays, "I don't know if I would do it again."

"It was a cool experience," she says. "But I'venever studied so much before."

Virginia Makeris, a summer student from Greecewho will also be entering her senior year of highschool, says she is taking elementary Spanish.

She describes the course as "not difficult,just time-consuming."

"It's a lot more work than I thought it wouldbe," Makeris says.

But summer school students intimidated byintense work levels aren't just drawn from theranks of foreign language classes.

Gen Chijiiwa, who will start his senior year ofhigh school in Germany next year, is takingArchaeology and Film Psychoanalysis.

And those classes are more work than heexpected, Chijiiwa says.

"I was surprised at the amount of reading wehad to do," Chijiiwa says.

Still, most high school students say they feelthe same as Perez, who is taking genetics and aclass on Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein andSigmund Freud.

Perez says his summer school experience hasmade him more likely to attend Harvard if he isadmitted.

"I'm more likely to come here [if accepted],"Perez says. "I understand that I'm only takinghalf the normal course load, but this summer hasmade me understand that it's not horriblyoverbearing."

Up in the Atmosphere

Many high school students also point toHarvard's atmosphere as a feature that hasdiffered from their original expectations.