TL;DR
You’ll find 22 physics programs below, each with its cost, dates, deadline, location, and exactly who’s eligible to apply, from one-week camps to programs that run all school year. A camp or a course teaches you physics someone already figured out. Horizon lets you work on a question of your own. You’ll work one-on-one with a PhD mentor for a full term and finish with a research paper that’s yours to submit to journals or competitions. It’s fully online; cohorts start several times a year.
What counts as a physics program?
Physics is the study of how matter and energy behave, from a ball rolling down a ramp to light bending around a black hole. In high school, you mostly meet the first kind. A good program shows you the second kind, the physics that doesn’t fit in a textbook chapter. That could be lasers, quantum computers, special relativity, or the particle beams at a national lab.
These programs come in a few shapes. Some are one-week camps where you build things and tour labs. Some are three- to seven-week courses, taught at a college pace, that can carry school credit. Then some programs meet on Saturday mornings or weekday evenings all school year. And a few put you in a lab next to working scientists.
What decides which one fits you usually isn’t quality. It’s your grade, your math level, and where you live. Plenty of the best free programs only take students from one state. And several won’t look at you until you’ve finished Algebra II or calculus.
What do you actually do in a high school physics program?
It depends on the shape of the program. So here’s what a normal week looks like in each. For summer-only research options, see our 35 summer research programs.
| Program type | What your week looks like | Examples on this page |
|---|---|---|
| Short camp (2 to 10 days) | Demos, building projects, lab tours, talks with scientists | UMD Advanced Physics, UCF CREOL, MSU Quantum Motor City |
| Summer course (3 to 7 weeks) | College-style lectures, problem sets, labs, sometimes a grade | CTY Special Relativity, VAMPY, Summer at Lakeside |
| School-year series | One lecture or class a week, from September to May | Columbia SHP, Fermilab Saturday Morning Physics |
| Lab or research placement | You join a lab and help with real work under a mentor | UF SSTP, JHU BRBT, MagLab Externship |
Four of the 22 programs are built around quantum physics or quantum computing. That’s QCaMP, Oakland’s quantum program, MSU Quantum Motor City, and MIT BWSI Quantum Software. At MSU’s camp, you’ll program a real quantum computer. If you’ve heard the word “qubit” and wanted to know what it actually means, start there.
If you want research, not a course
Most programs here teach you physics. Only a few let you work on an open question. If that’s what you want, our physics research programs list covers programs like RSI, Simons and Clark Scholars. Our physics research topics post gives you 20 project ideas, and our tips on doing physics research in high school walk you through getting started.
Gifted and honors programs
Three programs on this page are built for high achievers. CTY and VAMPY both want a qualifying test score, and Georgia’s Governor’s Honors Program needs your school to nominate you. None of them expect you to already know advanced physics. They expect you to learn fast.
Will a physics program help with AP Physics or count for credit?
Some will. But most won’t, and it’s worth knowing which before you pay.
- For school credit: Summer at Lakeside’s physics course is graded and earns a full year of high school credit. But check with your own school before you enroll, since it decides what it accepts.
- Beyond AP: Stanford ULO’s courses are university-level. Its Modern Physics and Intermediate Mechanics courses cover material past AP Physics C.
- AP prep in disguise: VAMPY’s physics class covers mechanics, electricity, magnetism, waves and optics in three weeks. Those are the same big topics AP Physics 1 and 2 are built on.
- No credit, still useful: Camps and Saturday lectures don’t show up on a transcript. But they’re often where you find out you love a topic enough to take AP Physics C next year.
A summer program doesn’t replace the AP exam. If you want AP credit, you still sit the College Board exam in May. The program just makes that exam a lot less scary.
Which one should you choose?
| If you… | Start with |
|---|---|
| Live in Georgia, New Mexico, the Bay Area or Baltimore and want something free | Free programs tied to where you live |
| Want a taste of physics in a week or less | Short physics camps |
| Want a serious summer course, maybe for credit | Longer summer physics courses |
| Want physics all year, not just in summer | Programs that run during the school year |
Looking for something else? We keep separate lists for physics research programs, physics internships, online physics programs, physics summer programs, and astrophysics programs.
Free physics programs tied to where you live
1. Georgia Governor’s Honors Program (GHP)
Location: Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA (the 2026 host; the 2027 campus hasn’t been announced)
Cost: Free. Tuition, room and board are covered by the state. You pay for travel, basic supplies and spending money.
Dates: June 14 to July 11, 2026 was the most recent session. 2027 dates haven’t been posted yet.
Application deadline: January 8, 2027 for the 2027 program. Your school has to nominate you first, and nominees hear by November 13, 2026.
Eligibility: Current 10th and 11th graders at a Georgia public school, independent school or state charter school, or homeschooled in Georgia. You’ll need at least a semester of prior high school science.
GHP is a four-week residential program run by the state for its strongest students. Physics sits inside the Science major, with strands called Applied Physics Problem Solving and Quantum Physics: Future Applications. The work is pitched at a college sophomore or junior level, and you finish with a research project of your own.
Who is it right for? A Georgia sophomore or junior who’s already top of their physics class and wants a month living with students just as keen.
2. Los Alamos Summer Physics Camp
Location: New Mexico School for the Arts, Santa Fe, NM
Cost: Free, plus a $350 stipend when you finish
Dates: June 8 to 19, 2026 (the 10th year of the camp). 2027 dates haven’t been posted.
Application deadline: April 1, 2026 at 5 p.m. for the most recent camp. No 2027 date has been posted.
Eligibility: High school students who live in New Mexico, a New Mexico tribal community, or on East Hawai’i Island, and have finished Algebra I or higher
Los Alamos National Laboratory runs this two-week camp in Santa Fe. The 2026 theme was “Invisible Worlds: Physics Beyond What Our Eyes Can See,” which covered electricity, gravitational waves, quantum mechanics and microscopic biology. It mixes physics with engineering, coding, chemistry and cybersecurity, so it’s broader than the name suggests.
Who is it right for? A New Mexico or East Hawai’i student who’s curious about physics but hasn’t had the chance to try it outside class.
3. QCaMP (Quantum Systems Accelerator)
Location: Bay Area, CA, or Albuquerque, NM
Cost: Free, with a stipend. There’s travel money if you live 50 or more miles away.
Dates: June 29 to July 24, 2026 was the most recent student camp. 2027 dates haven’t been posted.
Application deadline: April 3, 2026 for the most recent camp (applications opened February 2). No 2027 date yet.
Eligibility: Age 16 or older by the first day. For the Bay Area site you need to live in the Bay Area. For Albuquerque you need to live in New Mexico, the Navajo Nation, Arizona or Utah and be able to commute. Basic algebra is the only math you need, and graduating seniors can apply.
QCaMP is a four-week quantum camp run with Sandia National Laboratories. You’ll work through seven modules: bits and gates, probability, polarization, entanglement, superposition, building quantum circuits, and career talks. The 2025 camp took 38 students, so it’s small.
Who is it right for? A 16-year-old in the Bay Area or the Southwest who wants to understand quantum computing from the ground up and get paid for the month.
4. Biophysics Research for Baltimore Teens (BRBT)
Location: Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD (the program pages don’t name the campus)
Cost: Free. It’s a paid internship, but the pay rate isn’t published.
Dates: July 7 to August 7, 2026, weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (25 hours a week)
Application deadline: Summer 2026 applications are closed. No date has been posted for 2027.
Eligibility: Rising 10th, 11th and 12th graders. It’s built for Baltimore teens, though its pages don’t publish a formal residency rule.
BRBT puts you in a Johns Hopkins biophysics lab for five weeks. You’ll learn lab methods like x-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy, which physicists use to work out the shape of molecules inside living things. It’s one of very few programs that lets a 10th grader do lab physics and get paid for it.
Who is it right for? A Baltimore student who likes both biology and physics and wants a summer job in a real lab.
Short physics camps you can finish in a week or two
These are the easiest way to test whether you like physics outside a classroom. Most last one or two weeks, and three of the five are day programs you commute to.
5. UMD Advanced Physics Summer Program
Location: Physical Sciences Complex, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Cost: $375 (2026)
Dates: July 20 to 31, 2026, weekdays 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Application deadline: Not published. You apply through an online form with a short statement of interest.
Eligibility: Rising 9th to 12th graders. No physics background is needed.
This two-week day program is run by UMD’s physics department. You’ll do labs and demos, learn to solder and build simple electronics, try some coding and robotics, and tour research labs on campus. You’ll also talk with professors and grad students, which is a good way to find out what a physics major actually does all day.
Who is it right for? A DC-area student in any grade who wants a low-cost, low-pressure first taste of physics.
6. UCF CREOL Laser and Photonics Summer Camp
Location: CREOL, College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL
Cost: $650, or $550 if you register by April 30 (2026 prices). Materials are included, lunch isn’t. Ask about scholarships when you register.
Dates: Three one-week sessions: July 6 to 10, July 13 to 17 and July 20 to 24, 2026, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Application deadline: June 15, 2026 for the most recent camp, with the early-bird price ending April 30. 2027 dates haven’t been posted.
Eligibility: Students entering 10th to 12th grade
CREOL is UCF’s optics college, and this camp is all about light. You’ll learn how lasers, fiber optics and imaging systems work, then test them in the lab. Speakers from the optics industry come in to talk about where this kind of work leads.
Who is it right for? A Florida student who wants to spend a week with lasers and find out if optics is their corner of physics.
7. Oakland University Introduction to Quantum Physics
Location: Oakland University, Rochester, MI
Cost: $300 registration fee, with need-based scholarships
Dates: June 21 to July 1, 2027, weekdays 1 to 4:30 p.m.
Application deadline: No fixed deadline is published. You fill in an interest form first, and you don’t pay anything at that stage.
Eligibility: Rising juniors, rising seniors and graduating seniors who’ve finished AP Calculus or the IB equivalent. AP Physics is recommended but not required.
This two-week afternoon program covers quantum physics, including research that has won the Nobel Prize. You’ll get lectures, lab demos, faculty research talks, and career talks from recent graduates. It’s already posted its 2027 dates, which only a few programs here have done.
Who is it right for? A Detroit-area junior who’s done calculus and wants to see where it leads.
8. MSU Quantum Motor City
Location: Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Cost: Free. It’s funded by the National Science Foundation, and on-campus housing and all meals are included. You arrange your own travel.
Dates: July 29 to 31, 2026. 2027 dates haven’t been posted.
Application deadline: April 25, 2026 (extended) for the most recent camp. No 2027 date yet.
Eligibility: Any high school student, including students from outside Michigan. You’ll need algebra and trigonometry.
Quantum Motor City is a three-day camp where you’ll program a real quantum computer and tour a quantum computing lab. There’s also help with college applications built in. It’s one of only two free programs on this page that don’t need you to live nearby.
Who is it right for? Any high school student who can get to East Lansing and wants a short, free introduction to quantum computing.
9. Perimeter Institute GoPhysics! Online Workshops
Location: Online, with live sessions
Cost: Free, but places are limited
Dates: July 7 and 8, 2026. Live sessions ran 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or 7 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern, plus about 2.5 hours on your own.
Application deadline: Not published. 2026 applicants heard back by June 17.
Eligibility: Grades 9 and 10 for the Exoplanets and the Universe workshop, with no physics needed. Grades 11 and 12 for the Gravity and Black Holes workshop, with Grade 11 physics done or underway.
Perimeter Institute is a theoretical physics research center in Waterloo, Ontario. These two-day workshops cover exoplanets and the universe for younger students, and gravity and black holes for older ones. The older workshop has an optional Q&A with a working researcher.
Who is it right for? A student anywhere who wants a free, short taste of modern physics without leaving home.
Longer summer physics courses (three to seven weeks)
These take a real chunk of your summer. In return, you’ll cover a full topic at a college pace, and one of them earns a year of high school credit.
10. JHU CTY Advanced Topics in Physics: Special Relativity
Location: In person at a CTY summer site (2027 sites haven’t been posted)
Cost: 2027 tuition not published yet. Fixed fees are a one-time $55 CTY joining fee and a $75 in-person registration fee. CTY cuts or waives tuition for students who qualify for aid.
Dates: Not yet posted for 2027. No sections are open right now.
Application deadline: Not yet posted for 2027
Eligibility: Grades 9 to 12 with a qualifying CTY-level quantitative test score. You must have finished physics, trigonometry, and Algebra II or Honors Algebra II.
This is a three-week course in Einstein’s special relativity. You’ll start with the idea that light moves at the same speed for everyone, then work out what that does to time, length and motion. By the end you’re into light cones, Minkowski space, and the first ideas behind general relativity.
Who is it right for? A strong math student who’s finished a physics course and wants to learn relativity properly, with the equations.
11. WKU VAMPY (Summer Program for Verbally and Mathematically Precocious Youth)
Location: Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY (you live on campus)
Cost: $4,200 for 2027. A $400 deposit is due with your application, and the balance is due June 1. Need-based aid has been offered in past years.
Dates: June 20 to July 10, 2027
Application deadline: Applications open January 15, 2027. No closing date is published. If you’re registered for an ACT or SAT by April 11, you can apply before your scores come back.
Eligibility: Students finishing grades 7 to 10. For physics you need ACT Math 20+, ACT Science 21+, or SAT Math 520+, plus Algebra I and some trigonometry.
VAMPY is a three-week residential program for younger students who test well. You take one class the whole time. The physics class covers Newtonian mechanics, electricity and magnetism, waves, light and optics, with lab work and a lot of problem solving.
Who is it right for? A middle schooler or young high schooler who’s ahead in math and wants a full physics course before most students start one.
12. Michigan Math and Science Scholars (MMSS)
Location: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (live on campus or commute)
Cost: $1,400 tuition, $1,100 to live on campus, and a $100 application fee (2026)
Dates: Three two-week sessions in 2026: June 21 to July 3, July 5 to 17, and July 19 to 31. 2027 dates haven’t been posted.
Application deadline: Rolling from mid-January until courses fill. Every 2026 course filled, so apply early.
Eligibility: Rising 10th, 11th and 12th graders, including international students. There’s no GPA or test score requirement. You send a transcript.
MMSS runs two-week courses taught by Michigan faculty. The physics-flavored courses in 2026 were Biophysics, Introduction to Quantum Computing, Modeling the Physical World, and The Physics of Magic and the Magic of Physics. It admits about half of its applicants, and it’s one of the few university programs that doesn’t ask for test scores.
Who is it right for? A student who wants two weeks at a big research university without needing top test scores to get in.
13. Summer at Lakeside: Physics
Location: Lakeside School, Seattle, WA
Cost: $2,400 (2026)
Dates: June 22 to July 31, 2026, 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Application deadline: May 15, 2026 for students from other schools. 2027 dates haven’t been posted.
Eligibility: Grades 9 to 12. You need Biology and either Algebra II or any Geometry.
This six-week summer course covers a full year of high school physics: motion, force, momentum, energy, circuits, magnetism and some modern physics. It’s graded, lab-based and earns a full year of high school credit, which frees up space in your school schedule.
Check with your own school first, since it decides whether to accept outside credit. If you’re in Seattle and want more lab time, our Seattle lab opportunities list has more.
Who is it right for? A Seattle student who wants to get regular physics done over the summer so they can take AP Physics sooner.
14. MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute: Quantum Software
Location: MIT, Cambridge, MA (the summer part of this course is in person)
Cost: Free for families with income and assets under $200,000. $3,000 at or above that.
Dates: July 5 to August 1, 2027 (four weeks)
Application deadline: BWSI’s general timeline runs to March 31, with recommendation letters due April 2. No separate date is posted for this course.
Eligibility: 11th grade or below when you apply. You must live in the US and go to high school in the US, have some programming experience, and complete BWSI’s free online prerequisite course first.
BWSI starts with an online course anyone can take, covering complex numbers, linear algebra and the basics of classical computing. If you’re picked for the summer, you’ll spend four weeks at MIT. Week one is quantum basics, then circuits, then algorithms, and the last week is a team project written in Q#.
Who is it right for? A student who already codes and wants to learn quantum computing at MIT, with the cost set by what their family earns.
15. UF Student Science Training Program (SSTP)
Location: University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (you live on campus)
Cost: $5,500 plus a $50 application fee (2026). Meals aren’t included. There are a few need-based scholarships for Florida students.
Dates: June 7 to July 25, 2026. 2027 dates haven’t been posted.
Application deadline: March 25, 2026 for the most recent cycle
Eligibility: Rising seniors who are 16 by the start. Students from other states and countries can apply, though only a limited number of spots go to non-Florida students.
SSTP is a seven-week program where you spend about 30 hours a week in a UF faculty lab. Projects can be in the biological sciences, physical sciences, math, engineering or medicine. A physics lab isn’t guaranteed, so say clearly in your application that physics is what you want.
This is the most research-like program on this page. If you want more options like it, see our physics research programs list.
Who is it right for? A rising senior who wants seven weeks inside a university lab and can cover the cost.
Physics programs that run during the school year
16. Columbia University Science Honors Program (SHP)
Location: Columbia University, Morningside campus, New York, NY
Cost: $900 a year for new students from fall 2026 ($700 for returning students). Fee waivers are available for documented financial hardship.
Dates: Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., September to May
Application deadline: The last round closed April 15, 2026, with transcripts and recommendations due April 30. The next round hasn’t been posted. There’s also a two-hour online entrance exam in late May or early June.
Eligibility: Apply in 9th, 10th or 11th grade to attend in 10th to 12th grade. You must live within 75 miles of campus.
SHP runs Saturday science classes at Columbia. You pick courses taught by Columbia scientists, and the physics side includes astronomy, astrophysics, quantum matter and particle physics. It’s one of the only places a New York high schooler can take a real university physics class every week of the school year.
Who is it right for? A New York-area student who wants weekly university physics classes and can make it to Morningside on Saturdays. Our NYC research programs list has more local options.
17. Fermilab Saturday Morning Physics
Location: Wilson Hall, Fermilab, Batavia, IL
Cost: Free
Dates: 11 Saturday lectures, 9 a.m. to noon Central. Fall 2026 runs September 12 to November 21 and is full. Spring 2027 dates will be announced in November 2026.
Application deadline: Spring 2027 registration isn’t open yet
Eligibility: Students in grades 9 to 12 from public, private, parochial or home schools. A physics course and some algebra help, but neither is required.
Fermilab is one of the country’s big particle physics labs, and this lecture series brings you inside it. Each Saturday covers a topic in modern physics, like particle physics or quantum computing, followed by Q&A and tours. There’s no residency rule, so anyone who can get to Batavia can sign up.
Who is it right for? A Chicago-area student who wants to see real particle physics up close without giving up a summer.
18. JHU APL STEM Academy
Location: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, or online
Cost: $59 per 12-week course. Financial help is available on request.
Dates: Fall 2026 runs September 14 into December, ending with a STEM Expo. Spring 2027 runs February 1 to April 29, 2027. Classes meet once a week, 5 to 6:30 p.m. Eastern, and you must attend 10 of 12.
Application deadline: January 9 to 17, 2027 for new students in the spring session (January 9 to 11 for returning students)
Eligibility: Grades 9 to 12. Maryland residents get priority for both in-person and online courses.
APL is a large defense and space research lab, and its staff volunteer to teach these after-school courses. Courses change each session, depending on who’s teaching. The physics-heavy ones are Aero+Space with STK, which covers flight physics, orbital mechanics and telescope optics, and Wireless Communication, which covers electromagnetic waves and antenna design.
Who is it right for? A Maryland student who wants a cheap weekly class with lab engineers, and anyone else willing to try for a spare seat.
19. National MagLab High School Externship
Location: National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Tallahassee, FL
Cost: Free. You get yourself to and from the lab.
Dates: September 2026 to May 2027 for the current group
Application deadline: July 25, 2026 for the current group (closed). Applications open the first week of April each year.
Eligibility: High school students enrolled in their own school’s externship program
The MagLab pairs you with a mentor in the field you choose and has you work with them through the school year. You finish with a poster at the end. Your mentor’s field sets your project, so ask for a physics placement if that’s what you want.
Who is it right for? A Tallahassee student who wants a year-long mentor at the country’s national magnet lab.
20. Utah Physics Circle
Location: L.S. Skaggs Applied Science Building, Room W0120, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Cost: Not published
Dates: Monthly evening meetings, 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. The latest posted schedule is for fall 2025.
Application deadline: None. It’s informal, so you just register and come.
Eligibility: High school students. Anyone under 14 needs a parent to sign off.
The Utah Physics Circle is a monthly evening meetup where you work through physics problems together and watch demos. It also works as prep for the F=ma exam, the first step toward the US Physics Team.
But check the page for the current schedule before you go, since the last posted dates are from last year. If competitions are your thing, our physics competitions list covers F=ma and more.
Who is it right for? A Salt Lake City student who likes solving hard problems with other people and might want to try the Physics Olympiad.
21. Stanford Pre-Collegiate University-Level Online (ULO): Physics
Location: Online. International students are welcome.
Cost: $1,700 per course plus a $35 application fee
Dates: The spring term runs January 25 to May 14, 2027. The fall term (August 31 to December 18, 2026) is already underway.
Application deadline: January 4, 2027 for spring, or December 3, 2026 if you’re applying for financial aid
Eligibility: Enrolled in high school, or in the summer right after you graduate, and under 19 for the whole term. Each course has its own prerequisites.
ULO offers four university-level physics courses: Light and Heat, Modern Physics, and Intermediate Mechanics I and II. The mechanics courses only run in fall and spring. You work at your own pace, with fixed exam windows and optional live sessions.
Who is it right for? A student who’s run out of physics at their school and wants a Stanford course from anywhere.
22. Horizon Academic Research Program
Location: Online
Cost: $6,950 per course, with need-based aid for households earning under $75,000
Dates: Labs run 12 to 16 weeks at 8 to 10 hours a week. The Winter 2026 cohort starts December 14, 2026, and cohorts also run in spring and summer.
Application deadline: November 22, 2026 for the Winter 2026 cohort
Eligibility: High school students with a 3.67 unweighted GPA. The physics course needs a year of calculus and a year of physics. Horizon accepted 26% of 6,539 applications.
Most programs on this list teach you physics that’s already known, and the few lab placements put you on someone else’s project. Horizon has you work on a question of your own, one-on-one with a PhD mentor, and finish with a research paper of about 5,000 words. Horizon’s physics course is Fluid Dynamics and Physics, a 1-1 PhD Lab. It’s the only physics course Horizon offers right now, so if fluids aren’t your thing, Protein Biophysics and Computational Neuroscience are the closest options.
And beyond the 15 sessions with your instructor, you get four sessions with a writing coach and four with a publication specialist. Publishing is an opportunity, not a promise, but you leave with a finished paper you can send to journals or competitions.
Who is it right for? A junior or senior who’s done calculus and physics and wants to finish the year with research of their own, from anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
There isn’t one best program, since the right one depends on your grade, your math and where you live. Start with the chooser table above, then the grade table, and you’ll have a short list in five minutes. If you want the most selective options, like RSI or the Simons program, see our most competitive summer programs and prestigious STEM programs lists.
Yes. Eight programs on this page are free, and three of them pay you. But six of those eight only work if you live in a certain state or close enough to attend every week. The two free programs anyone can join are Perimeter’s online GoPhysics! workshops and MSU’s Quantum Motor City camp.
Yes. Stanford ULO, Perimeter GoPhysics!, the online sessions of JHU APL STEM Academy, and Horizon all run online. For a longer list, including free self-paced courses, see our online physics programs guide.
A physics program teaches you physics, through lectures, labs or demos. A research program has you work on a question nobody has fully answered yet, usually with a mentor. Most programs on this page are the first kind. Our physics research programs list covers the second kind, and our guide to getting research opportunities in high school shows you how to find one.
You can do both. Competitions like the US Physics Olympiad test how well you solve problems under time pressure. The first round is the F=ma exam. Programs teach you new physics, and competitions test the physics you already know. The US Physics Team page has the exam details, and our physics competitions list covers more.
AP Physics 1 and 2 are algebra-based. Physics 1 covers mechanics, and Physics 2 covers topics like fluids, thermodynamics, electricity, magnetism and optics. AP Physics C uses calculus and comes as two exams, one on mechanics and one on electricity and magnetism. You’ll find the full course list on the College Board’s AP site. IB Physics is a separate two-year course, offered at standard or higher level.
Pick physics if you want to know why things work, and engineering if you want to build things that work. We left engineering, aerospace and robotics camps off this page on purpose. If a program’s description is mostly about design and building, it’s an engineering program, whatever it’s called. Several programs here sit in between, like UCF’s laser camp and APL’s flight physics course.
Yes. Nine programs on this page take 9th graders, including UMD’s Advanced Physics Summer Program, Fermilab Saturday Morning Physics, JHU APL STEM Academy, VAMPY and Summer at Lakeside. You’ll have the most options if you’ve finished Algebra I and started geometry or Algebra II.
You’ll work one-on-one with a PhD mentor on a research question of your own and finish with a paper of about 5,000 words. Horizon’s physics course is Fluid Dynamics and Physics, and it needs a year of calculus and a year of physics. It’s online, costs $6,950 with need-based aid for households under $75,000, and the Winter 2026 deadline is November 22, 2026. If you’re not ready for fluid dynamics, Protein Biophysics and Computational Neuroscience are the nearest options. See all courses on the Horizon programs page.
When are the deadlines?
| Program | Deadline | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Georgia GHP | January 8, 2027 | Open now, school nomination first |
| Los Alamos Summer Physics Camp | April 1 (2026) | 2027 not posted |
| QCaMP | April 3 (2026) | 2027 not posted |
| JHU BRBT | Not published | 2026 closed |
| UMD Advanced Physics Summer Program | Not published | Apply through online form |
| UCF CREOL Photonics Camp | April 30 early, June 15 regular (2026) | 2027 not posted |
| Oakland Intro to Quantum Physics | Interest form, no fixed date | 2027 dates posted |
| MSU Quantum Motor City | April 25 (2026) | 2027 not posted |
| Perimeter GoPhysics! | Not published | Decisions by June 17 in 2026 |
| JHU CTY Special Relativity | Not posted | No 2027 sections open yet |
| WKU VAMPY | Opens January 15, 2027 | No closing date published |
| MMSS | Rolling from mid-January | 2026 courses all filled |
| Summer at Lakeside | May 15 (2026) | 2027 not posted |
| MIT BWSI Quantum Software | March 31, recommendations April 2 | 2027 summer dates posted |
| UF SSTP | March 25 (2026) | 2027 not posted |
| Columbia SHP | April 15 (2026) | Next round not posted |
| Fermilab Saturday Morning Physics | Spring 2027 announced in November 2026 | Fall 2026 full |
| JHU APL STEM Academy | January 9 to 17, 2027 (spring) | Registration opens in January |
| National MagLab Externship | July 25 (2026) | Opens first week of April |
| Utah Physics Circle | None | Register and attend |
| Stanford ULO | January 4, 2027 (aid by December 3, 2026) | Open for spring |
| Horizon | November 22, 2026 | Open for Winter 2026 |
Image source: Oakland University