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Before-- again, well, there we go. I had a nice voice there helping you there. Before we get started, I was going to deal with some housekeeping, which included an agenda for our next 45 to 50 minutes. I haven't been on air in a while so I'm a little nervous. Sorry about that. But first, we're going to record this webinar, and wherever you are, we will share it later this month on Harvard Summer School's website and some of our social channels. So if you're having some issues with Wi-Fi, or you think that me stumbling over my words is not what you want to do for the next 45 minutes, you can do that, too. Or if you have some other commitments to attend to, or this one, Zoom fatigue, you will be able to rewatch the areas that you missed. So what might you miss? Let's head over to the agenda. All right, there we go. Excuse me one sec. All right, I am glad that we are going to tell you about our programs, and our primary focus for today's webinar will center around these four topics. We've got programs. The program overview for the seven-week and two-week programs. We have our courses in academics, beyond academics, and community building. And one that I know many of you are eagerly anticipating learning more about is the application. And give me one second here because I don't know-- there's the slides. I couldn't find the slides. I didn't know which one I was one. All right, and then this is my favorite part here. After we have each section here, we're going to do some Q&A with Emma who is handling the slide deck beautifully. Thank you. And finally, we're going to introduce something new this year. We decided, hey, why not add some trivia? Why not make this fun? We've all been on Zoom for way too long. You are all probably Zoomed out. So let's make sure we-- well, first, I made sure it was OK with our VIPs in the room, the directors of the programs, to make sure it was OK. And even though Harvard takes pride in the rigor of its academics because you all are so smart, we also like to have a little bit of fun. So it's also a perfect opportunity to do this. Harvard Summer School turns 150 years old this year. OK. So there will be several questions asked throughout the webinar ranging from obscure course titles to politicians and celebrities who worked for Summer School over the 150 years. And one person I know is truly thrilled for this upcoming anniversary is the Dean of Harvard Summer School, Sandra Naddaff. Unfortunately, she couldn't be here with us tonight, but if we were sitting here on Zoom-- if she were here sitting with us on Zoom right now, I can guarantee she would say, A, how special the high school programs and its students are to Harvard Summer School and the University, and B, that summer school of 2021 may be a pivotal moment for many of you with regard to what major you choose in college or perhaps a career path you choose for your entire future. And since I'm not as eloquent as you can see for the last three slides, I'm going to turn my camera off, and I'm going to hand it over to Sandra where she's going to share some of what she thinks about the unique students who come and visit us every year. And I'm going to get a glass of water. So take it away, Emma. Give us one sec there. We're going to get the sound working here. I'm not quite sure what's happening there. So one moment please. Here we go. [VIDEO PLAYBACK] - I think the most exciting experience for a student coming to either one of these programs is the chance to discover intellectual realms that they wouldn't have known about otherwise. What you have the chance to do here at the Harvard Summer School is taste some of those disciplines. Look at anthropology. Look at immunology. Take courses in philosophy and law or psychopharmacology and discover fields that aren't available to you as a regular high school student. That's an extraordinary experience, and I think, sets you up so well for college. There are some real academic outcomes that we hope students will accomplish in either Secondary School Program or the Pre-College Program. How to manage your time-- this is one of the things I think students really struggle with when they get to college because you have so much more flexibility in your schedule. So how do you manage your time? How do you decide how much to study? How much time do you spend in the library? How do you fit in exercise and just time for social engagement? So I think that's a really important skill, but equally important and perhaps even more important is the opportunity to develop the kinds of academic skills that will set you up well for college. You'll be writing a lot. You will be giving oral presentations. You'll be engaging in what we hope is civilized debate in the classroom. And those are skills as well that will stand you in very good stead in college. [PLAYBACK ENDS] All right, that was from our very own Dean of Harvard Summer School, and I just think it's wonderful. And the other things that we're going to be able to celebrate as we transition into 2021, and believe you me, I am a ready for 2020 to be over, but what a great way to get into 2021, and we celebrate that Harvard Summer School was founded in 1871. And what's great about that is these programs have been around for quite some time. Well, one of them is. We have our seven-week Secondary School, which we'll be learning about today, which was established in 1966 Our two-week Pre-College Program, which was established in 2015, and both of them are excellent opportunities for some of the brightest young minds to learn. And basically, I'm not going to try to one up the Dean of Harvard Summer School because she said it perfectly. So let's move on to who else is going to talk instead of me, the guy who is clearly sweating from being so nervous that there are now 2000 of you who have joined us right now. Wow, that's awesome. So moving on. We have our director of the programs who are going to be presenting with us tonight. So let's see there. We have Mr. Bill Hollinger. He is the director of the seven-week Secondary School Program, and Dr. Jacqueline Newcomb. She is the director of our two-week program. They will each speak about their respective programs, and furthermore, they will provide tips about the application, what it's like to do activities, and so much more. Then we have our powerhouse who's managing the slides beautifully like I said-- I wouldn't be able to do both obviously-- is Emma Corbett. She is the coordinator for the high school programs, and Emma will be moderating our Q&A. Many questions were submitted in advance as we were working on the presentation, and we're not going to do the live one. So what we're going to do is we're going to get through the-- we took the previously submitted questions, and we segmented them according to the outline I gave on the agenda. Emma's combed through all of the questions, and we're going to get to the ones that are the what's top of mind for you all. So we're going to take care of those questions. And lastly, Gina Neugebauer couldn't join us tonight because she's getting her own degree. So that's awesome. She's learning right now. She's not with us tonight. But she's the assistant director of the seven-week program, and she is an incredible resource. She is somebody who helps prospective and admitted students leading into the summer. So having a face to the name sort of makes it a little easier to reach out to answer your questions before and after the application. And so now, without further ado, it's time for me to stop talking. We're going to just do one quick trivia question before we get into the program overview. So first question, what is the correct anniversary term for 150 years? I know I don't have a poll up. Don't worry. You don't have to raise your hands. And I'm just going to give you a few seconds. It's my best Ryan Seacrest I guess. And the answer is sesquicentennial. I tried to do that several times earlier today and still don't have it. But yeah, there you have it, folks. We have sesquicentennial year at Harvard Summer School. And I'm going to hand it off to Bill Hollinger now. Take it away, Bill. Thank you, JP. I think I can say sesquicentennial, but I would rather say cloth. I love that C-L-T-H. That's a great one. I'm going to remember that. Anyway folks, we're glad to have you here. Welcome to our webinar. I'm Bill Hollinger, director of the seven-week Secondary School Program or SSP as we tend to call it. Here at Harvard, we're very excited to be planning our 56th year of bringing high school students to Harvard for summer study. The Secondary School Program is a gateway program that allows high school students to take courses at Harvard. For 150 years, Harvard Summer School has been a University semester geared to college and graduate student research and learning. The Harvard SSP has a selective admissions program that provides an opportunity for young high school students from around the world to take Harvard courses for academic credit. You take classes alongside college students, graduate students sometimes, and older adult learners, too, in their Harvard College third semester. The truly astonishing thing about the Secondary School Program is that it offers high school students the opportunity to enroll in real college courses. You choose your classes from over 200 Harvard Summer School classes, and you earn undergraduate academic credits, which in future years can be transferred to the college you attend. It's a preview of real college academics. It's your future coming true this summer. And of course, international students are welcome to apply. We read applications from students all over the world. High school students currently in their sophomore year, junior year, or senior year are eligible to apply to the Harvard SSP. In the US, that's current 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. The cost of the program depends upon how many courses you take. Scholarships are available to US citizens, permanent residents, and DACA qualified students. You may apply for a scholarship as you complete your program application. During the seven-week summer term, Harvard Summer School and the SSP conduct many, many activities and events that will fascinate you no matter what your interests and passions may be. These extracurricular events are free no matter how many activities and events you attend. Key dates include December 1st when the application opens. After that comes the early application deadline of January 26th. If you complete your application by January 26th, you'll receive your admissions decision by February 22nd. It always helps to apply early. This can really matter. It's best to be admitted in February so that you can register for your favorite classes on the day course registration opens, March 1st in the case of the SSP. And now, I'm happy to turn the mic over to my esteemed colleague, the director of the Harvard Pre-College Program, Dr. Newcomb. Thank you, Mr. Hollinger. Hello, my name is Dr. Jacqueline Newcomb, and I direct the Harvard Pre-College Program, Harvard Summer School two-week non-credit program. The Pre-College Program is a great opportunity for those of you who would like an intensive Harvard program but are unable to dedicate your entire summer. Our session dates are on the screen. For 2021, they are June 27th to July 9th, July 11th to the 23rd, and July 25th to August 6th. The Pre-College Program is for highly motivated students who are graduating from high school in 2022 or 2023 and want to dedicate themselves fully to their academic interests for two weeks. The program requires your full attention for your coursework and for the community engagement events. You will experience college life as you attend challenging classes and engage in co-curricular activities. The program fee of $3,200 includes your course tuition and co-curricular activities. Students in our programs hail from nearly every US state and over 70 countries. This offers a true opportunity for you to meet and learn with bright students from around the world. The Pre-College Program offers non-credit courses allowing students to focus on learning for learning's sake. The courses are intensive and academically rigorous covering nearly a semester worth of work in just those short two weeks. Courses meet daily for three hours, and students should expect two to four hours of homework each night. It's important to note that you must attend all your courses, even the last one, in order to successfully complete the program. The Pre-College Program is also highly selective. International students are welcome to apply, and we read applications from students all over the world. Please note that applicants must be 15 years old by December 1st and not be turning 19 before July 31st. Our application follows a similar timeline to the SSP opening on December 1st. If you're a US citizen, permanent resident, or have DACA status, you may apply for a need-based scholarship. The early application and priority deadlines are January 26th at noon for both financial aid and the application. And the regular application and financial need deadline is March 4th at noon. If you are accepted in the early application period, you'll be able to select your courses when our registration opens on February 25th. Although we accept applications through mid-May, many of our most popular courses are full long before that time. So please don't delay. I think it's time to have another trivia soon so I'm sending it back to JP. Well, before we get into the trivia, this is more of a question I think we're about to answer. So thank you, Dr. Newcomb and Mr. Hollinger for sharing details about your programs. But before we hand it over to the Q&A and do another trivia question-- that's what I was trying to say-- I think it's time to answer the question that's been on everybody's mind. Where did I get this sweater? I know, just kidding. Will either program be offered on campus during the summer of 2021. It turns out that Harvard College just made the decision last Thursday and decided for reasons of health and safety that we will not bring students to campus this summer. And as such, Harvard Summer School will not be offering any on campus courses or hosting a residential program for high school students. However, this past summer, we were online only, and the feedback from both students and faculty was overwhelmingly positive. We can see here from this word cloud that students found the experience enlightening, amazing, and inspiring, enriching, and challenging, even in the Zoom room. So impressed every year with how transformational these programs seem to be for our students. I mean, I'm already excited that Summer 2021 is upon us, and on behalf of the Summer School faculty and staff, including Dr. Newcomb and Mr. Hollinger, we are looking forward to inviting you to join us for another exciting and successful summer online in 2021 wherever you are across the globe. So we're really excited, and now, I think since we just announced this notion, let's go over to the Q&A section with Emma to take it away. Thank you, JP. Let me turn my camera on. Hello, everyone. So the first question that we have here is, what will the students gain from these programs that are Harvard unique? All right-- So who's going to-- Dr. Newcomb, I can say a little bit about that. Maybe you'd like to also. I think the reason that Harvard is so well known around the world is its amazing faculty. And certainly in these programs, our students work with Harvard affiliated faculty. They work with Harvard faculty who teach during the regular academic year. They teach graduate students. They teach Harvard College undergraduate students. And the fact that you can take courses with Harvard faculty and instructors, I think is one of the most amazing things about these programs. I would second that as well. And also note that we also work with lots of Harvard College students who can mentor you, serve as tutors, and in other areas. So you really do get a true taste of what Harvard is like. Thank you both. Before moving to our next question, we do have a few quotes that we'll be showing from our students from this previous summer very recently. So here is our first quote. You will see many more throughout the Q&A, throughout the rest of this webinar. But our second question now while you read this quote is, what should we may consider when making a distinction between the seven-week and two-week programs? So we want students to really be intentional about their application. You can only apply to one of our two high school programs. So you should think about what your schedule is going to be like, what courses might offer, and whether or not you are interested in earning credit or doing a non-credit class. I think length of time is really important, but we also want you to be intentional when you're thinking about two weeks every day, three hours a day plus co-curricular events and homework versus seven week where you have a little more flexibility but just as intense. I couldn't have said that better, Dr. Newcomb. I might add that you might want to have other things to do in the summer, in which case, two weeks might be best. Seven weeks gives you an opportunity to immerse yourself in courses for a greater length of time. So that's huge. Great. Thank you so much, Dr. Newcomb and Mr. Hollinger. We're going to pass it back to JP now. Are we sure we want to pass it back to me? I mean, coming up after Sandra on her video and how eloquent and wise both Dr. Newcomb and Mr. Hollinger are, like oh, my. But here we are. We're going to go into our next section with a trivia question about courses and advising because that was sort of getting a little bit deeper into the program level. So question two, when was the first year that Harvard Summer School even offered online courses? And our answer is C, 2004. And I think that's right when Britney Spears was in her third CD, and I think Yo-Yo Ma might have released an album that year as well. All right, and then to turn it over from there, we're going to give it to bill Hollinger to talk about Harvard courses going virtual. I'm laughing too hard, J.P. I'm sorry. Wow. Let me just find my place here. You threw me. I think you lost me when you were about to tell us where you bought your sweater, which I'm dying to know. But let me talk about-- [GIGGLES] let me talk about-- First, sir, turn on your camera because you are camera ready. I mean, you have a great-- there we go. [LAUGHING] I know you don't have a sweater, but-- OK, well, now I've got a great shirt on so. In the courses in the Harvard Summer School, SSP students can enroll in online courses in three formats, and I want to tell you what the differences among the three formats. The online courses, just straight online, are class meetings that are recorded, and you can attend anytime, but you need to keep up with assignments and deadlines. Online live web conference courses are courses in which students are required to be present at a given time for class meetings. Class participation is usually important in these classes. Be sure to remember that Harvard is in the Eastern time zone in the United States. The third type is online live or on-demand web conference. These courses meet at a scheduled time, and you participate live at class time or watch recorded sessions on demand while keeping up with posted deadlines for assignments and exams. Recorded classes are posted to the course website within 24 hours of the course meeting. In the Pre-College program, all courses are online live web conference only. Class participation is important, and students must attend all class meetings. Secondary School Program students enroll in Harvard Summer School courses taught by the same professors who teach at Harvard College during the regular Fall and Spring terms as well as by faculty from colleges and universities all over the world. These courses are taken for college credit, and they're open to college students, older adults, and SSP students. When it's time to register for classes, you'll have more than 200 courses to choose from. We are here to advise you during that process. We know the courses well, and we are happy to talk with you about your interests and help you enroll in classes you'll enjoy and in which you'll be successful. There's so much flexibility built into choosing courses. You can change courses anytime during the spring all the way into the summer term. When classes begin on June 21, there remains a drop add period three days into the first week, Monday through Wednesday, when you may consider other courses and decide whether you would prefer a different course. In addition, the Summer School academic tutors are here to support SSP students and help them succeed academically. And Dr. Newcomb, I believe I'm turning it over you now. Thank you. Since the Pre-College Program is only two weeks long, we want to ensure that you get a true taste of Harvard. So all of our instructors are Harvard affiliated faculty, staff, postdocs, or advanced doctoral students, and they all have experience teaching Harvard undergraduates. I'm selecting our courses now for 2021 for the catalog, and our catalog will be available for your review in late January. There are over 25 courses offered each session ranging from astronomy, biology, physics and neuroscience to writing, speech, economics, law, and philosophy. Many of our popular courses offered in 2020 will be offered again, and you can also see some new courses that I'm working with our instructors on to offer in 2021. Although you may only participate in one course per session, some Pre-College students attend two or even three separate sessions so that they may take more than one course. Pre-College class size is limited with most around 15 in order to foster an environment of collaboration where the instructor and the students develop a strong relationship. The courses will be offered, as Mr. Hollinger said, in 2021 as live webinar, which means that you need to attend them synchronously online with your instructor and fellow students. And please note that courses are taught in Eastern time, and they meet every weekday. All Pre-College students receive a written evaluation from their instructor, which is a great supplement for your college application. Students can also request an official transcript with their non-credit grade. And I think now we really are going to more trivia. We sure are, and I mean, with courses like-- let's see here-- we have from SSP, Artificial Intelligence using Python, Comic Relief, the Power of Humor in Social Fiction. I clearly need to take that course because my humor is a little bit off tonight. But then, with Dr. Newcomb mentioned the courses that will be offered in Pre-College, which we have the that Coronavirus Pandemic, the Fight to Save the world. I'm counting on one of you in that generation to fix it. So sign up now. No pressure. But here's the next trivia question. Which one of these courses was never a course title offered at Harvard Summer School, How to Change the World, hmm; The Intellectual Economy of Pants, Fashion, Gender, and Power-- definitely took that course, got the sweater-- Planets, Moons and Their Stars, the Search for Life in the Cosmos; Cracking the Code of the Human Brain, From Neuroanatomy to Behavior; and The Mathematics and Strategy of Winning Chess. The answer is check mate, The Mathematics and Strategy of Winning at Chess. And with that, the all important part of choosing your courses is about getting some advice. So I'm going to turn it-- or whoops, we already went there-- is once we get all the courses done is the Q&A section. So let's turn it over to Emma. Thank you, JP. OK, so the first question we have here is, how can students choose the best classes for their interests? Mr. Hollinger, will you take that first question? Emma, I would be delighted to. That's a great question. My advice to students when they are choosing courses is follow your heart. Look for something that you love, you're passionate about. In the SSP, you can choose two classes if you want. So you can also try something new, something not in the high school curriculum. It's always good to, if you're going to come to Harvard, to try something that you may not be familiar with. You can also call us. You can talk to us. We're happy to advise you about and have a conversation with you about what your interests are and where you might best fit in because we do know the courses, and we're more than happy to chat with you about them. Thank you very much. And I'm going to switch over to the quote from our students in the summer. And then our second question we have for Dr. Newcomb, a student asks, do I have to apply for a certain course, or is one accepted to the program just in general? We ask you to just apply to the program in general. However, there is a question on our application that asks about your interest in specific courses. We don't use that to register you. You do that all afterwards, but it is nice to kind of have an idea of what you're thinking and why you want to take a specific course. So take a look at the course catalog. You can use 2020's catalog until the new one is up in 2021 at the end of January. OK, our last question for this section is, can you get as much out of an online course as you would on campus? Thank you, Emma. That's such a great question. The short answer is yes, absolutely, and perhaps even more. The faculty here, the technology here has been tested over time. As I might have mentioned earlier, we've been offering courses online to high school students for 17 years already. So when this happened, when this hit us last year and the whole program went online, we were actually pretty well prepared to transfer over. We've also found one little extra that I think adds a real dimension sometimes to an online class is the chat function on Zoom. It's added a whole new dimension to what we do. Students are able to talk to one another, and I think it gives peer learning a bit of a boost. Thank you. We'll move on to our next section now from JP. I loved everything I heard in there about follow your heart from Mr. Hollinger. That was great to hear about how you choose your courses, and Jackie, I think it's so important that building your knowledge base and your academic sort of like rigor is core to the Pre-College Program. And I love that question about-- we've all been online. We all have Zoom fatigue. We have to do this again? But what I think is really special about this past year especially is we were able to still build community here at Harvard Summer School beyond the academics, to still connect students through Zoom classrooms, through the chat, which I know we don't have it going tonight, but I would be totally talking with all of you right now, and I would not be presenting. And I clearly need to be paying attention to this. So here's the next trivia question to get us into the next section before we start wrapping it up here in the next half hour. Now that we have a President-Elect, hopefully, we have, which of the following politicians, all of whom were candidates in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, once served on the Harvard Summer School staff, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbard, Michael Bloomberg, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, or Elizabeth Warren? And the answer is Pete Buttigieg. And with that, I'm going to hand off the next section to build this community to one of the founding fathers of community SSP, Bill Hollinger. Thank you, JP. I want to mention that Pete actually served on the Harvard Summer School staff while he was a Harvard College undergraduate. But as we build community, we offer dozens and dozens of activities, workshops, panels, talks, events, outside of the classroom. These are what we call the extracurriculars. They focus on three specific areas, strengthening your academic skills, selecting colleges that will suit you, and meeting other students and having fun. First, many activities are geared toward sharpening academic skills, and these activities will help you succeed in your courses at Harvard this summer, back in your high school in the fall, and later on after you matriculate to college. There are workshops on things like taking better notes in class, speaking up in class, and reading faster and remembering more. Tutors are available to help you succeed in summer school classes, and there's a Writing Center, which will look at drafts and help with papers that you write for your classes. Second, information on many colleges and universities can be had during online panel discussions with representatives from many colleges across the US. You'll be able to join panel discussions with admissions officers from universities like Brown, Princeton, the University of Chicago, Dartmouth, and many others. You can join talks by officers from the Harvard College Admissions Office who will take questions from students in both the Pre-College Program and the SSP. Many of our students attended these successful online panel discussions last summer. You may also attend sessions called College Admissions Q&A, One on One College Counseling, or attend a panel with Harvard College students discussing their own personal story of applying to colleges within just the last past couple of years. Third, we will feature many, many community building and inclusion and belonging events. Here, you will have ample opportunity to meet and talk with other students in a relaxed, online environment. You will attend events that will connect you with people, ideas, and communities from all over the world. These are events like forming opinions, a discussion series, language meetups in languages such as Spanish, French and Russian, show and tell, bring something that's important to you, group lunch with your Assistant Dean open to 10 students, a journal club, a wellness club, the list goes on and on. But finally, just for fun, there's trivia night, art night, open mic night, virtual visits to the Harvard Art Museums, and the Friday night film series. I'll pass the mic back to Dr. Newcomb now. Thank you very much. In addition to academic courses in the Pre-College Program, students are engaged in the co-curricular activities. Prior to arrival, students sign up for events in each of the categories listed on the screen academic exploration, college readiness, social activities, the virtual admission sessions that Mr. Hollinger was just talking about, and a special program called community engagement. With the Pre-College co-curricular offerings, you have the freedom to choose the events you would like to attend during the program, but also the responsibility to challenge yourself by learning new skills and engaging with new ideas. Our mandatory fun includes academic exploration of lectures and discussions with Harvard scholars to give you a taste of questions that drive various academic disciplines. Our events last summer included Navigating the 21st Century Gender Landscape; Anatomy of a Clinical Study, How Researchers Learn About the World; Colliders to Cosmos, Physics of the Very Small and the Very Large; and Criminal Moneymakers, the Economics of Organized Crime. Our college readiness workshops help you develop and practice critical academic skills and support transitions to success in your college. Our events included Ethical Decision Making; Using Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism; Knowing Thyself, Embracing Emotional Needs and Becoming More Resilient; Combating Procrastination, The How-To Guide to Overcoming Procrastination and Finding Balance; and All I Do is Win, Unpacking Perfectionism in High-Achieving Students. Mr. Hollinger talked about our social events, which are hosted by the Harvard Summer School Student Activities Office, including trivia and movie nights, our signature speaker series, and virtual museum tours. And as he also mentioned, he talked about the virtual admission sessions, including the online panels, some by Harvard staff and others in cooperation with a number of selected universities. Finally, our Pre-College students attend community engagement with their residential staff. Even though its residential staff, you are virtual. These discussions offered a dedicated time for students to get to know each other in a small group. Whether it was setting goals, considering imposter syndrome, or just engaging in fun, problem-solving activities, the community engagement sessions definitely gave students the opportunity to get to know and talk with each other in a small environment. Again-- Before you turn off that camera, Dr. Newcomb, I just want everybody to know that even though this is my bookshelf back here, I actually think Dr. Newcomb actually has that many books, but I suspect it's a green screen, right? [LAUGHING] Yeah, this is the library at Dunster House. That's awesome. And so I guess we'll move on to the next trivia question then? Please do. All right. Which of the the following film actors once served on the Harvard Summer School staff, Sigourney Weaver, Matt Damon, Michelle Pfeiffer-- not P-feiffer, somebody told me that that was how it was, and I was like, no, that's not how it's pronounced-- Tommy Lee Jones, or Meryl Streep? Answer is Matt Damon. And there we go, and we're going to transition over here to our next Q&A section with Emma. Thank you, JP. OK, so our first question that we have here is, will event registration be limited? Dr. Newcomb, would you like to take this question? Yes. In the Pre-College Program, we require you to sign up for your events in advance, and we do limit enrollment so that we can have intimate discussions. Some events are open to both Pre-College and Secondary School Programs so we want to make sure that both groups get equal opportunity to attend as well. So we do limit event numbers, and we ask you to register in advance. And then, we share the links to wherever virtual room we're in the morning of the event. Thank you. Show another quote. Our next question, are there mentoring opportunities among summer staff? Mr. Hollinger, do you want to take this question? Emma, thanks. That's a great question. There are many mentoring opportunities. We have the resident staff that Dr. Newcomb mentioned, RDs in the Pre-College Program, Assistant Deans in the Secondary School Program. They're always available to students, and they run a lot of our community building events. The faculty are available. Don't forget the faculty. Office hours, get to know your faculty member. They're teaching in the summer. They like students. They love teaching high school students. And they're wonderful to get to know and talk with. They often have teaching staff in their courses, teaching assistants who are often usually graduate students at Harvard. These young people, again, are delighted to work with you in your courses on the academics and become mentors for you in the academic field. Tutors are available. You meet with tutors by appointment, and you can get to know them pretty well because you might meet with them often during the summer. All of these members of the Harvard Summer School staff are available to talk with students and to advise them and to mentor them. Thank you. OK, and our last question for this section is, who runs the Academic Exploration and College Readiness events? Sure, so Mr. Hollinger already talked about advanced doctoral students. We use a lot of advanced doctoral students, especially in the Academic Exploration to really talk about their research. And Harvard faculty members, we have Harvard students who also serve in some of these workshop facilitation roles. And we also hire coaches who are doctoral students or faculty in the Graduate School of Education at Harvard who serve as coaches and do a lot of academic exploration as well as college readiness type workshops for us. Thank you both once again. We're going to pass it back over to JP now. I'm sorry, what's that, Matt? Oh, OK. You can't join us for next year. OK, I'll let the Summer School staff know that you've got a movie or something that you have to do, new film. Great, great talking to you. Matt Damon, folks. You know, I'm kind of a big deal in the webinar world. It's sort of like C-list celebrity status. But enough about me, enough about me. We're going to get to the next application-- we're going to get to preparing for the application, and we're going to set it up with our trivia question, which is, which device-- uh-oh-- does Harvard Summer School recommend using to complete the application, an iPhone, iPad iMac, Samsung tablet, BlackBerry with the physical keyboard-- you're probably all too young to even know what that is-- Chromebook, or you can use them all just don't use talk to text? I think it's pretty obvious which the answer is. You can use them all. Just don't do the talk to text. It never works. It never works with my mom. It never works with anything. So why would you use it for an application, right? All right, passing it off to Bill. Nope, to me. Oh, to Jackie, oh Dr. Newcomb, oops. No worries. [? Well, here, ?] [INAUDIBLE]. I'm going to talk to you a little bit about what you need to do to get your application started. We hope that what we've shared so far interests you enough to want to study with us in 2021, but in order to attend Harvard, you need to apply first. I'm here to share information about our application process and information that will help you be prepared for what you expect to study and when you apply. Both the Secondary School and the Pre-College Programs are looking for mature, academically-motivated applicants who are interested in engaging in challenging college-level courses. We expect our students to have strong academic records and a passion for learning. Whether you have many interests or are focused in just one subject area, we want to read about this in your short essays. A completed application includes contact information, several short essays, as I mentioned, a report from your counselor or school head, and your grade report or transcripts from ninth grade through your current semester. Students whose non-native language is something other than English are required to demonstrate English proficiency in the form of a language test score like the TOEFL, IBT, or the IELTS academic. And we also ask that your high school transcripts be translated into English. Say that 10 times fast. All instruction here at Harvard Summer School and all application materials are written in English so a high level of English language proficiency is a must. From within the online application, you can send your guidance counselor or school head an email requesting that they complete and submit a counselor report on your behalf. And please note, there is a non-refundable application fee of $75. Our goal is to admit applicants who will thrive in our programs. When completing your short essays, please be thorough. Although we ask you to write only a couple of paragraphs, we really would like to get to know you to determine if our program is the right fit for you. Be sure to proofread your essays before submitting them. Using a phone or mobile device for applications is not really recommended. Consider your application a practice run for the ones you'll complete when you're applying to college. After you upload all your materials and submit your application, log back into our application portal a few days later to check your status. This step will enable you to see if the materials you and your counselor submitted were received properly and met the criteria. For example, we require current semester grades, and those are often missing from your transcript. So some students will need to submit their most recent report card or progress report. Check your email for important messages and log into the portal often to check your status. Some key dates include December 1st when our applications open, and then, after that comes the early application deadline of January 26th at noon Eastern time. As I said earlier, if you are a US citizen, permanent resident, or have DACA status, you may apply for need-based financial aid during the early or regular application period. Eligible applicants will find the financial aid application embedded right in the program application. However, we are need blind. So no one on the admissions committee is looking at your financial aid application at the time of your submission. And unfortunately, we do not have financial aid options for international students at this time. If you complete your application by the early deadline of January 26th, you'll receive your admission decision on February 22nd so that you can register for your favorite classes on the day that course registration opens. The regular application deadline is May 4th at noon. Although we accept applications through mid-May, many of our popular courses are full long before that. So please don't delay. I was going to do it only once. Only once, I didn't hit the mute off, but thank you so much, Dr. Newcomb. I think that's really great. I mean, that's the most exciting. That's what gets you in. So we want to give you the insight ahead of time to get prepared. And we're going to have our website updated within the next week to make sure that all that information is there for you, and you can start grabbing all your materials while you apply to the program. And now that I see that we have a lot of hands that have been raised-- I know, I know-- you're dying, dying, dying to know the answer to this question again. But I want to reiterate no cell phones, no talk to text for the application. We're just going to go right to the answer. It's just, it never works. It just never works. And on that note Q&A time with Emma once again, and Emma, I'm just going to say it right now before we go into the talent here, you've done a fabulous job tonight with monitoring the slides. And you are also a great resource as a coordinator. So Emma is similar to one of our missing colleagues tonight, Gina Neugebauer. So she can also be a resource to you when you're sorting all the application materials as well. So take it away, Emma. Thank you, JP. Me You're so nice and thoughtful. So our first question that we have here we get so often. We're so excited to answer it for you. The question is, can I apply if I am a freshman this year? Mr. Hollinger, do you want to take that? And the answer is yes a year from now. But let me be perfectly clear. No, don't apply as a freshman. You're not eligible yet. But wait a year, and we'd love to see you in 2022. Thank you. Perfect answer. OK, our next question, we're going to show you a quote as well again. So our next question is, how can I be proactive to get materials ready for the Harvard Summer School application knowing that my high school is online this year due to the current world scenario with COVID-19? Dr. Newcomb, do you want to answer that? Certainly. I think being proactive always helps. If you know that you would like to apply to either the Secondary School Program or the Pre-College Program, we share the same application, but you may only apply to one program. So the first thing you should do is determine where you want to go this summer, the two-week or the seven-week program. You should then talk with your guidance counselor or school head, whoever is going to be filling out that form for you. Give them a heads up and say, you know, I'm going to be applying to this program. You're going to get an email from me with the link. Please fill it out. We can't read your application until it is complete. And we don't want your last minute pushed for that button to prevent us from getting you in the early or the regular application process. So make sure you talk to your guidance counselor in advance and fill out that form as soon as our app opens so that you can make sure that they do their part. They also often will upload school profiles, your transcripts, and any standardized test scores you might have. We don't require standardized tests, but we're happy to look at them. Thank you. That's great. And our last question for this section, are there any scholarships? Thanks, Emma. I'm going to keep my answer pretty brief. The answer is absolutely yes. We have what I consider-- both of our programs have generous financial aid for students. One applies for a scholarship while you're doing the program application. Both of those applications can be done together, turned in together. And I just want to say that it's important to get your financial information to us. It should be accurate. And Jackie, anything else? Sorry, Dr. Newcomb, anything else around the scholarships that you think we might mention? I would just encourage folks to go ahead and apply if you think it's going to be a hardship to pay for the program. Absolutely, and our application is pretty easy. It's one page, not the program application, but the financial aid and scholarship. We don't do loans. The scholarships don't need to be paid back. They are part of our program Dean Scholarship Fund. So please do apply if you think you will need some financial support. Thank you. And apply early because the most aid is given out in the first application process. And I'm going to ask you to keep your videos up there, Dr. Newcomb and Mr. Hollinger. It's very, very hard for me to respect the elders with the titles there [INAUDIBLE].. [INAUDIBLE] But yes, so we're going to wrap up here soon, folks, here. And I just wanted to remind you of these key dates here. So application opens on December 1st. Our course catalog for all that advising is going to be sometime in late January. We have our early application deadline as Dr. Newcomb and Mr. Hollinger have talked about. And then, that's the one you'll want to aim for. I think that's been loud and clear that we want you to aim for that one. And we did pose the question earlier in the word cloud, if you could choose one word to describe the summer of 2020, and not to put you both on the spot-- all right, what would you say was that one word? What was your one word for 2020? I think our students would say transformational. We do evaluations every year, and our evaluations were as strong in 2020 as they have been in 2019, 2018, and earlier. So I think they still had an amazing experience. I would say-- I'd use many more words than that, but I would say enriching and educational. And I say educational because that's really what we're about. We're about our courses, and we're about our faculty and the academic support that we have for students as well as the emotional support, just kind of the general mentoring and so forth. But our students did very well, very well last summer in the online summer. So educational. Thank you both so much, and thank you for going with me on that because I know I snuck up on you. Like, we didn't prepare. Yep, yep. You did, JP, and you will hear about it later. A strongly worded email, I can't wait. [GIGGLES] All right, so on behalf of Harvard Summer School, our staff, Emma, Mr. Hollinger, Dr. Newcomb, Dean Naddaff, and Gina Neugebauer who couldn't be with us, thank you so much for joining us. We are excited about building another successful virtual online summer school for whichever program you choose to attend. And remember to contact us. We still can talk by phone, and we have our emails going and this information here. Just go ahead and email us, and one of our staff members will answer your questions, especially those more technical ones that are more individual specific that we didn't cover tonight. So with that, thank you so much, and we'll see you in the Summer of 2021. Have a good night. JP, thank you. Thank you, JP. Great job. No, Thank you. [LAUGHING] Bye folks.