저도 이전 포스팅에서 한 번 설명한 거 같은데 특히 지원코자 하는 대학의 프리칼리 과정은 두 가지 측면에서 유효합니다. 물론 대학들은 프리칼리지 과정이 입결에 영향을 주지 않는다고 하지만 말이죠~ 하나는 해당 대학에 대한 확고한 의지(commitment)를 보여주는 거고, 다른 하나는 프리칼리 과정의 교수로부터 추천서를 받는 겁니다! 해당 대학의 전/현직 교수나 해당 대학 출신의 고등학교 교과목 교사 추천서만큼 설득력 있는 추천서가 없기 때문이죠! 아래 학부형의 요점도 전혀 영향을 주지 않는 건 아닌 거 같다고 하네요~ 예일 프리칼리지 과정에 참여했던 학생 중 대략 30%가 결국 해당 대학에, 그리고 추가로 10~15%는 하버드, 스탠퍼드, 그리고 MIT에 합격을 했다고 합니다! 결국 예일 프리칼리지 과정 학생의 40~45%가 하버드, 예일, 스탠퍼드, 그리고 MIT에 합격을 한 거네요~ 물론 이때 예일 프리칼리지 과정에 참여한 학생들이 모두 우수했을 수도 있지만 말이죠.
Does attending a Harvard pre-college program actually make my college application look better?
I have written about this before in relation to Yale - I can’t find my answer now, so I’ll do a potted summary.
I have written about this before in relation to Yale - I can’t find my answer now, so I’ll do a potted summary.
When he was about 16 my son did the Yale summer program. It is competitive to get in, but not that competitive (everyone from my son’s school who applied got in). However, they had a great time and a lot of people on the program stayed in touch afterwards.
Of the people my son stayed in touch with the Facebook group, he reckons something like 30% of the people ended up attending Yale proper, and a further about 10–15% went to either Harvard, Stanford or MIT. If you compare that aggregate figure to the admission rates in those highly selective institutions, that suggest a favourable correlation.
However, correlation is not causation. To do the summer programmes you have to be (a) at least a little bright, (b) enthused by the idea of spending a chunk of your summer doing intense academic work, and (c) from a reasonably affluent family - those courses are not cheap. Those are all three factors that selective institutions in America value.
But I think it is a bit more than that in terms of those who applied to Yale. I think people do the Yale summer programs and apply to Yale are seen as having shown a commitment to Yale, and that gives their application a boost. I should stress that Yale says exactly the opposite - that it makes no difference. But that is what I believe. Yale wants people who love Yale.
I don’t know how far that extrapolates to Harvard. I only know of one person from my immediate circle who attended a Harvard summer program, and that was the daughter of one of my brother’s co-workers. She didn’t get into Harvard proper, but she did get into Penn.
