10 Summer Psychology Programs for Gifted Middle School Students
- Stephen Turban
- 34 minutes ago
- 6 min read
Psychology is a field of choice for many students. If you are interested in the subject, you can opt for summer programs in psychology. These programs are designed to be rigorous and expand your knowledge. You also gain hands-on field-specific skills that help you in future academics.
Summer programs also enable you to meet experienced professionals who mentor you and provide insights regarding career pathways in the field. You also interact with other gifted middle schoolers who become part of your network. Here are 10 psychology programs for middle schoolers.
10 Summer Psychology Programs for Gifted Middle School Students
Location:Â Virtual
Cost:Â Varies; financial aid available
Acceptance rate / Cohort size:Â Highly selective
Program dates:Â 8 weeks; varies by cohort
Application deadline:Â Varies by cohort
Eligibility:Â Students in grades 6 to 8
Gifted students interested in research can consider participating in Lumiere’s Junior Explorer Program. In this mentored program, you are paired with PhD mentors from prestigious universities, such as Harvard, Oxford, MIT, and Princeton, who are experts in psychology. During this program, you conduct original psychology research to gain specialized knowledge. 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. Feedback and writing coaching sessions help you polish your research and develop scientific communication skills. You can opt for the Junior Research and Publication Program, where you can publish your research in academic journals.
Location:Â University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Cost:Â $1,598 commuter or $2,998 residential
Acceptance rate / Cohort size:Â Not specified
Program dates: Session 1: July 5 – 10 | Session 2: July 12 – 17 | Session 3: July 19 – 24Session 4: July 26 – 31
Application deadline:Â May 15
Eligibility:Â Students completing grades 6 to 8 with a 3.0 GPA
This is a one-week program where you delve into the mind–body connection through lectures and lab activities. The program teaches you about human behavior, emotions, and personality. You interact with professionals in psychology and neuroscience. They also teach you about mental health treatment strategies. Thus, the course blends theory with practice to provide holistic learning. Beyond academics, you tour campus facilities and nearby landmarks.Â
Location:Â Virtual
Cost:Â Varies; financial aid available
Acceptance rate / Cohort size:Â Not specified
Program dates:Spring cohort: 25 hours over 10 weeks on weekendsSummer cohort: 25 hours over 2 weeks on weekdays
Application deadline:Â Rolling
Eligibility:Â Students in grades 6 to 8
You can also consider an interdisciplinary program such as Veritas AI’s AI Trailblazers program, which blends technology with psychology. You develop a foundation in AI and machine learning. The classes teach you a range of technology topics like Python, data analysis, regression, image classification, neural networks, and AI ethics. Thereafter, you apply your learnings to a project in psychology. This project must use technology to solve a real-world psychology problem. In the 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.
Location:Â Duke University, Durham, NC
Cost:Â $3,905 commuter or $6,050 residential
Acceptance rate / Cohort size:Â Not specified
Program dates: June 28 – July 9, Session 2
Application deadline:Â To be announced
Eligibility:Â Students in grades 6 to 8 with a 3.0 or higher GPA, at least 11 years old, and who have completed one year of middle school
Duke University offers challenging pre-college programs for middle and high schoolers. In the Psychology 101 track, you gain an introduction to the study of the mind and behavior. You delve into various topics like learning, memory, emotion, perception, and social interaction. The program involves hands-on activities and demonstrations to help build analytical skills. You also learn to apply psychology to real-world scenarios, including decision-making and relationships.Â
Location:Â Columbia University, New York, NY
Cost / Stipend:Â None
Acceptance rate / Cohort size:Â Competitive
Program dates:Summer session: July 6 – 31Academic year session: October – May
Application deadline:Summer: April 15Academic year: November 1
Eligibility:Â Students in grades 7 to 12 who plan to pursue careers in medicine or related STEM fields and who hold at least an 80 percent average, especially in math and science
Students looking for a high school and college preparatory program can opt for S-PREP. Aimed at students interested in medicine and related STEM subjects, this is a rigorous program. The program covers a range of topics like Anatomy, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Brain & Cognitive Science, Ready for PreMed, Physics, Algebra, Geometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, and Statistics. It also offers classes in psychology. Alongside academic classes, you prepare for standardized tests. You can also partake in college preparation and career development workshops, college & academic counseling services, field trips, and college tours.
Location:Â Online
Cost:Â $1,795
Acceptance rate / Cohort size:Â Not specified
Program dates:Â Multiple course lengths offered throughout the year
Application deadline:Â Varies by session
Eligibility:Â Students ages 13 and older
This program by Rice University introduces you to the various specialties and careers in psychology. You learn the role of psychology as well as about influential people who shaped the field. The program covers the human and organizational dimensions of psychology as well as the interrelation between cognitive and health psychology. You encounter contemporary developments in the field. You also learn statistics and research methods relevant to the field. By the end of the program, you complete a capstone project that involves a ‘news’ video wherein you apply what you have learned.
Location:Â New York University, New York, NY
Cost / Stipend:Â None
Acceptance rate / Cohort size:Â Selective
Program dates: July 6 – 31
Application deadline:Â March 31
Eligibility:Â New York City students in 7th or 8th grade during the application period
The College and Career Lab is a way for you to explore various subjects and step into the shoes of different professions. The program is designed with college-style lectures and intensive workshops led by NYU faculty. For psychology, you can opt for the Introduction to Brain & Spine Science or Introduction to Culture, Education, and Human Development tracks. The latter track deals with applied psychology. Furthermore, you interact and network with professionals in the field. With their mentorship, you prepare for future academics and a career.
Location:Â Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA; Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY; or University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA
Cost:Â $6,717 to $7,801, varies by location
Acceptance rate / Cohort size:Â 16 to 18 students
Program dates: Summer A: June 28 – July 17 | Summer B: July 19 – August 7
Application deadline: Summer A: May 11 | Summer B: June 8
Eligibility:Â Students in grades 7 to 11 who meet advanced CTY level verbal score requirements
Johns Hopkins’s CTY offers several programs for ambitious middle schoolers. To explore your interest in psychology, you can opt for the Cognitive Psychology track. This program teaches you how we represent and process information from our environment. You learn a range of topics like perception, learning, memory, forgetting, attention, problem-solving, reasoning, and language. You apply research methodologies and investigate neurological structures.Â
Location:Â Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Cost:Â $3,025 tuition plus $2,405 residential fee plus $150 lab fee
Acceptance rate / Cohort size:Â Selective
Program dates: July 19 – August 7
Application deadline:Â Varies by session
Eligibility:Â Students in grades 6 to 8 who meet Magenta tier eligibility criteria
Northwestern CTD offers a range of programs in various subjects for you to choose from. Students interested in psychology can opt for the Brain and Behavior track. Here, you study the structures and functions of the brain and nervous system; the relationship between brain activity and action; and the role of biological, environmental, social, and individual factors in psychological experience. The program includes lectures, discussions, debates, and group activities. You explore the key theories and experiments in the field.
Location:Â University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Cost:Â $1,550; financial aid available
Acceptance rate / Cohort size:Â Selective
Program dates: Session 2: June 22 – 26 | Session 3: July 6 – 10
Application deadline:Â Varies by session
Eligibility:Â Students entering grades 7 to 9
This is a unique program by The Lawrence Hall of Science. In Animal Behavior and Investigations, you examine why animals behave the way they do by delving into biology and psychology. By observing, describing, and analyzing animal actions in the natural habitat as well as in controlled environments, researchers examine animal behavior. You learn this process to design and execute your own animal observation study, which you present at the end of the program. Beyond academics, you tour the lab facilities, interact with peers, and network with STEM professionals.
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.
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