If you're a high school student interested in physics, you should consider enrolling in a pre-college program! These programs will allow you to explore physics concepts that might not be included in your regular school curriculum, providing a more in-depth understanding of the subject.
Whether you're interested in biophysics, astrophysics, nanotechnology, or cosmology, these programs will give you a chance to work on projects under expert guidance, collaborate with like-minded peers, and explore potential career paths.
Participating in these programs can strengthen your college applications by demonstrating your ability to engage with advanced material and practical knowledge in your field of interest. Courses from popular pre-college programs offer a competitive edge, help prepare you for the challenges of higher education, and support you in making informed decisions about your academic and career goals.
Here’s our curated list of 13 physics pre-college programs for high school students that you can consider!
Subject Areas: Astronomy, astrophysics, quantum physics, relativity, quantum mechanics, math, and cosmology.
Location: Columbia University, New York, NY.
Cost:
- NYC Commuter Summer (3 Weeks): $6,300 per session | NYC Residential Summer (3 weeks): $12,449 per session
- Financial aid based on need is available for New York residents enrolled in the NYC Commuter Summer Program.
A detailed cost breakdown can be found here.
Application Deadline: Applications are currently closed, and deadlines vary based on the session. Dates for 2025 are yet to be announced.
Dates: Multiple sessions were available in 2024; TBA for 2025
- Session A: June 24–July 12, 2024
- Session B: July 16–August 02, 2024
Eligibility: High school students in grades 9–12 are eligible to apply. Participants must be 16 years old to join the NYC Residential Summer Program.
Columbia University’s Pre-College Program offers a range of physics courses, lasting 1-3 weeks, available both in-person and online. The physics courses available cover topics such as astronomy, astrophysics, quantum physics, relativity, quantum mechanics, mathematics, cosmology, and more.
The "Explorations in Quantum Physics" course is an in-person course tailored for high school students interested in delving into modern physics. It covers the fundamentals of quantum physics, from experimental basics to an introduction to the theoretical framework. The course focuses on building knowledge and skills in modern quantum science and its various applications, featuring lectures with an emphasis on derivation, problem sets, essays, and group projects.
Throughout the course, you will study topics like quantum mechanics, quantum optics, and quantum computing. You will also have the opportunity to engage in co-curricular activities, clubs, events, and other experiences that will help you develop skills for both college and career. Additionally, seminars, workshops, and lectures will help prepare you for the academic challenges of university life.
Subject Areas: Newtonian mechanics, Newton's laws, kinematics, statics, conservation of energy, and momentum.
Location: Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (Commuter program)
Eligibility: High school students aged 16 to 19, who will graduate and begin college in 2025, 2026, or 2027, are eligible to apply.
Application Deadline: Applications for Summer 2025 will open on December 2.
- Early application deadline: January 8, 2025
- Regular application deadline: February 12, 2025
- Late application deadline: April 9, 2025 (or earlier if all course waitlists are full).
Dates: 7-week session; June 21–August 9, 2025
Cost: $3,900 (4-credit course) + $75 application fee. Financial aid is available.
Harvard Summer School’s Secondary School Program (SSP) is a 4- or 7-week academic program for high school students seeking to take college-level courses for credit. Taught by Harvard faculty, the program offers courses in a wide range of subjects, including physics, astronomy, biology, chemistry, literature, environmental science, journalism, computer science, creative writing, economics, finance, philosophy, psychology, calculus, and more.
The "Principles of Physics: Mechanics" course introduces students to Newtonian mechanics, covering topics such as Newton's laws, kinematics, statics, conservation of energy and momentum, the simple harmonic oscillator, and rotational motion. This course meets one of the two required semesters of physics for medical school admission. To enroll, you must have completed precalculus and be comfortable with trigonometry and algebra, as well as have a basic understanding of mechanics. Upon completing the program, you will receive a letter grade and can request a Harvard transcript reflecting your courses. In addition to academic growth, you will gain essential life skills such as time management, career planning, and independent living, preparing you for college life.
Subject Areas: Modern physics, quantum mechanics, particle physics, and Einstein's special and general theory of relativity.
Location: Virtual (synchronous lectures)
Cost: The cost is $3,050, with some courses potentially requiring the purchase of additional materials like course readers or textbooks. Need-based financial aid is available.
Application Deadline: March 29, 2024; TBA for 2025
Dates: Multiple sessions were available in 2024; TBA for 2025
- Session 1: June 17–June 28, 2024
- Session 2: July 8–July 19, 2024
Eligibility: Students currently in grades 10–11 can apply to the “Frontiers in Physics” course. Students should have completed an algebra course and a physical science course, and should also have some exposure to basic trigonometry.
Stanford University’s Pre-College Summer Institutes offer a 2-week virtual program for high school students worldwide, focusing on intensive study in one online course. You can choose from 60 ungraded, non-credit courses in subjects like computer science, math, creative writing, social justice, and engineering.
The “Frontiers in Physics” course introduces students to modern physics, covering quantum mechanics, particle physics, and Einstein’s special and general relativity. You will explore Einstein’s theories, review important historical experiments, solve Schrödinger’s equation, and analyze the Bohr-Einstein debates. Assignments may include writing a scientific article on relativity, performing an experiment on light’s wave nature, and creating a general-audience article on topics in modern physics.
Classes meet live for two hours daily, Monday–Friday, with additional out-of-class assignments. Seminars, workshops, and activities are available during free time. Each class has a maximum of 16 students, and upon completion, you will receive a written evaluation and a certificate.
Subject Areas: Science, technology, philosophy, literature, politics, law, economics, global challenges, and culture.
Location: Yale University, New Haven, CT
Cost: $6,500 for a 2-week session + a $75–$90 non-refundable application fee. Need-based financial aid is available.
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis:
- Early action deadline: October 20, 2024
- Regular decision deadline: January 10, 2025
Dates: Residential sessions will be available in June, July, and August 2025:
- Session I: June 22–July 4, 2025
- Session II: July 6–July 18, 2025
- Session III: July 20–August 1, 2025
Eligibility: Current high school sophomores or juniors aged 16–18 years by July 20, 2025, graduating in May/June 2026 or 2027 can apply. Students must be first-time participants in YYGS.
Yale Young Global Scholars (YYGS) is an academic enrichment program for high school students, offering a preview of college life. You can choose tracks in STEM, social sciences, humanities, or cross-disciplinary studies. The program includes academic courses, social activities, and collaborative projects with YYGS staff. With a competitive acceptance rate of 18-20% and global applicants, being accepted to YYGS will enhance your student profile. The program also features webinars on college admissions and other topics, available live or as recordings.
The “Innovations in Science & Technology (IST)” course is designed for students who are interested in learning about diverse topics in the STEM fields and applying scientific principles to real-world applications. You will explore a wide variety of scientific fields such as physics, molecular biology, chemistry, biochemistry, astronomy, engineering, neuroscience, immunology, psychology, and earth science. You will also study the interdisciplinary applications across the many scientific fields ranging from the nanoscopic to the astronomical in scale.
Subject Areas: Modern physics, special and general relativity.
Location: Harvard University campus in Cambridge, MA
Cost: $5,550 + $75 application fee. Need-based financial aid is available.
Application Deadline:
- Early Application Deadline: January 8, 2025
- Regular Application Deadline: February 12, 2025
- Late Application Deadline: April 9, 2025
Dates:
- Session I: June 22–July 3, 2025
- Session II: July 6–18, 2025
- Session III: July 20–August 1, 2025
Eligibility: Students aged 16–19 years old who will graduate high school in 2026 or 2027 can apply.
Harvard’s Pre-College Program is a two-week residential summer program for high school students, offering a glimpse of college life. You can choose one of over 30 non-credit courses per session, covering subjects in STEAM, business, humanities, economics, and sociology, taught by Harvard-affiliated instructors. Classes are 3 hours daily with 12 to 18 students, involving discussions and research presentations.
The "Introduction to Relativity: From Cosmic Rays to Black Holes" course introduces high school students to key concepts in special and general relativity. It covers Galilean relativity, derives Lorentz transformations, and explores their effects, such as length contraction, time dilation, and causality. The course then introduces Einstein's general relativity, focusing on the equivalence principle and space-time metrics. You will also study Einstein's field equations and discuss applications like gravitational wave interferometry and black holes, concluding with how relativity fits into modern physics.
Outside of class, you’ll have 2 to 4 hours of homework, along with activities like field trips, dance lessons, and talent shows. The program also includes college readiness workshops on admissions essays, financial aid, and selecting a college. Upon completion, you’ll receive a Harvard transcript and a written evaluation from your instructor, helpful for college applications.
Subject Areas: Physics and Math.
Location: Brown University campus in Providence, RI.
Cost: $5,256 (Residential) | $4,076 (Commuter). You can check here for a detailed breakdown of the costs. Scholarships are available.
Application Deadline: May 10, 2024; TBA for 2025
Dates: July 15–July 26, 2024; TBA for 2025
Eligibility: Students in grades 9 to 12, aged 14–18, are eligible to apply. A basic understanding of high school algebra is required, but no prior knowledge of physics is needed.
Brown University’s Pre-College Programs offer high school students the chance to experience college-level courses in fields like biological and natural sciences, business, economics, philosophy, legal studies, literature, writing, psychology, physical sciences, math, politics, arts, engineering, and technology. These non-credit courses allow students to explore academics without grade pressure. You can choose from over 300 courses, participate in community activities, and attend college-readiness workshops.
The “May The Force Be With You: Physics for the Ages” course offers a conceptual introduction to physics, with a focus on understanding forces and modeling simple mathematical patterns in various applications. This introductory course provides foundational knowledge, modeling techniques, and problem-solving skills that can be applied to more advanced physics courses, which may build on these concepts with greater depth and mathematical complexity.
Each course includes three hours of daily classes, five days a week, with an additional three hours of out-of-class work. You’ll engage in class discussions, group work, and individual study. Upon completion, you’ll receive a certificate and a performance report for courses of two weeks or longer. You can also participate in course-based research, involving developing and presenting research projects.
7. Horizon Academic Research Program (HARP)—Physics Track
Subject Areas: Environmental health and engineering, biotechnology, chemistry, physics, behavioral economics, network science, biophysics, psychology, international relations, neuroscience, data science, machine learning, history, philosophy, political theory, sociology, and more!
Location: Virtual
Cost: There is a fee. You can raise an interest form here to find out the exact cost.
Application Deadline: May 21, 2024, for the summer cohort and September 25, 2024, for the fall cohort.
Dates:
- Summer seminar: June 24–September 2, 2024
- Fall seminar: October 23, 2024–February 19, 2025
- Flexible dates are available for Horizon Labs but you must apply 4 weeks in advance.
Eligibility: High school students with good academic standing (>3.67/4.0 GPA) can apply. Most accepted students are 10th/11th graders! You can check out the prerequisites for different tracks here.
Horizon offers trimester-long research programs for high school students in various fields, such as data science, machine learning, political theory, biomedical engineering, chemistry, neuroscience, and psychology. Students can choose between quantitative and qualitative research methods. For those interested in physics, the Fluid Dynamics and Physics course is a potential option.
Once you select a subject and research method, you will be paired with a professor or Ph.D. scholar from a top university who will mentor you throughout the research process. You will develop a 20-page university-level research paper, which you may submit to reputable journals for potential publication.
The program provides an opportunity to conduct research in specialized areas with expert guidance. You will also receive a letter of recommendation and detailed feedback on your project, which can support future research and college applications. You can apply here!
Subject Areas: Physics, mechanics, electromagnetism, quantum dynamics, and astrophysics.
Location: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Cost: Students who attend a School District of Philadelphia public or charter high school may be eligible to attend free of charge with a Penn Summer Scholarship.
Application Deadline: Applications for 2024 are now closed. Applications for the summer 2025 session will open in late fall 2024.
Dates: July 6–July 27, 2024; TBA for 2025
Eligibility: Students currently enrolled in grades 9–11 can apply.
The University of Pennsylvania’s Summer Academies are immersive, three-week programs focused on specific academic subjects. The Experimental Physics Research Academy delves into core physics topics such as quantum dynamics, astrophysics, mechanics, and electromagnetism, blending lectures, hands-on activities, projects, and discussions to provide a comprehensive learning experience. As a residential program, you’ll live on the UPenn campus, gaining full access to the university's facilities and resources.
The curriculum starts with an introduction to fundamental physics concepts, including kinematics, electricity, nuclear physics, modern physics, and quantum mechanics. In addition to these scientific principles, the program explores the philosophy of science, experimental design, educational pathways in physics, and ethical considerations in scientific research. Throughout the program, you will have the opportunity to engage with Penn faculty, learning about their current research and gaining insights into cutting-edge areas of physics. This experience is also designed to help you build a solid foundation for future college-level physics coursework. Further details about the curriculum and past participant experiences can be accessed here.
Subject Areas: Experimental physics, experiment design, data analysis, and communication skills.
Location: In-person at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
Cost:
- Tuition is $1,840 per credit.
- Some online courses may also include nonrefundable fees for required materials, such as reading materials or course supplies.
- Financial aid is available.
- Textbooks are not included in Cornell tuition.
Application Deadline:
- Fall session: August 26, 2024
- Spring session: January 22, 2024
- Dates TBA for 2025
Dates:
- Fall session: August 26–December 9, 2024
- Spring session: January 22–May 18, 2024
- Dates TBA for 2025
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors and seniors are eligible to apply. Students must be at least 15 years old to attend online courses and at least 16 years old to attend on-campus commuter courses. Students must take this course along with other physics courses, listed here.
Cornell University's School of Continuing Education (SCE) offers pre-college commuter and online summer courses for high school students worldwide. Participants can earn 3–8 credits, transferable to Cornell or other institutions, and will receive a Cornell transcript. The program provides college-level classes and can enhance your college application. You can choose from over 100 undergraduate courses in fields such as architecture, business, international relations, health, science, and more.
The “Introduction to Experimental Physics” course introduces students to the fundamentals and techniques of experimental physics. You will conduct multi-week investigations, design your experiments, and explore how experiments contribute to developing physical models. The course covers experiment design, data analysis, formulating research questions, and ethical considerations in physics. You will also get to develop your collaboration and communication skills. The course will help you understand measurement and experimentation and assess the connection between physical theories and experimental data.
Subject Areas: Forces, rotary motion, static equilibrium, fluids, oscillations, and thermodynamics.
Location: Virtual
Cost: $1,213 + $25 application fee. There is an additional $500 service fee for international students.
Application Deadline: June 3, 2024; TBA for 2025.
Dates: June 3–August 9, 2024; TBA for 2025
Eligibility: Students aged 16–18 who have completed grades 10 or 11 with a minimum B average (3.0, weighted or unweighted) are eligible to apply. A basic knowledge of calculus is also required.
The UC Berkeley Pre-College Scholars Program allows high school students to take college-level courses and earn credits alongside UC Berkeley students. The program offers residential, commuter, and virtual options for both domestic and international students, with courses available in disciplines like arts, humanities, social sciences, and STEM. In the virtual track, you will participate in online courses and extracurricular activities that will help broaden your personal and social skills while preparing for college.
In the "Introductory Physics" course, students will explore topics such as forces, kinetics, equilibria, fluids, waves, and heat. This course introduces methodologies for understanding physical phenomena and is helpful for those planning to study biology or architecture at a higher level. The course is mostly asynchronous, with hands-on labs completed at home using a lab kit purchased from the Cal Student Store.
Subject Areas: Theoretical physics, relativity, particle physics, radioactivity, quantum mechanics, nuclear energy, and cosmology.
Location: Northeastern University campus, Boston, MA
Cost: The program tuition is $6,695. This covers program tuition, course materials, housing, meals, and social activities. Need-based financial aid is available.
Application Deadline:
- Priority application deadline: January 15, 2024
- Regular application deadline: February 28, 2024
- Late application deadline: March 15, 2024
- Dates TBA for 2025
Dates: July 21–August 2, 2024; TBA for 2025
Eligibility: Rising high school juniors or seniors between the ages of 16 and 18 by the program start date can apply.
Northeastern University’s Exploring Modern Physics Program is designed for high school students interested in physics. The program introduces students to theoretical physics concepts that complement their school curricula. Instruction is provided through lectures, guest speakers, and hands-on laboratory experiments. During the program, you will have the opportunity to observe cosmic rays using a cloud chamber and measure their properties with an electronic muon counter. The lectures will cover a range of topics, including special relativity, quantum mechanics, radioactivity, particle physics, and cosmology.
Additionally, the program will explore applications of modern physics, such as nuclear energy and climate modeling. You will study concepts like antimatter, special relativity, particle physics, Big Bang nucleosynthesis, and radiation. You’ll also delve into time cones, four-dimensional space, black body radiation, and nuclear reactions. These topics are presented through a conceptual approach, requiring minimal math.
Subject Areas: Physical sciences, astronomy, physics
Location: University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Cost: $8,600 (Residential) | $5,850 (Commuter). Need-based financial aid is available.
Application Deadline: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Dates: June 17–July 5, 2024; TBA for 2025
Eligibility: Current high school freshmen, sophomores, and juniors at least 14 years old can apply. Students must have completed Algebra 2 for this course.
The University of Chicago’s Pre-College Summer Immersion Program offers high school students the chance to take undergraduate-level courses. You'll engage in a detailed study of your chosen topic while learning from faculty, researchers, and professionals through workshops, research projects, and hands-on activities. You can select from a wide range of courses in fields such as creative writing, biology, biotechnology, film, psychology, economics, neuroscience, physics, mathematics, law, philosophy, data science, molecular engineering, public policy, and more.
In the "Life in the Universe & The Laws of Physics" course, you will explore the role physics plays in the development and existence of life in the universe. The course covers topics such as the evolution of the universe, fundamental interactions, nuclear and molecular structure, star and galaxy formation, thermonuclear fusion, the origin of chemical elements, and the laws of thermodynamics, among others. Learning will take place through discussions, group activities, and lab exercises.
Subject Areas: Fundamentals of physics—thermodynamics, magnetism, energy, electricity, and more.
Location: Boston University, Boston, MA
Cost:
- Residential: $10,256 (8 credits)
- Commuter: $6,830 (8 credits)
- All participants are required to pay a $50 application fee in addition to a $60 service fee.
You can check out the Tuition & Payment page for a detailed breakdown of fees. Financial aid is available in limited amounts for the High School Honors Program.
Application Deadline: Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until all slots are filled. Applications for Summer 2025 will begin on December 15, 2024.
Dates: June 29–August 8, 2025
Eligibility: Rising juniors and seniors in high school can apply.
Boston University’s High School Honors Program allows high school students to experience college life while earning up to 8 college credits in six weeks. Students can choose two undergraduate courses from over 80 options across various subjects. Residential students take two courses for 8 credits, while commuter students can enroll in one or two courses, earning a minimum of 4 credits.
In the course "Elementary Physics 1," you will explore the fundamental principles of physics, delving into subjects such as forces, motion, energy, momentum, rotation, and thermodynamics. "Elementary Physics 2" will introduce you to concepts like electricity, magnetism, circuits, waves, optics, and modern physics. Throughout the week, your mornings will be spent attending classes, while your afternoons will be dedicated to experiential learning activities. In the evenings, you’ll have time for homework, socializing, or engaging in various activities such as playing music, participating in sports at FitRec, or exploring Boston with your peers.
David Wilkinson is a freelance writer for Horizon and currently resides in the United States.