High School Students Studying Here In New Summer School Experiment

Few people in the University are aware that a number of high school students--twenty-three girls and eight boys--are taking courses at the Summer School. The students are following a remarkably wide range of academic pursuits during their summer stay.

For some, an intermediate language course provides needed training for the College Entrance Examination Board's Advanced Placement Examinations. For others, there is an opportunity to study intensively in a field of special interest.

Nineteen of the high schoolers are enrolled in intensive (eight-unit) courses in Physics, Chemistry, elementary Greek, German, Spanish, and intermediate Russian, Arabic, Latin and French. Courses in Anthropology, Psychology, Mathematics, and Philosophy are also popular with the high school students.

The admissions requirements for these students, according to Richard Lyman, Director of Admissions in the Summer School, were extremely rigorous in comparison with the standards for college students. A Committee comprised of Lyman, Thomas Crooks, and Maureen Donnelly, Dean of Women in the Summer School, selected each high school student and helped arrange his particular program.

Except for three New York students who are living in dormitories, the high schoolers commute from neighboring communities. Although the committee admitted no student from other parts of the country, it is eager to do so in the future, provided that the applicants have valid reasons for wanting to come to Harvard. As one student put it, "The Summer School is not a summer camp for people who have nothing else to do."

Perhaps because of the rigorous selection process, the high schoolers report that, in general, they have not found themselves swimming in their college work. A few even admit to some guilt feelings over "not studying very much." The exams this week, of course, may provide a slightly different perspective on the summer's work.

Since the high school students are enrolled in so many different courses, they have had few opportunities to meet together. In July they were invited to luncheon at the Harvard Union with the Officers of the Summer School, and shared their impressions and suggestions.

One of the points made was that local students would rather live on campus than commute, and next summer they will probably be encouraged to do so. The possibility of admitting students below the senior year was also mentioned, but most of the students agreed that the gap between grade eleven and college is great enough and that students should not be admitted to Summer School before that time