Summer programs allow teens to find opportunities to gain experience and build their resume outside of the traditional learning framework. Taking place in between school years, there are all kinds of different summer programs, from academic programs to outdoor adventure camps and everything in between! What they all have in common however, is a focus on real, out-of-the-classroom enrichment.
High School And Summer Programs
Summer programs provide high school students with opportunities to explore their academic interests and spark new passions. They also allow high school students to get a taste of college life and meet other students from all over the world.
In this article, I'll provide a list of over 150 colleges throughout the United States that host summer programs for high school students. Furthermore, I'll give you information about what pre-college summer programs are like and how you can select the right program for you.
A pre-college summer program offers high school students the opportunity to take classes at a college and experience college life during the summer. Most programs range from one to seven weeks long.
You can take programs that focus on a number of diverse subjects, such as writing, leadership, entrepreneurship, and engineering. Many summer programs offer both residential and commuter options. Students can stay in dorms with their peers or commute from home if they live close to campus.
In addition, not only are students able to take classes from college professors or visiting scholars, but they're also able to listen to lectures from alumni and participate in social activities. Many selective private colleges, including Stanford, Harvard, and Columbia, offer pre-college summer programs for high school students.
Some pre-college summer programs are open enrollment (anyone can attend), while others require admission through an application process. The selective programs typically require teacher recommendations, application essays, and standardized test scores. Check a specific program's website for its admission requirements.
While these programs can be fun and educational, most of them are expensive. There are some free programs and many programs that offer financial aid for qualified students, but summer programs often cost thousands of dollars.
To make the following list of summer programs for high school students, I relied on information from Summer Program Finder, which helps locate various summer programs. I looked up the programs in each region of the country and listed the colleges that host programs.
Because programs are always evolving, note that there might be programs at colleges that aren't listed below. That said, you can always look at a specific college's website to see whether it offers summer programs for high school students.
On the plus side, summer programs can provide you with a good opportunity to explore your academic interests or take a class in a subject that's not offered at your high school. Also, you can make friends, experience a taste of college life, and get a better idea of whether or not you want to attend a specific school.
On the negative side, most college summer programs for high school students are expensive, and they might not provide much help with getting into college (unless it's a highly selective program that's offered at no or minimal cost). Do your research, and if a program is something you can afford and would likely enjoy, go for it! It might stimulate your academic and personal growth, and can help you clarify your future goals.
Finally, you might need to consider the cost and length of the program. If you have a limited budget, you'll likely have to focus your search on cheaper programs that you can actually afford. If you have other obligations or activities you're hoping to do during the summer, you might want to choose a shorter program.
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The Intern Project works to partner high school students across LA County with companies in arts, media, engineering, business, government, sports, and healthcare fields. Priority is given to students identified as high-need, and students must be high-achieving in school. Students are eligible in their sophomore, junior, and senior years of high school. This program will help students learn valuable job skills and begin building a resume. It can also set students apart in their college applications!
Both Girls Who Code summer programs are available to high school students who identify as girls or non-binary, with or without computer science experience. The virtual Summer Immersion Program (SIP) is a live, 2-week introductory course for students aged 14-18. It is focused on game design, and offers an inside look into the tech industry through company partners. The Self-Paced program is a 6-week course for students aged 14-18 in which students can earn beginner-level badges in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript programming languages, as well as an intermediate badge in Python.
Discover the awesome course opportunities for high school students this summer with the University of Chicago. Within a supportive community, students from all over the globe are exposed to diverse ideas in classes taught by world-class faculty and instructors. In their classes, students are given the chance to take intellectual risks, dive more deeply into subject matter, and discuss questions that go beyond the realm of their high school curriculum.
UChicago enrichment programs offer pre-college students the opportunity to explore different areas of study and learn about different disciplines, especially those that make UChicago a distinct destination for higher education.
High School SIP (HS-SIP) provides an opportunity to spend a summer working at the NIH side-by-side with some of the leading scientists in the world, in an environment devoted exclusively to biomedical research. The NIH consists of the 240-bed Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center and more than 1150 laboratories/research projects located on the main campus in Bethesda, MD, and in the surrounding area as well as in Baltimore and Frederick, MD; Research Triangle Park, NC; Hamilton, MT; Framingham, MA; Phoenix, AZ; and Detroit, MI. NOTE: the number of positions in Hamilton, Framingham, Phoenix, and Detroit is limited. NHLBI, NCATS, and NIEHS (Research Triangle Park) will not host high school summer interns during 2023.
What are the start and end dates for the program?The NIH Institutes and Centers and the NIH Office of Intramural Training & Education sponsor a required summer orientation. All interns must complete an orientation before joining their research groups. HS-SIP internships generally cover a minimum of eight weeks. The OITE also offers a wide range of summer high school activities including Summer Lectures featuring distinguished NIH investigators, career/professional development workshops, college readiness activities, wellness programming, and Summer Poster Day.
Selection: The NIH HS-SIP is highly competitive. Summer interns for 2023 will be selected by central committees in the NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs). Care will be taken to ensure that no high school summer intern works in the same IC as their parent or guardian. NIH investigators will no longer be able to view high school applications or select their own high school interns. Therefore, high school applicants should NOT contact NIH investigators. NOTE: The OITE plays no role in the selection process.
IMPORTANT NOTES: (1) Only individuals who apply through the SIP online application system will be allowed to intern at the NIH. (2) Only individuals whose official documents demonstrate that they meet all High School SIP eligibility criteria will be appointed to the program. This applies to both paid interns and unpaid Special Volunteers. (3) High school students should NOT contact NIH investigators to inquire about positions. Individual investigators are no longer involved in the HS-SIP summer intern selection process.
One of the goals of the NIH is to build a highly diverse and inclusive scientific workforce. Toward that goal, the NIH Office of Intramural Training & Education welcomes applications for two special high school summer internship programs (HiSTEP and HiSTEP 2.0).
The High School Scientific Training and Enrichment Program (HiSTEP) and HiSTEP 2.0 are programs for high school students in the Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, area within commuting distance (40 miles) of the main NIH campus in Bethesda. The programs aim to introduce students from high schools with a high percentage of financially-disadvantaged students (schools in which at least 30% of students participate in the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program) to the exciting possibility of careers in the sciences and biomedical research.
HiSTEP: Unlike the other NIH summer programs, HiSTEP is not a hands-on, full-time research program. Instead, HiSTEP will combine an introduction to scientific, professional, and personal skills with leadership training, wellness programming, and an exploration of STEM-M (science, technology, engineering, math, and medically-related) careers. In addition, college and career advising will help prepare HiSTEP participants for future scholarships and internships. If you are a current high school junior and interested, please read more about HiSTEP. HiSTEP is for individuals who are juniors at the time of application.
HiSTEP 2.0 provides high school seniors and HiSTEP alumni an opportunity to spend eight weeks performing full-time biomedical research. Students will work with their mentors in research groups on the main NIH campus in Bethesda, MD. In addition, students will participate in weekly workshops and seminars aimed at developing their scientific, professional, and personal (including wellness) skills. They will also discuss strategies for succeeding in college. If you are interested in HiSTEP 2.0, please read more 2ff7e9595c
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