10 Summer Physics Programs for Middle School Students in Boston
- Stephen Turban
- 1 hour ago
- 6 min read
Middle schoolers in Boston who are curious about physics can consider pursuing a summer program in the subject. Physics programs help you go deeper into the subject and explore various topics through a challenging curriculum. Often taught by leading faculty, you get the opportunity to interact with experienced staff and professionals who provide career insights.
In addition to academics, you develop hands-on skills relevant to careers in physics. Working alongside peers on projects, you develop communication and teamwork skills. So, here are a few physics summer programs in Boston you can consider.
10 Summer Physics Programs for Middle School Students in Boston
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies; financial aid available
Dates: 8 weeks, varies by cohort
Application Deadline: Varies according to cohort
Eligibility: Students in grades 6 to 8
Students looking for a physics research program can opt for Lumiere’s Junior Explorer Program. Here, you are paired with PhD mentors from various prestigious universities, like Harvard, Oxford, MIT, and Princeton, who are experts in physics and related subjects. By conducting hands-on research, you gain specialized knowledge in the subject. You learn to read and interpret academic literature, build research questions, and create outputs such as a high school-level research paper or case study, which enables you to build crucial skills as you work on your research. The program also helps develop scientific communication skills through feedback and writing coaching sessions. You can opt for the Junior Research and
Publication Program, where you can publish your research in academic journals.
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 15 – 20
Location: Greater Wellesley, MA
Cost: $699; limited scholarships are available
Dates: July 13 – 17
Application Deadline: On a rolling basis
Eligibility: Students in grades 6 – 8
This practical program introduces you to various physics concepts. You work with hand-made prisms to understand light. Classic physics experiments teach you about the laws of motion. You also learn to build strong structures using flimsy material. Finally, you work with circuits, wires, and batteries to create light. Thus, you discover different physics principles and solidify your learnings through practical projects.
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies; financial aid available
Dates: 25 hours over 10 weeks (on weekends) during the spring cohort and 25 hours over 2 weeks (on weekdays) during the summer cohort.
Application Deadline: Rolling deadlines
Eligibility: Students in grades 6 – 8
Veritas AI’s AI Trailblazers program is an interdisciplinary course that teaches you physics and technology. You grasp the fundamentals of AI and machine learning at the start of the program. Some of the topics covered in the theoretical component include Python, data analysis, regression, image classification, neural networks, and AI ethics. Thereafter, you apply your learnings to complete a project. This project must solve a real-world physics challenge through technology. Past students have built a machine-learning model to classify music genres and a machine-learning algorithm to provide a custom list of educational resources based on selected specifications.
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 12 per class
Location: Brooks School, North Andover, MA
Cost: Ranges from $750 per week – $937.50 per week
Dates: June 22 – July 1, July 6 – 17, July 20 – 31, or August 3 – 7
Application Deadline: First-come, first-served basis
Eligibility: Students in grades 6 – 11
Students looking to explore various subjects can opt for this 2-week summer program. In Term II, you can opt for Mad Science: Exploring & Learning Through Experiments. Here, you discover various science subjects, including physics, as you examine how electrons move through a light bulb. You learn to think like a scientist by collecting and analyzing data, designing experiments, and presenting your understanding in different formats. Classes are structured in 75-minute blocks. In the afternoons, you can partake in Fine Arts studios to bolster your creativity. Classroom sizes are small to facilitate personalized learning.
5. EXPLO 360°
Location: Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA
Cost: $6,295 (overnight) or $4,045 (day); financial aid may be available
Dates: Session 1: June 28 – July 11 (overnight) or June 29 – 10 (day)Session 2: July 12 – 25 (overnight) or July 13 – 24 (day)
Application Deadline: To be announced
Eligibility: Rising 7th – 9th graders
EXPLO 360° allows you to choose from a range of workshops and electives based on your interests. You pick 2 workshops and 2 electives that you study throughout the program. Workshops are collaborative and involve completing projects, whereas electives allow you to develop practical skills. To study physics, you can opt for the Engineering in Action or Aeronautical Engineering tracks. Each of these introduces you to fundamental physics topics and teaches you creative problem-solving. You complete engineering challenges and projects based on physics principles, such as aerodynamics, how skyscrapers withstand wind and earthquakes, and more.
6. dynaMIT
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Location: MIT, Cambridge, MA
Cost/Stipend: None
Dates: To be announced
Application Deadline: To be announced
Eligibility: Rising 6th – 9th grade students
Middle schoolers interested in science, engineering, and technology can opt for this program by MIT. This selective program is designed and executed by MIT students. These students also act as mentors and guide you throughout the program. You learn various science and engineering concepts, including physics, through hands-on activities. You can develop various scientific skills relevant to the field and discover career pathways.
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Location: Online
Cost: $1,795; scholarships are available
Dates: Various sessions of different lengths are available
Application Deadline: Varies according to session
Eligibility: Students aged 13 and older
Engineering often uses physics as its foundation. This virtual program helps you build a foundation in engineering by exploring old and new innovations. You learn how engineers solve complex problems. You study foundational math and science topics, such as physics, chemistry, mechanics, calculus, and more. For the capstone project, you examine how different engineering disciplines can come together to solve modern-day challenges.
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Location: University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
Cost/Stipend: None
Dates: July 20 – 24
Application Deadline: March 31
Eligibility: Students in grades 5 – 12
Students interested in STEAM subjects can opt for the Dinah Whipple STEAM Academy. This is an interdisciplinary program where you learn different subjects, including physics. You study different science topics and engineering concepts through explorative hands-on activities. Professional engineers and peers act as mentors who guide you throughout the program. In the humanities subjects, you learn about the Black experience in the US, the origins of African empires, and prominent Black figures in American history.
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Location: Virtual
Cost: $1,420
Dates: Summer dates to be announced
Application Deadline: To be announced
Eligibility: Students in grades 7 – 11 with CTY-level quantitative scores
You study physics by exploring sports and movement in this program by Johns Hopkins CTY. You investigate various physics questions about the mechanics of sports by exploring concepts such as kinematics, dynamics, momentum, energy, and power. You learn to use experimental data and simulations to examine the impact of physical principles on athletic performance. You solve mathematical computations and apply theoretical concepts to explain efficiency and performance. For the practical project, you develop a model of Newtonian mechanics from a sport of your choice. The course programming involves lectures, labs, and simulations.
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Location: Cambridge, MA
Cost: Not specified
Dates: July 13 – 24 (Session A) or August 3 – 14
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Rising 6th – 8th grade girls and gender expansive students from the Greater Boston area
This 2-week aerospace engineering program invites you to study physics in the context of space exploration. You learn key physics and engineering concepts by completing practical activities. Some projects you work on during the program include creating model space stations, using a robotic rover to see what it would be like to send a rover to space, building/launching rockets, and more. You also hear from a panel of women leaders in the field who provide career insights and information regarding the subject. During the program, you go on a field trip to the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a Ph.D. 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.