Harvard Summer School Secondary School Program

You can apply if you'll be at least 16 by 13 June 2027, won't turn 19 before 31 July 2027, and will graduate from high school and start college in 2027, 2028 or 2029. Harvard calls the program selective and mentions a high volume of applications, but it doesn't publish an acceptance rate or cohort size.

There's no minimum GPA, and PSAT, SAT or ACT scores are optional. The admissions committee looks for students who can manage a college course load, and it takes into account whether your school offers AP classes at all. Homeschooled students are welcome and can send one or two letters from adults outside the family.

If English isn't your first language, you'll need TOEFL iBT, IELTS or Duolingo scores. Harvard says successful applicants typically score above 103 on the TOEFL with 25 or more in writing, 7.5 on the IELTS with 7.0 in writing, or 135 on Duolingo, and it doesn't accept Cambridge English or TOEFL ITP results. You can apply to only one of Harvard Summer School's college programs for high school students each year, so choose your program before you start.

It depends on the track. Four-week courses meet 2.5 hours a day, four days a week, while on the seven-week track each 4-credit course meets for three hours twice a week and an 8-credit course meets five days a week. Courses are taught by Harvard faculty or visiting instructors, and on the seven-week track you share the classroom with college students and adult learners.

Outside class you plan your own day, and Harvard expects a good part of it to go on reading and assignments. Residential students eat in Annenberg Hall, where meals are served three times a day, every day, with a late-night snack from Sunday to Thursday. Activities are optional and have included themed weekend socials such as karaoke and trivia, a film series every weekend night, pick-up sports, dances at the start and end of the session, college admissions panels and essay workshops, campus visits to Yale and Brown, and day trips around Boston and New England.

You leave with undergraduate credit, a letter grade for each course and a Harvard Summer School transcript you can request once grades are released. Because the transcript lists your courses and grades, a weak result goes on it too, and withdrawing late in the session leaves a WD on your record.

Harvard is clear that attending doesn't guarantee admission to Harvard College, and how another college treats summer credit is a question worth putting to the colleges you're considering. During the summer you can also join the program's college admissions sessions, including a talk from Harvard admissions officers, panels with officers from other selective universities and a workshop on writing your application essay.

Living on campus costs $9,260 for four weeks or $15,980 for seven, and every applicant also pays a nonrefundable $75 application fee. Commuting and online students pay $4,180 for one 4-credit course, or $8,160 for two courses on the 7-week track, which is the only way to take a second course.

The residential prices combine tuition of $3,980 per 4-credit course, a $200 program fee that pays for activities, and a room and meal plan of $5,080 for four weeks or $7,820 for seven. Seven-week residential students must take 8 credits, so they can't lower the bill by taking one course. Residential students are also covered by Harvard's accident and sickness insurance, which sits behind your own health plan rather than replacing it. On top of that come books and supplies, travel to Cambridge, $10 to $40 for some longer off-campus trips, and bedding, since you bring or rent your own pillow and linens. Harvard doesn't run airport shuttles.

Harvard offers need-based scholarships to U.S. citizens, permanent residents and students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, applied for inside the program application. Awards usually cover only part of the cost, they tend to be larger in the early round, and late applicants can't get aid at all. There are no application fee waivers, payment plans or payment extensions, and a student who hasn't paid in full by the deadline risks being dropped.

Under the 2026 calendar, residential families got their housing and meal money back in full only if they canceled by 15 April 2026, so check the 2027 refund dates before you pay.

Residential students live in Harvard dorms or undergraduate Houses with proctors, nearly all of them Harvard College students, who live alongside them, run floor meetings and activities, go on trips with students and take turns on emergency call. Resident directors manage the proctors and oversee student welfare around the clock, staying on call overnight and at weekends, and every student has one to go to for advice.

The program has its own curfew, guest, and alcohol and drug policies on top of Harvard Summer School's conduct rules, although students are expected to manage their own time outside class. A parent or guardian must complete a medical history and consent form, and every student who comes to campus has to show proof of required vaccinations to Harvard University Health Services. Commuting students can live with a relative or another adult over 25 within commuting distance in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut or Vermont, as long as both the parent and the program approve the arrangement.

Everything goes through one online application, explained on Harvard Summer School's admissions page.

1. 1

   From 1 December 2026, create your own account and fill in the application yourself, since Harvard won't accept one completed by a parent, agent or counselor.

2. 2

   Rank your format choices on the single application, for example the 4-week residential option first and the 7-week option second.

3. 3

   Send the in-application links for the counselor report and the parent rules and media release form, then add transcripts from 9th grade through your Fall 2026 grades, your short essays and, if English isn't your first language, TOEFL iBT, IELTS or Duolingo scores.

4. 4

   If you want need-based aid, complete the financial aid section of the same application, using your family's 2025 tax return and W-2 forms.

5. 5

   Pay the $75 fee and submit by 13 January 2027 for a decision on 17 February, or by 10 February 2027 for a decision on 10 March, which is also the last date for international students coming to campus.

6. 6

   The late deadline is 31 March 2027, or earlier if every course waitlist fills, with decisions within three weeks and no financial aid.

7. 7

   Accept your offer by 3 March 2027 (early) or 24 March 2027 (regular), then register for courses and pay in full by the payment deadline.