12 Programs for High School Students in New Mexico
Participating in programs, internships, or immersive experiences can be a valuable experience for high school students. These opportunities allow students to explore their interests in a hands-on environment. These activities can provide real-world insights, foster a sense of responsibility, and allow you to connect with professionals in your field of interest.
Moreover, early exposure to such programs can strengthen your college application. Admissions committees are often looking for applicants who stand out—those who have demonstrated initiative, dedication, and a clear commitment to their personal and academic growth. Summer programs can provide compelling stories and examples to highlight in essays and interviews, making your application more impactful.
In this blog, we’ll explore 12 such summer programs for high school students in New Mexico.
Location: Virtual
Cost: Individual Research Program ($2,990), Premium Research & Publication Program ($5,900), the Research Fellowship ($8,900), Professor Premium Publication Program ($8,900). Financial aid available
Application Deadline: Varies according to cohort. November 24, 2024 for the upcoming Winter cohort
Program Dates: Individual Research (12 weeks) | Premium Research (16-20 weeks) | Research Fellowship (6-12 months) | Professor Premium (16-20 weeks)
Eligibility: Open to students anywhere in the world
The Lumiere Research Scholar Program is a rigorous research program tailored for high school students. The program offers extensive 1-on-1 research opportunities for high school students across a broad range of subject areas that you can explore as a high schooler.
The program pairs high school students with PhD mentors to work 1-on-1 on an independent research project. At the end of the 12-week program, you’ll have developed an independent research paper! You can choose research topics from subjects such as psychology, physics, economics, data science, computer science, engineering, chemistry, international relations, and more. You can find more details about the application here.
2. Veritas AI
Location: Virtual
Cost: AI Scholars: $2,290 (financial aid is available); AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase: $5,400; Combination (AI Scholars + AI Fellowship): $6,900
Application Deadline: Varies according to cohort. October 20, 2024 for the upcoming Winter. You can apply here!
Program Dates: Multiple year-round cohorts
Eligibility: High school students passionate about AI; Basic understanding of Python or completion of AI scholars is required for the AI Fellowship program
Veritas AI is founded and run by Harvard graduate students, and the programs are geared toward high school students who want to build their foundations in computer science. In the program, students learn various concepts in data science and artificial intelligence like neural networks, image classification, natural language processing, sentiment analysis, coding using Python, and more.
Veritas AI offers up to 100% financial aid for the 10-week AI Scholars program. Through the program, students build real-world, hands-on projects in groups of 3-5 to showcase their interests and skills. You can also apply for the AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase Program, where you work 1-1 with mentors from top universities to build unique machine learning projects over a period of 12-15 weeks. These programs are a great option for you if you like engaging in hands-on learning and are a beginner!
Location: Remote! You can work from anywhere in the world
Cost: $2,490 (Financial Aid Available)
Application Deadline: Varies depending on the cohort. November 24, 2024 for the upcoming Winter cohort
Internship Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year. December 16, 2024 onwards for the Winter cohort
Eligibility: Students who can work for 10-20 hours/week for 8-12 weeks. Open to high school students, undergraduates, and gap year students!
Ladder Internships is a selective start-up internship program for ambitious high school students! In the program, you work with a high-growth start-up on an internship. Start-ups that offer internships range across a variety of industries, from tech/deep tech and AI/ML to health tech, marketing, journalism, consulting, and more. You can explore all the options here on their application form.
Ladder’s start-ups are high-growth companies on average raising over a million dollars. Past founders have included YCombinator alums, founders raising over 30 million dollars, or founders who previously worked at Microsoft, Google, and Facebook. In the program, interns work closely with their managers and a Ladder Coach on real-world projects and present their work to the company. Here is the application form.
Interns are offered one-on-one training in communication, time management, and other such valuable skills and will also have the opportunity to attend group training sessions with other interns in their cohort. The virtual internship is usually 8 weeks long.
Location: Virtual
Application Date: Varies according to cohort. November 10, 2024, for the Winter cohort, and February 9, 2025 for the Spring cohort
Program Dates:
Winter seminar: December 2, 2024 onwards
Spring seminar: March 3, 2025 onwards
Lab dates are flexible, but you must apply 4 weeks in advance
Eligibility: High school students with good academic standing (>3.67/4.0 GPA) can apply. Most accepted students are 10th/11th graders! Only a few tracks require formal prerequisites, more details of which can be found here
Horizon offers trimester-long research programs for high school students across subject areas such as data science, machine learning, political theory, biology, chemistry, neuroscience, psychology, and more! Horizon is one of the very few research programs for high school students that offers you the choice of either quantitative or qualitative research.
Once you select a particular subject track as well as the type of research you wish to carry out, Horizon pairs you with a professor/PhD scholar from a reputed university who acts as a mentor throughout your research journey. As a participant, you will be expected to develop a 20-page research paper that you can send to prestigious journals for publication as a high school student.
This program is a solid opportunity for you to pursue a research program in highly specialized fields under the guidance of a top scholar. The program also provides a letter of recommendation for each student, as well as detailed project feedback that you can use to work on future projects. Apply here!
Location: This program is 100% virtual, with live, interactive workshops
Cost: The total cost to attend the 3-week program is $2,900. There is need-based financial aid
Application Deadline: Varies according to cohort. November 24, 2024 for the upcoming Winter cohort. You can access the application link here!
Program Dates: Multiple, year-round sessions. December 21, 2024 – January 5, 2025 for the Winter cohort
Eligibility: The program is currently open to all high school students
The Young Founder’s Lab is a real-world start-up boot camp founded and run by Harvard entrepreneurs. In this program, you will work towards building a revenue-generating start-up that addresses a real-world problem. You will also have the opportunity to be mentored by established entrepreneurs and professionals from Google, Microsoft, and X.
Apart from building the start-up itself, you will also participate in interactive classes on business fundamentals and business ideations, workshops and skill-building sessions, case studies, panel discussions, and more. The program is an excellent opportunity to delve into the world of business in high school and have a space to explore multiple theoretical as well as practical frameworks that lead to a successful business. You can check out the brochure for the program here.
Cost: Based on family income, with a maximum of $8,400. Financial aid available
Location: New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM
Application Deadline: January 24, 2025 (international), February 21, 2025 (domestic)
Program Dates: The program begins in mid-June
Eligibility: High school juniors who have completed these prerequisites by the summer and will be between the ages of 15-19 during the program
Founded in 1959, the Summer Science Program (SSP) is among the oldest pre-college programs in the nation. This 39-day residential program for high school students offers hands-on research in astrophysics, including asteroid orbit determination. You will collaborate in teams to learn celestial coordinates, interpret ephemeris data, and conduct telescope observations while using Python to calculate asteroid positions and velocities. This experience enhances scientific skills and fosters collaboration and problem-solving, allowing you to gain valuable knowledge in astronomy, physics, and mathematics alongside like-minded peers.
Cost: $565
Location: New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM
Application Deadline: May 24 (June deadline); June 28 (July deadline)
Program Dates: TBA for 2025. Two sessions were offered in 2024:
Session 1: June 9 – 14, 2024
Session 2: July 14 – 19, 2024
Eligibility: Rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors with a minimum 2.75 cumulative GPA who have completed Algebra 1
The Summer STEM Experience at New Mexico Tech offers high school students a chance to step into the shoes of a college student, earn one credit hour, and dive into a focused area of science or engineering. This week-long program offers lectures, lab activities, and field trips. In 2024, the courses offered included Chemical Engineering: Scaling Chemical Discoveries, Physics: Astronomy, and Computer Science: Python for Data Science.
Cost: $1,400/session. Financial aid may be available; contact the director for more information
Location: St. John’s College, Santa Fe, NM
Application Deadline: June 1, 2025 (tentative, based on the 2024 program)
Program Dates: July 7 – 13, 2025 (Beginnings), July 14 – 20, 2025 (Civil Disobedience), July 21 – 27, 2025 (Love and Friendship)
Eligibility: High school students aged 15-18, including international students
St. John’s College offers a week-long residential summer program where students explore the origins of human society, language, and knowledge. In Beginnings: Inquiring into the Origins of Politics, Poetry, and Mathematics, you will engage with classic texts such as Aristotle’s Metaphysics, The Bible, Plutarch’s The Life of Lycurgus, Plato’s Meno, and Euclid’s Elements, gaining insight into how these works have shaped our view of the world. The program focuses on developing reading, critical thinking, and discussion skills.
The program ‘Civil Disobedience: Understanding the Relationship Between the One and the Many’ is designed to offer you an in-depth exploration of the interplay between individual rights and societal responsibilities. By examining a diverse selection of texts and speeches, including Sophocles’s Antigone, Plutarch’s Life of Cato, and addresses by Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, the program delves into how personal duties and societal obligations intersect.
In ‘Love and Friendship: Austen and Aristotle; Human Goodness, Virtue, and the Relationships That Bind Us Together,’ you will delve into the themes of love and happiness, examining how these concepts connect us. Through readings of some of literature's most acclaimed works, such as Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and Shakespeare’s sonnets, you will reflect on these fundamental relationships.
Cost: Room and board, tuition, and instructional materials are fully covered; non-residential students receive a stipend
Location: The University of Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
Application Deadline: April 15, 2025 (tentative, based on the 2024 program)
Program Dates: TBA for 2025. Two sessions were offered in 2024:
Non-residential: June 3 – 28, 2024
Residential: July 7 – 26, 2024
Eligibility:
Non-residential: Rising high school freshmen, sophomores, and juniors
Residential: Rising high school juniors and seniors, priority given to students who will be 16+ by the program start date
The Engineering and Computing Summer Academy immerses students in practical experiences across multiple fields of engineering and computer science. Throughout the academy, you will have the chance to connect with industry experts, faculty from STEM disciplines, and current engineering and computer science students, offering a comprehensive learning experience and valuable networking opportunities. To apply, you must submit a 500-word personal statement, your transcript, and a letter of recommendation from a math or science teacher.
Cost: No information available
Location: New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM
Application Deadline: No information available
Program Dates: No information listed
Eligibility: High school students
The Youth Entrepreneurship Summer (YES) Camp gives high school students the chance to explore their entrepreneurial interests while earning three college credits. Through 40 hours of classroom learning and a 35-hour practicum, you will research a business idea, develop a business plan, and present it to a panel of local business professionals in a competition for honors and awards.
The curriculum covers key topics such as the role of entrepreneurship in the economy, characteristics of successful entrepreneurs, market research, hiring and managing employees, understanding business costs, and raising capital. Students will also learn how to create and use financial records, develop a business plan, and explore ethical considerations in business.
Cost: $300; Full scholarships are available
Location: University of New Mexico, Sante Fe or Albuquerque campuses, NM
Application Deadline: May 6, 2025 (tentative, based on the 2024 program)
Program Dates: TBA for 2025. Multiple sessions were offered in 2024:
Santa Fe (non-credit): June 10 – 22
Santa Fe (dual-credit): June 10 – 28
Albuquerque (non-credit): July 8 – 19
Albuquerque (dual-credit): July 8 – 26
Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors
High school juniors and seniors are introduced to the various disciplines covered by the University of New Mexico's (UNM) School of Architecture + Planning through these courses. The program features design activities, lectures, and field trips. Students enrolled for dual credit earn 3 college credits and usually 1 high school credit, depending on their school’s participation. While dual-credit students will have some homework, those enrolled for non-credit will not be assigned any.
Cost: Dependent on the course taken
Location: Albuquerque Academy, Albuquerque, NM
Application Deadline: Registration typically opens in February
Program Dates: June 10 – July 19, 2025 (tentative, based on the 2024 program)
Eligibility: High school students
Albuquerque Academy offers a range of summer programs for high school students, including both part-day and full-day options. These programs cover diverse fields, such as visual and performing arts, languages, and mathematics. Designed to build upon the knowledge gained during the school year, these courses aim to keep students intellectually engaged and active throughout the summer break. You can check out the 2024 course offerings here.
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a Ph.D. student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.
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