15 Summer Writing Programs for High School Students in Massachusetts
- Stephen Turban
- Oct 16
- 10 min read
If you are interested in writing or pursuing a career in content creation, marketing, journalism, or other related fields, summer writing programs can help you sharpen your writing and communication skills early on.
Writing programs typically offer instruction, resources, and room to practice to help you discover new forms of writing and identify your strengths. These programs can also help you gain access to professional writers and editors, helping you build a network within the industry. The experience can also help you build a portfolio of self-written pieces that you can use for college applications and future work opportunities!
Massachusetts is home to many leading universities and cultural institutions that run summer writing programs to offer high school students supportive, well-equipped learning environments and publishing opportunities.
Here, we have listed 15 summer writing programs for high school students in Massachusetts. We have considered factors like quality of instruction, selectivity, prestige of host organizations, and networking opportunities.
15 Summer Writing Programs for High School Students in Massachusetts
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies by program format; financial assistance available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: June – August for summer cohorts; multiple cohorts throughout the year
Application Deadline: Multiple cohorts throughout the year
Eligibility: Current high school students who demonstrate a high level of academic achievement; those accepted typically have an unweighted GPA of 3.3 out of 4
The Lumiere Research Scholar Program is a research opportunity for high school students. It offers you a chance to write your own research paper on a topic of your choice. Opportunities are available across disciplines, including neuroscience, engineering, philosophy, economics, and public health. The program pairs you with a Ph.D. mentor, who will offer one-on-one guidance throughout the research process and help you develop an independent research paper. At the end of the program, you will have a complete research paper. You can learn about the available program formats and application here.
Location: Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Cost: $5,800 tuition + $75 application fee; need-based scholarships available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 15 students per class
Dates: Two weeks in the summer; multiple sessions between June and August
Application Deadline: Early Application: January 8 | Regular Application: February 12
Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors who are at least 16 years old by June 21 and will graduate from high school and enter college next year or the year after
Harvard’s Pre-College Summer School offers high schoolers opportunities to take college-level courses. Here, you will attend classes led by Harvard professors and participate in extracurricular, social, and creative activities. You can choose from about 30 courses, including creative writing, speech, journalism, and expository writing. You will also receive a written evaluation and a Harvard transcript. If you want a longer, more flexible option, you can opt for the four- or seven-week Secondary School Program, which offers access to college-level credit-bearing courses in 50 subject areas!
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies; financial assistance available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Multiple 12–15-week cohorts throughout the year, including in summer
Application Deadline: May/June for the summer cohort
Eligibility: High school students who have completed the AI Scholars program or demonstrate experience with AI concepts or Python
Veritas AI offers various summer programs for high school students interested in learning about AI and its applications. Each program covers basics and advanced concepts in AI, ML, and data science, providing you with a deeper understanding of how AI is used to address a real issue. The AI Fellowship program offers you one-on-one mentorship to work on a project, which can be a written report, that focuses on AI. As a participant, you will also have access to an in-house publication team that will help you secure publications in high school research journals! The experience can help you refine your writing skills while exploring an emerging discipline.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $3,080; financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Average class size of 16
Dates: Session 1: June 16 – 27 | Session 2: July 7 – 18
Application Deadline: March 20
Eligibility: Students in grades 8–11
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes offers high schoolers opportunities to experience college-level coursework from anywhere in the world. The Creative Writing: Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, and Poetry course is an opportunity to practice writing, refine creative thinking, and explore the work of known authors. As a participant, you will collaborate on projects, engage in discussions and workshops, and work on your storytelling abilities with the help of instructor feedback. You will also explore the basics of creative writing through live virtual lectures during the program. You will complete the course with your portfolio of written work.
Location: Virtual option available for Massachusetts students
Cost/Stipend: None
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: June 23 – July 17
Application Deadline: Not specified; check website for details
Eligibility: High school students aged 16 or older who are U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or visa holders
This internship, offered through the Office of the Librarian and the Informal Learning Office, is an opportunity to explore public service through writing and research, making it worth exploring alongside more traditional summer writing programs for high school students in Massachusetts. Here, you will serve as an advisory member and help shape the Library’s new experiential learning space. As an intern, you will collaborate with peers and Library staff to develop content, advise on programming and materials, and contribute to ideas that support future youth engagement efforts. Although not a typical writing program, the internship can help you refine communication, research, and writing skills while exploring civic engagement.
Location: Virtual or in-person at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Cost: $950 for the in-person program | $750 for the online program; need-based financial aid and group discounts available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: July 7 – 16
Application Deadline: Early Registration: June 1 | Final Registration: July 1
Eligibility: High school students
The Summer Journalism Academy is a summer writing program for high school students in Massachusetts and beyond interested in exploring a newsroom and the inner workings of Harvard’s own student-run newspaper, The Harvard Crimson. The program will offer you training in news writing, interviewing, investigative journalism, multimedia reporting, and opinion writing, while giving you a glimpse into the nuances of running a newspaper. Through workshops and seminars with professional journalists, you will get insights into the business strategy, technology, and design required to run a publication. You will also have access to the mentorship of current Crimson editors who will help you refine technical skills and work toward building a journalism portfolio. By the end of the program, you will have a series of publishable works and personalized feedback.
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: None; participants earn community service hours
Cohort Size: 10 participants
Dates: Not specified
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Students aged 15–18 years old
Project Write Now offers virtual work experiences to teenagers interested in exploring publishing and journalism. The program offers two main writing-related positions—one as an editorial assistant and another as a part of The Interview Project. As an editorial assistant, you will collaborate with the program coordinator on various PWN Teen programming projects, engaging in tasks like marketing content creation, website content creation, and managing Bridge Ink, PWN’s online young adult literary magazine. As an intern, you will have a platform to share your ideas and engage in PWN Teen editorial meetings to assist in developing and expanding the teen writing community. If you work on The Interview Project, which is inspired by Humans of New York, you will look for stories, conduct interviews, and create compelling stories. These stories will also be published on Bridge Ink, giving you an established platform to showcase your work!
Location: Virtual
Cost: $475
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: June 15 – July 27
Application Deadline: April 18
Eligibility: Students in grades 9–12 with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher
The Iowa Young Writers’ Studio offers six-week summer writing programs to help young writers refine their skills through feedback, discussions, lessons, reading materials, and more. The courses here cover a broad range of subjects to help you explore and practice writing in various genres and find something that suits your interests. These courses involve reading and analyzing texts, discussing the nuances of various forms of writing, creating original drafts, and critiquing and discussing drafts from peers, among other activities. As a participant, you will explore various literary genres and writers and enhance your writing abilities.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $1,895 (enrichment course) | $3,995 (college credit course); need-based scholarships available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: July 20 – August 31 (college credit course) | July 20 – August 7/August 17 (two- to four-week enrichment courses)
Application Deadline: Varies by session; typically one week before the session start date
Eligibility: Students aged 13 and up
Georgetown University’s Pre-College Creative Writing course is an online opportunity to explore creative writing and the elements involved in creating a compelling story, such as narrative techniques, characterization, plots, and more. You can choose between a non-credit and credit-bearing format based on your desired outcome. In either format, the course will offer the mentorship of Georgetown faculty while you engage in individual and group-based writing activities. The program can help you refine creative thinking and writing skills and develop a portfolio of your work with the help of instructor feedback. You will also complete a final project, which will feature a collection of your original fiction pieces, and earn a Certificate of Completion at the end of the program.
Location: Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Great Barrington, MA
Cost: $3,600 (includes tuition, room & board, admissions, and extracurricular activities)
Cohort Size: 84 students
Dates: July 6 – 26
Application Deadline: Rolling admissions starting January 15
Eligibility: Students currently completing grades 9, 10, or 11
The Young Writers Workshop at Bard College at Simon’s Rock is a summer writing program for high school students in Massachusetts interested in engaging in expressive, exploratory writing, distinct from traditional academic programs. This residential program encourages you to discover and refine your voice through informal writing activities, peer review and feedback sessions, and discussion seminars. Each workshop group consists of just 12 students for personalized instruction. You will engage in discussions of contemporary literature and create personal narratives, poems, short stories, dramatic pieces, and creative nonfiction from daily prompts, which will be added to your portfolio of works in progress. You will also attend daily classes led by experienced instructors and gain access to campus life, which includes social and cultural extracurricular activities.
Location: Tufts College, Medford/Somerville, MA
Cost: $3,291 (undergraduate credit course) | $1,300 (non-credit audit course)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: July 2 – August 6
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Rising 10th–12th grade students
This Tufts University-led summer writing program for high school students in Massachusetts is an opportunity to explore the literary and academic contexts of writing. The course is designed to help you develop and improve your critical reading and writing skills by closely analyzing texts and films, and participating in daily free-writing exercises, informal sketches, and structured drafts. You will create three thematically connected papers while working on a final writing portfolio. You will also interact with guest speakers, including published authors and industry professionals who will offer insights into the writing process and industry.
Location: GrubStreet, Boston, MA
Cost: $715 for members | $750 for non-members
Cohort Size: 60 per session
Dates:
Session 1: June 23 – July 3
Session 2: July 7 – 18
Session 3: July 21 – August 1
Session 4: August 4 – 15
YAWP Anthology Week: August 18 – 22
Application Deadline: Rolling until seats are full
Eligibility: Students aged 13–18
GrubStreet’s Teen Summer Writing Sessions allow you to explore diverse genres and styles in a creative, collaborative environment. Each two-week session splits participants into small, genre-based groups, within which you can engage in daily writing exercises, workshops, and instructor feedback. As a participant, you will benefit from one-on-one mentorship opportunities, guest author talks, and a professional writing day focused on college and career readiness. The program features open mic events, free writing time in GrubStreet’s dedicated writing space, and publication opportunities in the annual YAWP Anthology. You will learn from published writers and performers recognized for their contributions to the literary arts.
Location: Virtual or in-person at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
Cost: Residential: $5,100 | Commuter: $2,200 | Virtual: $1,300; financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates:
In-person: Session 1: July 13 – 26 | Session 2: July 27 – August 9
Virtual: July 7 – 11
Application Deadline: March 7 (in-person) | April 7 (virtual)
Eligibility:
In-person program: Rising 10th–12th grade students
Virtual program: 9th–12th grade students
A two-week program hosted by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Juniper Institute for Young Writers offers an immersive pre-college experience. The program features daily Writing Labs, Craft Sessions, Writer’s Life Talks, and personalized mentorship from instructors affiliated with UMass’s MFA for Poets and Writers. As a participant, you will work in a small group of up to 10 peers and receive one-on-one guidance to complete a personalized writing project during the second Intensive Week. You will also benefit from author talks, participant readings, and write-ins, and explore Western Massachusetts' rich literary heritage. The program also gives you the chance to interact with a vibrant community of young writers and build a strong network through social activities. The program is also available in an online format, offering a condensed version of the in-person experience.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $650
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Not specified
Dates: July 14 – 25
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: High school students
The UCLA Writing Project offers various programs for middle and high school students. Its College-Ready Writing program is an opportunity to refine personal and academic writing skills. In a small group, you will develop your writing skills while focusing on relevant social issues. As a participant, you will explore a range of writing genres, including narrative essays, poetry, and argumentative writing, through reading sessions, debates, and exercises. You will have access to feedback from peers and the instructor to help you fine-tune your work.
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: None
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates:
Half-time internships (summer): 2–8 weeks in increments of 2 weeks, 20 hours/week
Quarter-time internships (year-round): 1–9 months in increments of 1 month, 8 hours/week
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: High school sophomores, juniors, and seniors with at least one honors science/English class and a minimum 3.25 GPA; college students also eligible
The Energy Mag internship is an opportunity to contribute to renewable energy conservation through research and professional writing. As an intern, you will be guided by a dedicated mentor to work on real-world topics such as energy storage technologies, companies, or market trends. You will gain experience as you conduct research, interview experts, and draft a well-analyzed report that may be published on the company’s website. You will also develop research, writing, communication, and data analysis skills in the process.
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 in which students work one-on-one with a mentor to develop an independent research paper.
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