Drexel's Camp Business and Other Offerings - Our Review
Most summer business programs help you learn specific, practical skills through courses. These courses often cover topics such as data analytics, market research, product-market fit, accounting, branding, etc. More advanced and competitive summer programs tend to go a bit further, giving you the opportunity to apply those skills in either a simulation or a practical scenario, and the best ones will have you working with corporates and companies directly to implement your ideas.
In this blog, we will cover Drexel’s Business Camp, a popular business program for high school students, and whether you should apply. We have also included our comprehensive review of the program, its dates, deadlines, eligibility, costs, pros and cons! Note that Drexel University also offers a few other popular business programs, which we have covered in this post as well.
What is Drexel’s Camp Business?
If you’re a high-schooler looking to broaden your business understanding, Drexel offers a unique opportunity to experience collegiate-level business studies through its Camp Business. In this business program you will not only learn foundational business knowledge but also experience the world of business education and spend time on campus. In today’s post, we’ll cover all three of Drexel’s business programs for high schoolers: Camp Business, Business Bootcamp, and the Summer Real Estate Program. However, our main focus will be on Camp Business, as it is the most comprehensive and holistic program offered, and is quite popular amongst high schoolers as well!
Here’s a little more about the program -
Camp Business is celebrated by Forbes as an Innovative Business Summer Program, and is aptly named as it is essentially a week-long on-campus business course. It is designed to provide you with a comprehensive insight into both collegiate and corporate business realms. The curriculum may effectively be considered a condensed MBA, spanning across pivotal business sectors, including accounting, marketing, finance, and management, ensuring a well-rounded business education.
This program is perfect if you’re looking for an introduction to business education and are interested in pursuing a BBA and/or an MBA but are already committed to other engagements over the summer.
Camp Business:
How is it structured?: You can expect to be attending at least four hours of lectures a day, and also dedicating time to work on the team business pitch competition hosted at the end. The program is organized like a week at a business school - classes, guest lectures from industry experts, and team assignment work.
Who is eligible?: Any rising high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors can apply, including international students.
How do you apply?: Submission of an application form and official high school transcripts.
What is the fee?: Commuter Session: $950; Residential Session: $2,000.
What are the program dates?: Two sessions in July 2023; Commuter (July 9th - July 14th) and Residential (July 16th - July 21st).
Other business programs at Drexel University you can consider -
1. Business Bootcamp: As the name suggests, it is a two-day rigorous program tailored for high school students from sophomore to senior years. It delves deep into diverse business domains such as product development, accounting, analytics, and business ethics, taught by Drexel professors on a weekend with intense classes and group work to provide focused learning.
If you’ve been improving your understanding of business concepts and are looking for the opportunity to really go in-depth and test your mettle, but are unable to find peers for challenges or are stressed for time, then this program is a good option due to both its rigor as well as its compacted schedule.
How is it structured?: An intensive two-day on-campus program with college level coursework and business education. You will be attending student panels, simulations and virtual site visits as well, beyond the lectures themselves.
Who is eligible?: Open to high school students from sophomore to senior years.
How do you apply?: Applications open during fall term 2023 with a rolling approval system.
What is the fee?: Drexel has not yet specified the fee for Bootcamp 2024.
What are the program dates? February 24th and 25th, 2024.
2. NAIOP-Drexel Summer Real Estate Program: A unique offering in partnership with the National Association for Industrial and Office Parks, a commercial real estate development association. It is a 10-day on-campus program exclusively designed for rising high school juniors and seniors of color, meant to offer a gateway to careers in commercial real estate. You will explore various dimensions of real estate, from architecture and development to investment and urban planning, while networking with industry stalwarts and Drexel's faculty.
If you’re a student of color with even a slight interest in the real estate industry or in architecture and planning, then you should not miss applying to this program. The real-world exposure it offers is phenomenal, and will also help cement your profile as they only accept students with excellent academic and extracurricular credentials.
How is it structured?: You will be working with Drexel professors, industry mentors, and corporate executives drawn from a variety of real estate careers, like architecture, development, investment, construction, brokerage and urban planning. The program features case studies, team building activities, college readiness and enrichment events, and even site visits.
Who is eligible?: You must be a high school sophomore or junior of color with commendable academic achievements. Drexel asserts that the admission process is competitive, with a preference for outstanding GPAs, exceptional SAT/ACT/PSAT scores, and active involvement in extracurricular and/or community service activities.
How do you apply?: Applications have to be submitted by the end of March for priority consideration, post which they are considered on a rolling basis pending camp availability.
What is the fee?: Drexel provides a full scholarship for all accepted candidates.
What are the program dates?: The program takes place typically in the 2nd week of July.
Are Drexel’s Summer Business Programs considered prestigious?
One aspect of program prestie is also institutional prestige. LeBow College of business has well structured business programs, but practically, ranks on the lower side of the top 100 (89 for the part-time MBA and 102 overall). It has an acceptance rate of around 86% according to U.S. News, making it a non-selective institution.
Coming to the programs for high school students, these summer programs have been recognized as some of the most innovative programs for high school students by Forbes. There isn’t much data available around the acceptance rates, so we’ve gone by the program information and eligibility criteria. We would say that the NAIOP-Drexel Summer Real Estate Program is comparably of higher prestige than the other programs because it is a funded program aimed at increasing diversity in business. T From the program information and our research, we think that this program is locally attractive. Camp Business will not carry much weight as a stand-alone activity, but if you can tie it into a larger narrative in your college application, then it can be a supplementary point.
Considering Pros & Cons
Camp Business
Pros:
1. You will be exposed to a comprehensive curriculum spanning most if not all the major business disciplines. Marketing, finance, accounting, strategy, branding - these are all core business concepts that you will study in college, and Camp Business will provide you a head start in mastering them.
2. There are options for both commuter and residential sessions, making it slightly more accessible and affordable. The program is mandatorily in person to ensure maximum peer learning and networking, both of which are valuable assets.
3. There are alumni-sponsored scholarships available based on financial need, not to mention the affordability of the program itself. This makes Camp Business one of the more affordable on-campus programs we have covered, and definitely one that should be strongly considered if you’re interested in business education but are limited by funds.
Cons:
1. There is no virtual option available, making it far less accessible for international students.
2. It is a very short course, less than 2 weeks. While Drexel does its best to jam-pack it with all the key business concepts, group learning and practical application possible, there is only so much you will be able to retain and so this program has accordingly limited learning and takeaways.
Business Bootcamp:
Pros:
1. It’s a short entry point into understanding the basics of business, easily fitting into your summer
2. Engaging and interactive learning environment.
Cons:
1. No matter how intensive the program, two days is still too short a time to maximize your learning.
2. Again, no virtual option available restricts it to national students.
NAIOP-Drexel Summer Real Estate Program:
Pros:
1. It is designed specifically for students of color, and aims to ensure diversity in the real estate sector.
2. Full scholarships for all accepted students make this an absolutely stand-out course offering, freeing you from the burden of managing program fees. This is especially useful for driven and talented students limited in their options by a lack of funds.
3. You will get comprehensive exposure to the real estate sector and interact with real professionals, getting a head start on networking.
Cons:
1. You cannot apply for the program if you’re not a student of color.
2. Even as a student of color, you must have stellar grades and extracurriculars to have a chance at securing a spot.
Our Review: Should You Apply?
If you are interested in business, then Camp Business or even Business Bootcamp are both short enough, and affordable enough, to be considered as good options to participate in over the summer. If you’re a student of color with an interest in the real estate sector, the same applies for the Real Estate Program as well. If you are located in Philadelphia, then this is a good option for you to consider, especially if you’ve done your research and some of the other business programs for high school students are looking like they might be a bit too competitive.
If you’re clear about which career you’re interested in and are looking for in-depth programs to teach you new skills or deepen your exposure to the industry, then you would be better served applying to the Wharton Global Youth Program, or the Brown Leadership Institute for example. You could also consider participating in an application-oriented internship experience such as the one offered by Ladder Internships. Drexel’s programs will serve as good footholds and stepping stone in the world of business, but if you’ve already taken the leap, then they won’t push you much further on their own.
If you’re looking for an incubator program that helps you establish a developed startup in high school, consider the Young Founders Lab!
The Young Founder’s Lab is a real-world start-up bootcamp 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.
You can access the application link here!
If you're looking for a real-world internship that can help boost your resume while applying to college, we recommend Ladder Internships!
Ladder Internships is a selective program equipping students with virtual internship experiences at startups and nonprofits around the world!
The startups range across a variety of industries, and each student can select which field they would most love to deep dive into.
The fields include technology, machine learning and AI, finance, environmental science and sustainability, business and marketing, healthcare and medicine, media and journalism and more.
You can explore all the options here on their application form. As part of their internship, each student will work on a real-world project that is of genuine need to the startup they are working with, and present their work at the end of their internship.
If you’re looking for a competitive mentored research program in subjects like data science, machine learning, political theory, biology, and chemistry, consider applying to Horizon’s Research Seminars and Labs!
This is a selective virtual research program that lets you engage in advanced research and develop a research paper on a subject of your choosing. Horizon has worked with 1000+ high school students so far and offers 600+ research specializations for you to choose from.
You can find the application link here
Lumiere Research Scholar Program
If you’re looking for the opportunity to do in-depth research on aspects of business, strategy and entrepreneurship, you could also consider applying to one of the Lumiere Research Scholar Programs, selective online high school programs for students I founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 4000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here.
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a PhD 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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