Top 12 Online Summer Programs for High School Students
If you are looking to make the most of your summer through an immersive academic experience that boosts your scholar profile for college, then consider online summer programs and online summer schools.
Why an online summer program?
The answer to this question will depend on what your priorities are. If it is learning from the comfort of your home and accommodating a flexible schedule and saving some added boarding, travel, and meal costs, then these are good options for you. If you are looking for a feel of campus life, then a residential or commuter program is probably best for you!
Note that attending a summer program by a university, such as Harvard for example, does not guarantee admission into the undergraduate program there. However, summer schools can serve as a bridge between high school and college, by providing you exposure to college-level academics, college life, and networking opportunities.
In this blog, we'll have 12 solid online summer program options for you. Some of these are in the format of an online school (with courses), and the others are research mentorship programs that are run online.
Virtual Summer Programs for High School Students
If you are looking to do cutting-edge research in a field of your choice, then you should consider this option. Lumiere was founded by researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Hundreds of ambitious high school students do research in the field of engineering through the Lumiere Research Scholar Programs. Each student is paired with a top Ph.D. and works with their mentor 1-1 to produce a university-level research paper.
The programs are entirely virtual and vary in duration based on the student’s end goal with respect to how much of a deep dive they would prefer. You can choose from an array of STEM and non-STEM subjects, business, AI, and data science.
Also, check out the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students.
Program Dates:
Four cohorts run throughout the year, namely the spring, summer, winter, and fall cohorts.
Application Deadline:
Applications are open throughout the year for the four cohorts. Currently, applications for the Summer Cohort close on May 14, 2023. Apply here!
Eligibility: High school students
2. Veritas AI
Veritas AI, founded and run by Harvard graduate students, offers programs tailored for high school students who are passionate about artificial intelligence. Students who are looking to get started with AI, ML, and data science would benefit from the AI Scholars program. Through this 10-session boot camp, students are introduced to the fundamentals of AI & data science and get a chance to work on real-world projects.
Another option for more advanced students is the AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase. Through this program, students get a chance to work 1:1 with mentors from top universities on a unique, individual project. A bonus of this program is that students have access to the in-house publication team to help them secure publications in high school research journals. The fellowship encourages students to explore interdisciplinary approaches, enabling them to merge AI with various fields such as finance, medicine, sports, environmental science, and more! You can also check out some examples of past projects here.
Location: Virtual
Cost:
$2,290 for the 10-week AI Scholars program
$5,400 for the 15-week AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase
$6,900 for both
Need-based financial aid is available for AI Scholars. You can apply here.
Application deadline: On a rolling basis. Winter cohort deadline - December 1, 2024
Program dates: Various according to the cohort
Program selectivity: Moderately selective
Eligibility: Ambitious high school students located anywhere in the world. AI Fellowship applicants should either have completed the AI Scholars program or exhibit experience with AI concepts or Python.
Application Requirements: Online application form, answers to a few questions about the student's background & coding experience, math courses, and areas of interest.
This is a level above the Pre-College program in terms of how much of a taste of college life it’ll give you. Compared to the two weeks, this is a seven-week session. It is available online and in in-person.
One big difference is that there are over 200 courses for students to choose from, for full college credit. Another differentiator is that these classes are also attended by university undergraduates - which can make for an interesting opportunity to get a deeper insight into Harvard and college at large. This will definitely be a more academically rigorous experience and, if you pick your courses strategically (in line with your intended major), you can have something substantial to show for it.
Here are some sample courses they offer:
Animal Transgenesis: A Laboratory Primer on Genetics
Problem-solving and Project Design
Connecting to the World Through Chemistry
Find the full course catalogue here.
Program Cost: $3,300–$13,200 + $75 non-refundable application fee (financial aid awards available)
Program Dates: 7 weeks, June 18 – August 6, 2022
Application Deadline: January 26 (early) // March 2 (regular) // May 1
College credit offered
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.
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 having 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: The total cost to attend the 4-week program is $2900. There is need-based financial aid.
Location: This program is 100% virtual, with live, interactive workshops
Eligibility: The program is currently open to all high school students
Program Dates: The 2024 edition of the program starts on June 5th and spans over 4-weeks.
Application Deadline: There are 3 application deadlines that you can choose between:
Early Decision Deadline: March 17th, 2024
Regular Admission Deadline 1: April 14, 2024
Regular Admission Deadline 2: May 12th, 2023
You can access the application link here!
5. Horizon
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! It is one of the very few research programs for high school students that offers a choice between quantitative and qualitative research!
Once you select a particular subject track and type of research you’ll be paired with a professor or Ph.D. scholar (from a top university) who will mentor you throughout your research journey. You’ll work to create a 20-page, university-level 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 and on college applications. Apply here!
Location: Virtual
Application Date: May 21, 2024 for the summer cohort, and September 25, 2024 for the fall cohort
Program Dates:
Summer seminar - June 24, 2024 - September 2, 2024
Fall seminar - October 23, 2024 - February 19, 2025
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 couple of tracks require formal prerequisites, more details of which can be found here.
You will get a taste of life as a journalist in this year-long course. You will participate in a range of activities, including attending online workshops and lectures with renowned journalists from all over the country.
Apart from the usual workshops and lectures, you will have access to a number of exciting opportunities such as visiting newsrooms, making a documentary, and working on the Princeton Summer Journal which is published at the end of the program. Fair warning - this is a highly selective program including a three-round application process and a final cohort of up to 40 students.
Heads up - this does have a short, in-person competence.
Program Cost: Free
Program Dates: Year-long
Application Deadline: February 27, 2023
Location: Online and in-person versions available throughout the year culminating in a 10-day residential program at the end of July
Eligibility: Students must be in the 11th grade, have a minimum GPA of 3.5, and must qualify for one of these socioeconomic conditions.
A pre-college program for students interested in the field of medicine and medical research, Georgetown University's summer course is spread across 1-week intensives, 2-week, and 4-week sessions, based on your pace of learning and availability.
In this pre-college program, you will be introduced to clinical research, ethics in research, delve into medical research in cancer, as well as writing a scientific article based on your research project. With guided projects, mentorship by top researchers, and career guidance this program is one you should apply to in 2023.
Note: The course also lets you work on a capstone research project of your choice, an excellent way to demonstrate your motivation, dedication, and relevant skills in your college application.
Program Cost: $1495, scholarships available
Program Dates:
4-week program - February 5 - March 5, 2023
2-week program - January 22 - February 5, 2023
4-week program - January 8 - February 5, 2023
Application Deadlines:
4-week program - January 1, 2023
2-week program - January 15, 2023
4-week program - January 29, 2023
Eligibility: Open to all high-school students
Arizona State University offers free summer courses for eligible students, via ASU Prep Digital, the university’s online high school. For this program, ASU is partnering with Brookfield Engineering Science & Technology (BEST) Academy to provide free, online courses across a variety of disciplines.
Program Cost- Free of cost
Program Dates and Deadlines - Summer sessions start on July 1st, and you can enroll for the course of your choice by pre-registering with BEST Academy.
Eligibility - All high-school students from Riverview, Orange, San Diego, and Imperial Counties can apply for this program free of cost. Incoming high-school students can apply for courses too and receive corresponding school and college credits.
Course Overview - ASU offers 15 courses such as World Languages, Health & Wellness, Social Studies, Medical Sciences, and Communications. See the complete catalogue here.
Looking for a summer school that acts as the perfect bridge between high school maths and advanced maths (the type you’ll learn at college)? MathCamp’s Online Summer Program is a highly coveted one, with students learning advanced concepts in pure and applied maths spread over a 5-week program. You may find the fees of MathCamp a bit steep, but their financial aid model has helped hundreds of students from diverse backgrounds share their love for maths under the same roof, without any financial anxieties.
Program Cost- Free for all American and Canadian families with an income of less than $65,000. MathCamp offers financial aid worth $150,000 every year, which is very beneficial for international students and international visa holders.
Program Dates and Deadlines - Apart from your basic information, MathCamp requires you to send over a letter of motivation, solutions to a past MathCamp quiz, a letter stating your need for financial aid (if required), and two recommendation letters. For more details about the process, visit the MathCamp official website.
Eligibility - Middle-school and high-school students with a passion for maths and learning, aged 13-18.
Course Overview - Lectures, discussion sessions, projects, and workshops held by leading mathematicians.
10. Summer@Brown
Brown University offers multiple summer programs, but Summer@Brown is one of their more welcoming offerings for high-school students. As a Summer@Brown participant, you can choose from their catalogue of 300+ non-credit courses, engage in community activities, college-readiness workshops, and more! Brown University offers Summer@Brown Online, commuter options, off-campus programs, one-week courses, and seven-week courses.
We’ve done a deep dive into the summer opportunities available at Brown.
Program Cost:
Residential Students (includes room and board): $6,124
Commuter Students: $4,330
Program Dates:
Residential 1-week program -
June 25 to June 30
July 9 to July 14
July 16 to July 21
July 23 to July 28
You can find the complete 2023 schedule here.
Application Deadline: Apply by May 12, 2023.
Location: Virtual/Brown University Campus
Eligibility: Open to all high-school students
Pro tip: If you are seeking to earn college credit at Brown, check out Brown’s highly competitive Pre-Baccalaureate program. This program is open to rising high school seniors or recent high school graduates who are ready to tackle the rigors of credit-bearing undergraduate studies.
GirlsWhoCode aims to bring more women and non-binary individuals to the forefront of STEM-based research, especially in scholarly communities. Its Summer Immersion Program is one such effort at helping high-school students from Hispanic, Latinx, and other underrepresented groups engage with women in tech spaces.
Program Cost- Free of cost
Program Dates and Deadlines - Applications close in April 2023, while the program commences in July.
Course Overview - All program participants gain real-world experience and tech-based learning through extensive discussion sessions, Q&As, participation in projects and research, and mentoring sessions by women in tech.
Eligibility - Open to all female and non-binary students in high school.
Ladder Internship 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 startups are based all across the world, with the majority being in the United States, Asia and then Europe, and the UK. 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.
Cost: $1490 (Financial Aid Available)
Location: Remote! You can work from anywhere in the world.
Application deadline: April 16 and May 14
Program dates: 8 weeks, June to August
Eligibility: Students who can work for 10-20 hours/week, for 8-12 weeks. Open to high school students, undergraduates, and gap year students!
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.
Image: Mathcamp logo