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Application deadline: January 9th

The Best Summer Programs for High School Students

What should high school students do in the summer to stand out to college admissions committees? A complete list of the best summer programs for high school students

Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: Pros and cons of attending a pre-college summer program

Part 3: List of the top summer programs for high school students

Part 1: Introduction

For many parents of high-achieving children, summer breaks are difficult beasts to manage. Sure, you want to give your child a chance to enjoy sunshine, the pool, and popsicles. But alongside the idyllic visions of summer is the urgent need to ensure your child is productive, which likely leaves you wondering: what summer activities should a gifted or talented teenager seek out?

If you and your child are planning ahead for summer break, you may be looking into summer programs to expand your child’s horizons and hopefully give them a leg up in the college admissions process.

Summer programs for high school students, particularly pre-college summer programs located on college campuses, have greatly proliferated in numbers over the past few decades to the point where there are now hundreds of programs to choose from. Some are quite the opposite of the classic bunk-beds-and-mosquitoes summer camp adventure, delivering an intense, heads-down experience. Many others promise to meld the best of a (safe and supervised!) teenage summer with opportunities that can challenge your child and add texture to their Common App essay and other college essays.

But with so many to choose from, how do you know which are truly worth the often-extensive application process and frequently high price tag?

In this guide, we’ll go over the benefits and drawbacks of participating in pre-college summer programs everywhere from Cambridge to Palo Alto, including the question on everybody’s minds: do these programs actually help your child get into college? We’ll also provide an overview of recommended programs in a variety of categories, plus we’ll discuss other ways your child might choose to spend their summer.

Part 2: Pros and cons of attending a pre-college summer program

Your child could spend their summer in a wilderness program, on volunteering trips abroad, attending an arts camp, or participating in a specialized summer institute for an extracurricular activity at which they excel, like an academic team, robotics, or debate.

For the bright generalist, however, the number of academics-focused “pre-college programs” set on college campuses has swelled dramatically over the past few decades. Before we dive into the pros and cons of pre-college summer programs, here’s a quick rundown of what these programs entail.

Typically, these programs aim to approximate the college experience by holding classes taught by professors or visiting scholars, while housing students in campus dorms (note: local students may be able to commute instead). Programs also frequently incorporate lectures, networking events, and opportunities to socialize with fellow attendees, and they can range anywhere from one to eight weeks in length.

Pros of attending a pre-college program

• Your child may get the chance to study a subject and/or get hands-on experience beyond what their high school offers.
• Your child will be able to get a firsthand feel for what college life is like, which may make transitioning to college easier when the time comes.
• Your child will get exposure to a specific campus and type of environment, which will help them make an informed decision about what kind of school they could best succeed at (e.g., an urban setting vs. a rural one, or a large research university vs. a small liberal arts college).
• Your child might be able to earn college credit or use a course to place into a higher level in college or high school.
• Your child might develop a relationship with an instructor who would be willing to write them a letter of recommendation for college.
• Your child will be able to meet and befriend like-minded peers.

Cons of attending a pre-college program

• Pre-college summer programs are frequently very expensive. For example, Yale’s Young Global Scholars program typically charges $6,500 for two weeks.
• The selectivity, prestige, and academic rigor of programs can vary quite a bit and don’t always correspond to the academic reputation of the host college. We’ll discuss this more shortly.
• Contrary to many parents’ optimistic beliefs, with the exception of the most prestigious programs, attending a pre-college summer program probably won’t directly help your child get into college. Don’t spend money just because you want your child to be able to drop “Yale” or “Stanford” in a college app. We’ll go into more detail on this, including some exceptions, a little later.

The reality of pre-college summer programs

Though pre-college summer programs can be found at most elite colleges these days, their own selectivity and rigor vary quite a bit.

It’s important to understand that, in many cases, colleges lend their names and campuses to programs run by outside, for-profit companies in order to make money off of otherwise vacant facilities over the summer. In some other cases, programs are organized by an individual university department or division, such as a school of professional studies, that has little connection to undergraduate academic standards and certainly doesn’t have a direct line to the admissions office.

While the quality of education may still be excellent, the chances of acceptance into some of these programs will be quite high for most students with solid academic records and the ability to pay full-price tuition. Less competition may be good news, but it also means that attending a summer program at, say, Harvard doesn’t confer nearly as much prestige or achievement as getting into Harvard itself.

However, there are some programs that are considered prestigious and are extremely competitive to get into—we’ll go over those a little bit later.

Will attending a summer program at a university help your child get into that college?

The short answer: probably not, at least not directly. The vast majority of pre-college summer programs have no bearing on their host college’s undergraduate admissions practices and should definitely not be viewed as a backdoor into that school.

On top of this, college admissions officers are well aware of the high acceptance rates and price tags of many pre-college programs and, with the exception of the most prestigious programs, won’t necessarily view acceptance into one as a significant achievement. They might simply see it as a sign that your family has money.

Nevertheless, attending a pre-college program may still be worth your child’s time. Remember that many summer programs draw their instructors from their host college’s faculty and may still be academically challenging, even at less selective programs. Plus, if your child has the opportunity to take a course that’s in line with their existing interests and specializations, this will underscore their commitment to that subject and enhance the profile they are trying to build in their college applications.

For example, if your child is obsessed with Russian and has been teaching themselves the language because their high school doesn’t offer it, taking an intensive course at Bryn Mawr’s Russian Language Institute would be a worthwhile pursuit, so long as your family can afford it.

More important than simply attending the program, though, is that your child capitalize on the experience personally and in their college applications. The Russia nerd should come out of the program with, well, better Russian—and new passions for Tolstoy, perhaps. Their college essays during application season should reflect that passion rather than the “achievement” of attending one of these programs.

On that note, while this guide largely focuses on academic pre-college programs, we recommend taking a similar approach if your child is interested in attending a non-academic summer program. Whether they are looking into a service trip to a foreign country or an intensive drama course, the program your child chooses should reflect what they are already interested and active in.

In general, we strongly caution parents and students against investing in flashy, expensive activities unless those activities are thoughtfully chosen and connect to the student’s interests and specializations.

Summer volunteering—abroad or otherwise

Volunteering can be another great way for your child to spend their summer if (and this should come as no surprise by now) their service reflects their genuine commitment and interest and doesn’t come across as a perfunctory attempt to seem like a good person.

Like pre-college summer programs, volunteering comes with its own set of complexities, particularly when it comes to service trips abroad. While these types of trips are understandably popular—international travel is undeniably exciting, and volunteering in a developing country often seems like a surefire way to stand out from the crowd—they run the risk of falling into the “flashy and expensive” trap we mentioned above. Not to mention that volunteer abroad trips for teens usually last only a few weeks, which is typically not long enough to make any real impact, raising moral concerns about how you should treat the situations of those less fortunate.

Generally speaking, if your child is looking to make community service one of their specialties, we usually recommend sticking close to home where they will have more opportunities to get involved in long-term projects. This will translate into them leaving a more profound, lasting impact on whatever cause they choose to work on.

However, if your child has the opportunity to go overseas to work on a cause that they are truly connected to, a service trip abroad may be worthwhile. This is doubly the case if a trip abroad provides them with opportunities that simply can’t be had in your local area.

For example, if your child is active in environmental cleanup activities and hopes to major in marine biology, they might apply to join a trip devoted to coral reef conservation in Mexico. Or if they are geopolitically-minded and are interested in studying international relations, perhaps they could volunteer with an NGO aiding refugee resettlement in Germany.

If your child does choose to volunteer overseas, you’ll want to carefully vet the organization that runs your child’s trip (we have some suggestions below, too). Not only should you assess their policies and procedures in regard to travel, safety, and supervision, we highly recommend making sure that their projects are ethically run and are actually of benefit to the local community. A good volunteer abroad program should have clear objectives, be well-connected to and invested in the local community, and promote local self-sufficiency.

Other options for volunteering abroad might be found via family members or family friends living in foreign countries. For instance, if your family emigrated from South Korea but remains in touch with family friends who run a senior center there, perhaps your child could volunteer to work with the elderly while visiting relatives over the summer. Not only does this type of scenario have the benefit of being free (excluding travel costs, of course), your child might also have the opportunity to volunteer for a longer period of time, maybe even an entire summer, greatly increasing their potential impact.

Or if your child is interested in health and your family regularly visits relatives in India over summer and winter breaks, connecting with a family friend who runs a health-related NGO or oversees medical mission trips in the region may be a fine option for your child.

However, instead of simply placing your child in the activity for the weeks when you are in the country, encourage them to find a way to develop a long-term—if long-distance—relationship with the group. Can they fundraise for the NGO from afar, bringing with them donations each time they travel? Can they work with doctors in your hometown to set up telemedicine programs between the villages they visit and the big hospital around the corner from your house? They should ask the people who run the organization what is most needed and set goals so that they can develop a long and meaningful connection to the work.

Top 20 Most Competitive Summer Programs for High School Students

If you’re trying to figure out how to make your application stand out to colleges, demonstrating your strengths and pushing yourself beyond the classroom are key. One way to do this is to participate in a highly competitive summer program. Just the fact that you had the initiative to apply and the skills to be accepted speak volumes to college application officers. Warning: It requires some courage to apply to any of these 20 programs. They are all notoriously difficult to get into. If you apply and don’t get in, don’t worry. Neither did most other applicants. We’ve organized the programs from highest to lowest rates of acceptance rates. Good luck!

Most Competitive Summer Programs For High Schoolers

20. Program in Mathematics for Young Scientists (PROMYS)

Acceptance rate:

Format: In-person (Boston, MA)

Application deadline: March 5th

This 6-week program is for high school sophomores to seniors who love math. Each day kicks off with Number Theory lectures followed by research projects done in the lab, advanced seminars, and guest lecturers. Some examples of past minicourses include Brouwer Fixed Point Theorem (in 2D), Linear Algebra, Generating Functions, Spectral Graph Theory, Surreal Numbers, LaTeX Workshop, The Moon is a Planet, and Other Astronomical Hot Takes, and

Geology. Financial aid is available.

19. Canada/USA Math Camp

Acceptance rate: 13%

Format: In-person (Location varies from year to year)

Application deadline: March 9th

If you find beauty in advanced mathematical ideas and would like to live and breathe math for 5 weeks, this summer program is for you. You’ll study with world-renowned researchers and hang out with students from all over the world who are just as passionate about math as you are. Some topics you’ll cover include Abstract Algebra, Topology, and Real Analysis, and past projects include building robots and crocheting a nonorientable surface. Financial aid is available.

18. Summer Science Program (SSP)

Acceptance rate: 10%

Cost: $8,400 (but most qualify for discounts)

Format: In-person (Host campuses include New Mexico Tech, University of Colorado, Purdue University, Indiana University, Harvey Mudd College, Caltech, and MIT)

Application deadline: March 3rd

This 5-week “educational experience of a lifetime” is open to high school juniors. Running since 1959, SSP immerses its 12 research teams (of 3 participants each) in a difficult research project. Past programs have included astrophysics, biochemistry, and genomics. You will also attend guest lectures, go on various field trips, and meet other brilliant kids from all over the world. The program fee is scaled to what each family can afford.

17. Stanford University Math Summer Camp (SUMaC)

Acceptance rate:

Cost: $3,550-$8,250

Format: Online and In-person (Stanford, CA)

Application deadline: February 1st

Go beyond the key concepts in math that you may learn in high school into more advanced topics (e.g., group theory) and then apply them to real-life applications (e.g., the Rubik’s Cube). This program is for high school sophomores and juniors who are curious about higher math. It’s offered as both an online program (3 weeks) or a residential program at Stanford (4 weeks). The online version is slightly less competitive in that 64 participants are chosen, but you can ask to be considered for the online program, the in-person, or both.

16. High School Scientific Training and Enrichment Program (HiSTEP)

Acceptance rate:

Cost: Paid a $2,150 stipend

Format: In-person (Bethesda, MD)

Application deadline: February 1st

HiStep is a 5-week full-time summer internship in the main NIH campus in Bethesda, MD, and it’s open to all high school students. Topics include current issues in human health (e.g., AIDS, neurological disorders, women’s health), basic science skills, STEM-M careers, college and career advising, and a lot of work in the lab.

15. Simons Summer Research Program

Acceptance rate: 8%

Cost: Paid fellowship

Format: In-person (Stony Brook, NY)

Application deadline: Early February

Also known as the Simon Fellowship, this prestigious and highly selective 8-week program matches about 30 students each year with a Stony Brook faculty mentor in the fields of science, math, computer science, and more. Students are selected based on their academic achievements, research potential, and personal qualities such as creativity, curiosity, and dedication. This program gives you a great opportunity to join research groups, produce a research abstract, work with a supportive community of peers and mentors, plus receive a stipend award.

14. Research in Science & Engineering (RISE)

Acceptance rate: ~7%

Cost: $5,620-$8,908

Format: In-person (Boston, MA)

Application deadline: February 14th

RISE is a 6-week, 40-hour-a-week program for rising high school seniors who want to major in STEM and work in the field. Astronomy, Chemistry, Computer Science, and Neurology are just a few of the research track options. You will work on research projects with Boston University professors, postdoctoral fellows, or graduate students as advisors. They also participate in weekly peer-to-peer training. The event culminates in a poster discussion, where participants present their work.

13. Summer Academy for Math and Science (SAMS)

Acceptance rate:

Format: In person (Pittsburgh, PA) (with an online “pre-course”)

Application deadline: March 9th

This is a great program for a deep dive into engineering (it’s a 5-week course), and it’s free. It concludes with an exciting symposium. Students explore math, science, seminars, writing workshops, small group mentoring, and collaborative learning, as well as have a chance to learn about financial aid, FAFSA, and college admissions. We love this program because it is a fully funded, merit-based program for participants, making it accessible to traditionally underrepresented communities.

12. HOPP Summer Student Program

Acceptance rate: 5%

Cost: Paid $1,200 stipend

Format: In-person (New York, NY)

Application deadline: Early February

HOPP SSP is an 8-week full-time internship program (you must have your own housing and transportation) at the esteemed Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center open to all high school students. You will conduct an independent biomedical or computational lab-based research project with guidance from a mentor. You’ll also go to training sessions and lab tours, and present your final results at the end of the summer.

11. Summer Internship Program (Spark SIP)

Acceptance rate:

Cost: Paid internship

Format: In-person (Seattle, WA)

Application deadline: Mid-March

The Spark SIP program connects high school students with specific industry experts and educators in the Greater Seattle area that will act as sponsors. In March, you can explore the Spark website for projects you might be interested in. You can apply for up to 5 different projects. If accepted to a project, you will then work on it over the course of the summer for an agreed-upon stipend and hours.

10. Science Research Mentoring Program (SRMP)

Acceptance rate:

Format: In-person (Cambridge, MA)

Application deadline:

For Cambridge Rindge & Latin School students in Cambridge, MA, only: SRMP is not a summer program, and its eligible student population is relatively small. But we included it because it is an amazing opportunity. Acceptance into the program shows you what it’s like to work on real, cutting-edge, year-long research with groundbreaking astrophysicists and climate scientists from diverse backgrounds. Working in small teams of 2 or 3, you will conduct an independent research project and then present your findings at the end of the session in May.

9. Research Science Institute (RSI)

Acceptance rate:

Format: In-person (Cambridge, MA)

Application deadline:

This is always one of our top most cost-effective, prestigious, academically rigorous, socially enriching picks. It only admits about 100 high school juniors each year from a pool of thousands of applicants. (No seniors allowed.) It is hosted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and students are selected based on their academic achievements, research potential, and personal qualities such as creativity, leadership, and motivation. The program is free with all expenses paid, including travel, room and board, and research supplies.

8. MITES Summer

Acceptance rate: 4%

Format: In-person (Cambridge, MA)

Application deadline: February 1st

MITES is a challenging 6-week, residential program for rising seniors at MIT geared toward historically underrepresented and underserved students. You’ll take seminars with esteemed STEM professionals and tour local companies that employ MITES alumni and MIT labs. You’ll also be a part of an extraordinary success community. Many alumni go on to study at MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Brown, and Stanford. It’s an amazing opportunity.

7. Boys/Girls State

Hosting institution: The American Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary (Boys | Girls)

Acceptance rate: 3-6%

Format: In-person (Various)

Application deadline: March

If you’re interested in government, history, democracy, and politics, Boys and Girls State are respected, 1-week programs that teach citizenship and leadership skills for U.S. high school students via role play. Each state program runs its own program focusing on its own legislative sessions, court proceedings, assemblies, law enforcement, among other topics. There’s also a great documentary about Boys State, if you’re curious about the experience.

6. Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR)

Acceptance rate: 3-6%

Cost: Paid stipends ($500-$1,500)

Format: In-person (Stanford, CA)

Application deadline: February 25th

Primarily accepting high school juniors and seniors in the Bay Area, this 8-week program matches participants with Stanford faculty and postdoctoral fellows to work on medically-oriented research projects in one of the top labs in the country. You can choose from 8 areas of research: immunology, neurobiology, cancer, bioengineering, stem cell, cardiovascular, bioinformatics, and genetics. This is not a residential program so you must account for your own room and board.

5. Telluride Association Summer Seminar (TASS)

Acceptance rate: 3-5%

Format: In-person (Cornell University, University of Maryland, and University of Michigan)

Application deadline: January 4th

Most of the programs on this list have been STEM-heavy, but here is a great option for those who are more interested in history, politics, literature, and art. This 6-week program features seminars about how power and privilege affect social structures, community activities, outings, and service projects. Tuition, books, room and board, and field trips are all completely free.

4. Bank of America Student Leaders

Acceptance rate: 3-4%

Format: In-person (Various and a week in Washington, D.C.)

Application deadline: January 12th

If you’re looking to make a change in your community or even the world at large, this program can help give you the tools to make a difference. High school juniors and seniors get paired with local nonprofits to complete an 8-week internship that addresses issues in their communities. The summer session ends with an all-expenses-paid final Student Leader Summit in Washington, D.C., where participants will explore the connection between business nonprofits and government and how they work together to solve problems. They also meet with their Congressional group from their district to discuss the issues they feel most impact their community.

3. Women’s Technology Program (WTP)

Acceptance rate: 3%

Format: In-person (Cambridge, MA)

Application deadline: January 15th

Girl power! WTP is a rigorous 4-week day program (no dorms, commute-in only) for the summer after your junior year, open to students in the U.S. only. In past years the focus has been on electrical engineering, computer science, and mechanical engineering. Apply if you like problem-solving and are rather new to but very interested in engineering.

2. Rockefeller Summer Science Research Program (SSRP)

Acceptance rate:

Format: In-person (New York, NY)

Application deadline: January 9th

If you’re a high school junior or senior interested in biomedical research, this 6-week program gives you the opportunity to do your research in the RockEDU Laboratory, a 3,000 square foot space dedicated to biomedical training. You’ll be given equipment training, take part in lab meetings, lectures, and design and conduct your own project as part of a themed track. Note that this is not a residential program so you will need to be responsible for your own room and board.

1. Anson L. Clark Scholars Program

Acceptance rate:

Format: In-Person (Lubbock, TX)

Application deadline: Mid-February

This free and intensive 7-week program offers exceptional students interested in biology the opportunity to work with outstanding professors at the University’s General Health Sciences Center. Although the program is research-based, it also includes weekly hands-on seminars, discussions, and field trips. We’re very impressed by this program’s academic rigor and its on-campus experience with zero cost to the student. The only catch is that only twelve students are selected every year.

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About the Author

Jin Chow is an academic-turned-entrepreneur from Hong Kong. Her academic journey, which spans tutoring new immigrant teenagers in Hong Kong, mentoring incarcerated students while at Princeton, and embarking upon a PhD at Stanford has shown her that mentorship is the key to finding one’s calling in life.

In 2019, she co-founded Polygence from her graduate student dorm at Stanford, along with Janos Perczel. In just over 3 years, Polygence has helped 2500+ learners from 100+ countries grow through projects, and built a community of 2000+ mentors.

She was recently featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 for Education.

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