But applicants hoping to convert the Harvard name into an admissions edge that distinguishes them from the crowd may find themselves disappointed.

“There is no relation between admission to the Harvard Summer School Program and admission to the freshman class of Harvard College,” the Summer School Web site states.

At other colleges, participation in a summer program could offer a student the chance to demonstrate his or her dedication to the college, which is important for schools trying to increase their yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who matriculate into the institution).

This consideration is less important for Harvard, the national yield-rate leader. Harvard College Admissions Director Marlyn McGrath Lewis ’70-’73 says Harvard does not take previously demonstrated affinity into account in making its admissions decisions.

But, Lewis adds, attending SSP “wouldn’t hurt.”

“We certainly don’t require [summer study] of our candidates or expect it from everybody. If they have [attended SSP], it may help us understand what they’re interested in,” Lewis says. “It would not be a negative. No one would say, ‘He’s trying to advance his case by applying to Harvard Summer School.’”

Lewis says that although she supposes that a “fairly large” number of SSP students later apply for admission to the College, her office does not track numbers on how many apply, are accepted, or matriculate.

SSP admissions processes are less rigorous than those at the College—SSP applicants need only demonstrate that they can handle college-level work. But attending SSP can offer real admissions benefits—just not for everyone, according to Katherine Cohen, the founder and CEO of IvyWise, a private admissions counseling company, and the author of several books on college admissions.

“It helps you do your college research better, but just because you go to Harvard SSP and get an A in your course doesn’t mean you’ll get into Harvard,” Cohen says.

She offers three principal reasons she would recommend summer academic programs to her clients: to delve into a subject about which they’re passionate, to get ahead in a subject—especially math or science—or to get to their bearings at a school they hope to attend.

“It depends on the individual student,” Cohen says. “There are some kids who are so academically inclined, they just want to do summer school every summer. Maybe for those kids [even] more academics doesn’t make sense.”

Even if SSP is not a back door into the College, it touts itself as a preparatory program for the exigencies of college applications.

Visits are scheduled to other area colleges and universities, and the school website suggests that the Bureau of Study Counsel’s course Reading and Study Strategies could help with SAT preparation.

“The majority [of SSP students] are rising seniors, and they’re facing college admissions in the fall. They’re really interested in that,” Hollinger says. “We think about giving them ways of selecting the college or university that’s right for them.”

‘SO-CALLED COLLEGE LIFE’