70+ Research Opportunities for High School Students 2024
Summer school is not a must in college applications, but in today's increasingly competitive college applications, more and more students and parents are beginning to pay attention to and apply for summer school programs.
By attending summer school, students can not only enrich their experience but also meet many outstanding students from different countries, which is beneficial to improving their international vision and can also be exposed to knowledge of different majors in advance. In particular, high-quality summer school programs are the only choice for background improvement, soft power enhancement, and understanding of target schools.
What is summer school?
Summer school (summer school) is summer school, and some schools are also called summer programs or summer sessions. It was first opened by Harvard University in the United States to provide summer study opportunities for its students. It has certain academic and professional characteristics.
Some official institutions in the United States also recruit students for summer schools, such as research institutes, foundations, hospitals, etc., and the professional fields involved are very wide, and mathematics, scientific research, engineering, computer science, etc. can be found.
Admission to summer schools is also difficult, especially for some top universities, such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, Princeton, etc. Their programs are very valuable, but at the same time, it is also difficult to be admitted. You need to provide not only SAT scores but also essays, letters of recommendation, interviews, etc.
Students who attend summer school also have to take several hours of courses every day, all taught by university professors, and take a graduation exam at the end of the course. Only after passing the exam can a transcript or certificate of completion be issued. Universities generally recognize each other's summer school credits, and students can be exempted from relevant courses after admission.
Unlike summer camps that focus on interests and exploration, summer schools focus more on academic learning. The experience of summer camps has little effect on students' undergraduate applications, but choosing the right summer school will be an important plus for students' undergraduate applications.
Classification of summer schools
Summer schools are mainly divided into academic summer schools and non-academic summer schools.
Academic summer schools are mainly sponsored by American universities to offer college credit courses for students to study. After completing the course, students can obtain American university credits, and these credits will be transferred to the student's current colleges after entering the undergraduate stage in the future. Participating in the academic summer school program and completing the courses before entering the undergraduate stage is beneficial to university applications to a certain extent. Getting credits in advance is also helpful for undergraduate studies. At the same time, it can also save some tuition fees. It is a holiday choice for many prospective international students.
Therefore, the key to the credit summer school is to get good grades in the elective courses. If there are no good grades, it is not very meaningful.
Non-academic summer schools are roughly divided into two types: experiential and academic:
Experiential summer school: The application difficulty is relatively low, and the project form is mainly experiential course activities. Many students applying for universities will experience the campus environment and atmosphere by participating in the summer school program of the target university.
Academic summer school: The academic project form is mainly based on high-quality academic research topics and projects, and its experience is very beneficial for applying to top universities. But correspondingly, academic summer schools have very strict requirements on standardized test scores, academic background, language skills, etc. for applicants. The application is difficult and the admission rate is low.
The significance of attending summer schools
1. Improve international academic experience and background, make up for the lack of standardized test scores, and enhance competitiveness in university applications;
2. Experience the teaching mode and campus culture of American universities in advance to help adapt to overseas study life;
3. Obtain university credits in advance, which is helpful for undergraduate studies.
4. Increase the success rate of being admitted to American universities.
How to add points to yourself in summer school
1. Experience
Everyone knows that American universities look at not only test scores but also the degree of your exploration of academic majors. The deeper you explore, the greater the success rate. When you show interest in certain professional field practices and have multiple experiences of participation, this is much more useful than a paper. report.
2. Learning mode
What many students lack most is teamwork ability, which is exactly the Western learning mode. But if you participate in summer school, show strong cooperation ability in the team, and can learn and make progress together with everyone, then your learning journey will be very colorful.
Secondly, Chinese students lack attention to society and the ability to analyze and solve problems. After understanding the background of Chinese students admitted to Ivy League schools, it can be found that they all have the ability to benefit society without exception, such as what research they have done by leading environmental groups, what social activities they have participated in, and what positive results they have produced for society and mankind.
These shortcomings in application can be made up by participating in summer school projects, and through activity projects, students can exercise their ability to observe and solve problems around them.
3. Matching degree
It is not necessarily the most valuable to attend Ivy League summer school with one heart. The important thing is to choose a summer school that suits you. For example, if you are admitted to Harvard's summer school, you can imagine that it brings together the best children from all over the world.
But if you are not in the top 5, it is basically difficult to get a recommendation letter from a Harvard teacher. When you have the experience of Harvard Summer School, but do not have a recommendation letter from a Harvard teacher, the admissions officer will doubt your performance in this experience.
Therefore, when choosing a summer school, you should also objectively consider your overall level and set appropriate goals. The one that suits you best is the best.
76 top university research projects
Mathematics research projects
- Honors Summer Math Club
- The Ross Mathematics for Young Scientists
- Stanford University Mathematics Camp
- Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics
- Canada/USA MathCamp
- Awesome Math Summer Program
- Program in Mathematics for Young Scientists
- MathILy
- Summer Workshop in Mathematics
Science research projects
- International Summer School for Young Physicists
- Neuroscience Institute at Wake Forest University
- Penn Medicine Summer Program for High School Students
- Jackson Lab Summer Student Program
- Summer Science Research Program in Rockefeller University
- Stones and Bones
- Nanoscale Microscopy Lab Summer Institute at UCLA
- Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program
- I-STEM Biotechnology Summer Scholars
- Field Studies for Sustainable Futures at Smith College
- The Yale Summer Program in Astrophysics
- Astronomy High School Institute in Alfred University
- The University of Atizona Astronomy Camp
- Research in the Biological Sciences
Engineering research projects
- Engineering Summer Academy at Penn
- Introduction to Engineering Program at Notre Dame
- NYU Tandon's Summer Program
- JHU Explore Engineering Innovation
- Cornell Engineering CATALYST Academy
Computer research projects
- Indiana University Luddy Pre-College Summer Program
- Stanford AI4ALL
- Summer Program on Applied Rationality and Cognition
- Google Computer Science Summer Institute
- The Women's Technology Program
- AI Scholars
- National High School Game Academy at Carnegie Mellon
Scientific research projects
- UCSB Research Mentorship Program
- Summer Science Program
- Cal State Summer School for Math and Science
- High School Honors Science, Math and Engineering Program
- UC Davis Young Scholars Program
- Research in Science & Engineering
- Summer Academy for Math and Science
- Research Science Institute
- Tufts Summer Research Experience
- Program for Reaserch in Mathematics,Engineering and Science
Leadership research projects
- Clark Scholars Program
- Sports Management Institute at Boston College
- Leadership for Social Change at Tufts Univeristy
- Business Institute at Wake Forest University
- Notre Dame Leadership Seminars
- Brown Leadership Institute
- Young Global Scholars Program
- The Management & Technology Summer Institute
54. Brown Environmental Leadership Lab
55. Young Women's Leadership Institute at Barnard College
Humanities and social sciences research projects
57. Stanford Summer Humanities Institute
58. Kenyon Young Writer Workshop
59. Princeton Summer Journalism Program
60. Summer Journalism @NYU
61. Emerson College Creative Writer Workshop
62. Medill-Northwestern Journalism Institute
63. Iowa Young Writers' Studio
- Telluride Association Summer Seminars
Business research projects
66. Economics for Leaders
67. Wharton Sports Business Academy
68. UC Berkeley Haas: High School Entrepreneurship
69. Babson Summer Study for High School Students
70. Summer @ Stern
71. Iacocca Global Entrepreneurship Intensive at Lehigh University
72. Moneyball Academy
73. Essentials of Entrepreneurship
74. Leadership in the Business World
75. Silicon Valley Innovation Academy at Stanford University
- Essential of Finance
In general, summer school is not necessary for undergraduate applications, but it is an important means to make applicants more competitive.
To have an ideal application result, you need to plan early. It is recommended that high school students start to conduct a comprehensive assessment of themselves from the 9th and 10th grades, especially in the exploration and confirmation of direction and major, so that they can highlight their strengths reduce their weaknesses, and consider whether to apply for summer school and how to match the appropriate summer school more comprehensively.
Finally, it should be noted that summer school has a clear seasonality, and the application is generally closed from January to March. Competitive summer schools and projects require a TOEFL score of at least 90+. When applying for summer school, you must arrange your time reasonably and make the best plan.
One other option - the Embark Exploration Program
If you are interested in online research projects, you can learn about the Embark Exploration Program. The mentors of this program are from world-renowned universities such as Ivy League, MIT, Caltech, Johns Hopkins University (JHU), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), top 30 universities in the United States, national key laboratories, UK G5, Max Planck Institute, ETH Zurich, National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, etc.
In this program, you will have the opportunity to communicate one-on-one with mentors. The mentors will tailor the research project planning and guidance for you based on your research interests and ideas. Through this program, you can not only quickly improve your understanding of research, but also enhance your academic ability in the field of your interest. Click here to fill out the application form.
In addition, don't forget to check out the famous STEM competitions and art and PBL competitions. By participating in these high-quality research competitions, you can not only challenge yourself, but also attract the attention of Ivy League schools.
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