SUMMER SCHOOLS

WHERE TO FIND SUMMER SCHOOLS?- if you want to use your summer productively whether you are Y1 student or taking gap year here are some summer school options

Always check official websites of the universities- many universities are offering summer courses:

UWC SHORT COURSES WEBSITE

MOSTAR SUMMER YOUTH PROGRAM

NATURAL SCIENCE SUMMER SCHOOL

LIST OF SUMMER SCHOOL

50 colleges for best summer school experience- profiles of colleges

CERN-Solvay Student Camp @ CERN, SWITZERLAND

Location: CERN campus, Geneva, Switzerland

Cost/Stipend: Free participation

Acceptance rate/cohort size: ~30 students per camp, selected from all over the world

Dates: April 19-25

Application Deadline: Not specified

Eligibility: High school students from around the world aged 16+

The CERN–Solvay Student Camps are week-long residential programs for high school students who want firsthand exposure to experimental science. You’ll spend the week on CERN’s campus, exploring how particle physics research is conducted at the world’s largest laboratory. The program includes hands-on experiments at the Science Gateway, guided visits to active research facilities, and small-group lab explorations across the campus.

You’ll attend lectures and Q&A sessions with CERN and Solvay scientists, focusing on both current research and scientific career paths. With a cohort of just 30 students per camp, the experience is discussion-driven and highly interactive, allowing you to engage closely with scientists and peers from around the world.

Why it stands out: You live and learn inside CERN itself, working in small groups and engaging directly with researchers shaping modern physics.

Leadership Seminars @ University of Notre Dame

Acceptance rate/cohort size: 150 students are accepted each year

Dates: July 19 – 30

Application deadline: January 22

Eligibility: Rising high school seniors (current juniors) from around the world with strong academic performance and leadership experience

Cost: Free

Location: University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN

This 10-day, fully funded summer program invites academically talented high school students to Notre Dame’s campus to explore pressing global issues through intensive seminars. You can choose from and enroll in interdisciplinary courses such as environmental science and ethics, financial literacy, data innovation, and social inequality. In addition to academic exploration, you will engage in leadership-building activities and discussions that challenge you to think critically, communicate effectively, and apply your knowledge to real-world problems. The program ends with presentations and discussions that simulate a collegiate academic environment. You may also get to earn one transferable college credit.

Stanford University’s SHTEM Summer Internship

Acceptance rate/cohort size: The program is moderately selective; ~60 students are accepted annually

Dates: June 17 – August 9

Application deadline: March 1

Eligibility: High school juniors and seniors around the world, as well as community college students who are 14 or older by the program start date.

Cost: Free + stipends are offered to students who demonstrate financial need.

Location: Virtual

The SHTEM internship, hosted by Stanford University’s Compression Forum, offers an interdisciplinary research experience for high school juniors and seniors. Over eight weeks, you will be assigned a small team and work on mentored research projects spanning STEM, humanities, and design. Projects may include topics in AI, neuroscience, engineering, or linguistics and come with guidance from Stanford faculty, graduate students, and staff. Although the program is fully virtual, you will engage in collaborative research, receive hardware kits (where applicable), and commit 30–40 hours per week. Final presentations and a program-wide showcase mark the end of the experience.

ST. JOHNS COLLEGE SUMMER SCHOOL

Two full scholarships for Summer Academy 2026, covering both the cost of attendance and flights.

How to qualify for the all-inclusive UWC scholarship:

Apply for Summer Academy before March 1st – APPLY NOW
Within the application, students must answer two short questions, submit an unofficial transcript or recent report card, and their UWC scholarship letter.
Sign up for an interview.

What is included in the all-inclusive UWC scholarship?

Tuition, excursions, activities, books and all materials.
Room and board, including all meals.
Flights & ground transportation.

What is Summer Academy?

St. John’s Summer Academy is a summer program offering an introduction to unique college-level classes: we read no summaries and cite no authorities. Original texts—novels, poems, proofs, and experiments—are our direct teachers. All classes are faculty-led and discussion-based, centered on shared inquiry sparked by curiosity and sustained by reason. They demand careful reading, honest questioning, and the courage to speak—and to be challenged. Learning here is not simply about being right; it’s about listening deeply to everyone around the table.

Programs are offered in Annapolis, Maryland (late June–early July), Santa Fe, New Mexico (July), and online (late June).

HKU ACADEMY FOR THE TALENTED

We are excited to share that the HKU Academy for the Talented (HKU AcT) will be hosting 30+ summer programmes from June to August 2026, created for high‑achieving secondary school students who are eager to explore academic interests and experience university‑level learning at HKU. These programmes span a wide range of disciplines—including Business, STEM, Medicine, Law, Engineering, Humanities, and Global Studies—reflecting the Academy’s mission to foster whole‑person development and diverse cultural interactions.

Beyond academic learning, students will participate in authentic HKU experiences, including lectures and hands‑on workshops taught by HKU professors, industry exposure activities, group projects, and opportunities to interact with HKU student ambassadors.

Programme Information for Students

Students may browse and apply for any programme(s) of interest through the HKU AcT Programmes website.They are encouraged to:

Explore the full list of summer offerings
Review programme details, requiements, and scholarship information
Submit their applications early to secure their preferred programmes

All applicants will receive instructions from the HKU AcT Team to complete the required application procedures through the HKU Academy Programme Application System. The student must submit his/her membership and programme application via HKU Academy Programme Application System by March 31, 2026.

(PIONEER PROGRAM) (POSSIBLE FULL SCHOLARSHIP)- dates will vary year by year

Pioneer Academics is a research institute for high-achieving high school students seeking to conduct accredited research in STEM, social sciences and humanities. It is the only online research program that grants college credit through our partnership with Oberlin College.

I’d like to make you aware of upcoming application and scholarship deadlines:

Pioneer’s summer term application deadline is April 10, 2022.
If applicants have inquiries about need-based scholarships, they should reach out to scholarships@pioneeracademics.com before April 24, 2022.

Please note that the program is highly selective, with Pioneer receiving 4,256 applications for 1,178 research positions in 2021.

Summer: Pre-College Artificial Intelligence Program by MIT Graduates

Summer 2022: Pre-College Artificial Intelligence Program by MIT Graduates

Inspirit AI is a live online 25-hour pre-college AI program that prepares students (grades 5 to 12) across disciplines for an AI-driven future, guiding them to build socially impactful projects like pneumonia diagnosis, stock market prediction, and criminal justice reform! Students learn in small-group classrooms, and cohorts for beginner and advanced coders are available.

Application deadline: usually in May please double check the website

Please find the high school application here and program brochure here. Feel free to contact our program coordinator Aidan at arg2198@columbia.edu with any questions.

(EMERGING GLOBAL LEADERS) (UCHICAGO):

https://summer.uchicago.edu/programs/emerging-world-leaders

YYGS at YALE:

https://globalscholars.yale.edu/

TASS- Cornell:

https://tellurideassociation.org/our-programs/high-school-students/

INFINIUM EDUCATION:

Programme Leader of Infinitum Education’s Young Leaders Programme. 14 – 18-year-old students of United World Colleges as part of our global recruitment drive for the prestigious Infinitum’s Young Leaders Programme scheduled for July 2023 in Oxford, United Kingdom.

Headquartered in the UK, Infinitum Education is an Education Technology Startup. We are on a mission to democratize Entrepreneurship & Skills training via hybrid, simulation, and gamified learning.

We are accepting applications for the Young Leaders Programme, a highly selective one-week immersive leadership and entrepreneurial residential training program for promising 14 to 18-year-olds worldwide. The program features:

Learning from inaccessible faculty, including world-leading Academics, Entrepreneurs & Seasoned Business executives.
Interactive and hands-on entrepreneurship training.
The top performers from YLP 2023 program will get Micro-Internships in the UK, USA & Europe-based startups.

For more information on our programme, please visit our website: https://www.infinitumeducation.com/young-leaders-programme/

LIYSF:

London STEM Summer Course are invited for students aged 16+ at www.liysf.org.uk

The London International Youth Science Forum (LIYSF) welcomes 500 of the best young science students aged 16 – 21 years old from over 70 countries around the world in London.

APPLY NOW

Students are invited to submit an application today at https://www.liysf.org.uk/liysf-participation/booking-forms

ABOUT LIYSF

15-day residential science event based at Imperial College London for students aged 16-21 years old
World leading scientists give 10 main lecture demonstrations – see below
500 students attend from over 70 countries worldwide
LIYSF is an impartial, accredited not-for-profit social enterprise established in 1959
Royal Patron, HRH The Princess Royal
4 day visits to the best UK university laboratories (London, Oxford, Cambridge and UK), research centres and scientific institutions (choice from over 55 visits)
4 specialist lecture sessions, across subjects such as; Artificial Intelligence, Nano-technology, Engineering, Robotics, Biology, Medicine, Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Astrophysics (choice of 32 lectures)
Active social programme to share and learn about different cultures
Students gain new knowledge and skills, connections and a broader perspective
Participation charge of £2,995 GBP includes; 14 nights’ accommodation in South Kensington, all meals, main lectures and specialist lectures, scientific visits across the UK, transport during LIYSF, certificate and social programme.
63rd LIYSF: 26th July – 9th August 2023
LIYSF is an impartial, non-political, not-for-profit social enterprise established in 1959.
You can see our video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RfJ_yLTQHA