Northwestern doesn't publish an acceptance rate for its pre-college programs. The School of Professional Studies runs the on-campus tracks and says admission is limited and rolling.

Tufts doesn't publish a Pre-College acceptance rate, so there's no single percentage to chase.

Duke Pre-College doesn't publish an acceptance rate, and its official page lists eligibility rules instead of a selective cutoff.

Georgetown doesn't publish an acceptance rate for its pre-college programs, and it admits students on a rolling basis, so there's no set percentage to beat.

Cornell doesn't publish an acceptance rate for its Precollege Studies program, so any percentage you see online is a guess.

Columbia's Pre-College Summer Program offers residential, commuter, and online courses for rising 9th through 12th graders.

The Davidson THINK Summer Institute is a three-week residential program for ages 13 to 16, and Davidson doesn't publish an acceptance rate.

The Penn Medicine Summer Program doesn't publish an acceptance rate, so any percentage you see online is a guess.

Stanford doesn’t publish an acceptance rate for the Stanford Clinical Summer Internship. A 2025 university news profile put it at about 5%, so treat that as an estimate.

UChicago doesn't publish an acceptance rate for Summer Session or its three-week Immersion courses, so no official number exists.

Pre-college summer programs can be worth it for learning and testing a field, but most don't move an admissions decision on their own.

A good ACT score depends on your college list, but a 24 is a solid starting point because it beats about 79 percent of test takers.

Updated: 16th October, 2026 TL;DR A good PSAT score clears the College Board benchmark for your grade: 430 in Reading and Writing plus 480 in Math for sophomores, and 460 plus 510 for juniors. That works out to about 910 and 970 on a 320 to 1520 scale. If you're a junior aiming for National Merit, the class of 2027 needed a Selection Index of 208 to 223, depending on your state. If you want to show colleges more than a score, look at the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. It p

Updated: 16th October, 2026 TL;DR NYU doesn't publish an acceptance rate for Precollege, so no official number exists for 2026. The main published bar is a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale. The latest posted cycle, summer 2026, ran July 1 to August 12, with tuition from $700 to $16,016 depending on credits. It's built for rising juniors and seniors who can pay for a college course. If you'd rather lead your own research project, look at the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. It pairs yo

Updated: 15th October, 2026 TL;DR Summer Springboard is a legit but paid enrichment program, not a selective one. It runs on 15 U.S. campuses for high schoolers, and most host universities don't run it. For 2027, a two-week residential course costs $5,398 at Cal Poly and $6,298 at Berkeley, plus a $600 deposit. Admission is rolling with a 3.0 GPA minimum. It suits you if you want to test a major and try dorm life. If you want a stronger application, look at the Lumiere Resear

The Yale Summer Program in Astrophysics (YSPA) doesn't publish an acceptance rate, but it admits only 32 students each summer, so the odds are long.

The Harvard Pre-College Program is a two-week, non-credit summer program on Harvard's campus for rising juniors and seniors.

As a high school student, summer is a great time for you to learn beyond the classroom, and enrolling in a course is one of the smartest ways to do it. Unlike expensive study abroad programs or multi-week residential camps, courses are often a more accessible and affordable option that still delivers real academic value.

If you're thinking about studying English literature, journalism, or the humanities in college, a summer English program is a smart choice to start with! These programs give you an early look at the kinds of reading, writing, and discussion you'll encounter at university. You'll read texts more closely than you usually do in school, debate different interpretations, write multiple drafts, and receive feedback that pushes your ideas further.

If you're a high school student, an after-school research program is a solid way to explore a subject seriously and practically, without having to wait until summer to do it! These programs let you build something real, gradually, alongside your regular classes. You'll also come away with skills that matter well beyond the program, such as reading research papers, working with data, and explaining your findings clearly to people outside the project.