“We sometimes call it a taste of college. They’re basically enrolling in college before they’ve applied to college. They get the experience of being in college as well,” SSP Director William J. Holinger says.

Rising senior Mikhaela G. Agnion Armendariz, 17, says he came to Harvard in part to take a biology course, although he adds: “Also, to be honest, I wanted to meet people.”

The SSP can provide students with a new and vibrant peer group: the diverse Summer School population includes students from all 50 states and 93 countries.

“I wanted to be in a challenging environment,” says rising junior Sierra Kornfilt, 16. “It’s good because everyone here has high standards, so you need to keep up.”

Dustin B. Lushing, 17, says he wanted “to be able to show [his] intelligence without being made fun of and beat[en] up.”

For other students, like Joseph L. Drain, 17, of Rocky River, Ohio, the idea of attending Harvard was reason enough to come to Cambridge for the summer.

“I’m not going to get in. The chances are so low,” says Drain. “If I have an opportunity to get this education, even if it’s two classes for this summer, I have to jump on it.”

An unscientific poll of 139 SSP students conducted by The Crimson found that 38 percent of respondents listed Harvard’s reputation as their principal motivation for attending the Summer School. And another 35 percent of respondents listed “the Harvard name” among their top three reasons for attendance. Only 33 percent of students listed the reputation of Harvard’s Summer School among their top three reasons.

“I got into another program at Exeter, but Harvard sounds more impressive,” says Robert J. Rosser III, 17.

AN ADMISSIONS ADVANTAGE?

Yet, for many rising high school juniors and seniors, the decision to take SSP courses came less in the throes of academic passion and more in cool-headed navigation for the future.

“It looks good on college résumés,” says Victoria A. Butler, 16, of El Paso, Texas. A rising junior, she plans to apply to Harvard for the Class of 2011.

Attending SSP “should help [with admissions] if you get good grades,” she says.

“I came because I get real college credit that can be transferred and also because it’s a ‘foot in the door’ for Ivy League schools,” says David M. Pritchett, 17. “Particularly Harvard, because they will know I have experience with the environment and the campus.”

Butler and Pritchett aren’t alone—the unscientific Crimson poll found that 70 percent of students thought that attending the Summer School would boost their chances of being admitted to Harvard College or a comparable institution.