You’re officially *in* high school now. You’re a rising junior, which means that next year is going to be your most intense yet. Your summer should reflect that. Hopefully this year you’ve done some work exploring and solidifying your interests within the context of your extracurricular activities, outside-of-school efforts, and your reading and online courses. We know we’ve said this before, but it’s important to reiterate: colleges look at how you spend your free time. Summer is a big chunk of free time that is yours for the taking (or wasting).
And this summer is particularly important. We suggest that rising juniors choose programs and projects that are a bit more specific and intensive. Your summers should tell a story about you continuing to challenge yourself in your area(s) of interest. You should also be preparing to rise up to and take on some higher leadership positions in your extracurricular activities, so this summer can help prepare you for refining your expertise. A lot of the programs that we suggest require an application and some essays—think of them as practice for college applications, not a chore. It all builds!
Here are some great programs for 10th grade summers/rising junior summers, split up by area of interest. This is definitely not an exhaustive list, and be sure to check out the other lists we’ve put together on this topic:
STEM/Engineering
Applied Research Innovations in Science and Engineering (ARISE) Program (NYU)
Duke TIP Program: Applications, Algorithms, Computers: Modern Programming (Rice University)
Bluestamp 6-Week Intensive Engineering Program (NYC, Silicon Valley, San Francisco)
English/Writing
Duke TIP Program: The Pen as Weapon: The Art of Satire (University of Georgia, Louisiana State University)
Yale Young Global Scholars Program: Literature, Philosophy and Culture (Yale)
Math
Stanford SUMaC Program (Stanford)
Duke TIP Program: Mathematical Modeling and Applied Statistics (University of Georgia)
The Ross Mathematics Program (Ohio Dominican University)
Economics & Psychology
Duke TIP Program: Game Theory: Economics (Duke, Georgia Tech)
Wharton Global Young Leaders Academy (UPenn)
Duke TIP Program: Psychology of Decision Making: Behavioral Economics (Georgia Tech)
Law/Government
Law & Advocacy Program (Yale, Georgetown)
Oxford Political Academy (Oxford)
Duke TIP Program: Ideals in Action: Policymaking on a Global Scale (Rice University)
Film/Acting
Design and create your own film project – nothing says “ambitious” more than creating and executing an independent project with a deliverable (like a film!).
Reach out to us if you’re struggling to find a program in your area of interest. We love doing research and would love to help you find the next step in your pursuits. We want to encourage rising juniors to take a step outside of their comfort zone and to challenge themselves. We know you’re up to the challenge.