TL;DR
You’ll find 23 biology programs below, each with its cost, dates, deadline, and who’s eligible. Eleven of them pay you. Most put you on a piece of someone else’s project and end in a poster. Horizon gives you a full term with a professor or PhD mentor on one research question, ending in a research paper you can submit to journals or competitions. It’s fully online.
Biology at this level means working on a living system and collecting data from it. That might be sequencing a gene, growing cells, running a PCR, staining tissue for a microscope, or picking apart a dataset somebody else collected in space. Most of these programs put you in a working lab with a mentor, on one small piece of a project the lab is already running.
They don’t all look the same. Some are research placements where you join a lab, some are paid jobs, some are university courses, and a few are fully online. They run from two weeks to a full school year.
What decides which ones you can apply to usually isn’t how good you are. It’s your grade level, your age on the start date, whether you can legally work in the US, and where you live. Only six of the 23 are open to students anywhere in the country. The rest want a specific county, a specific state, or one of eight named schools.
If you want some background first, try 8 tips on doing biology research in high school or 40 biology research topics.
What can you research?
| Area | A question you could ask | Most appropriate program |
| Genes and sequencing | Why does one plant survive a drought when the one next to it doesn’t? | Lawrence Livermore |
| Cancer biology | Why do tumor cells burn fuel differently than healthy ones? | Memorial Sloan Kettering |
| Neuroscience | How fast does a signal travel down a nerve, and what slows it down? | Max Planck Florida |
| Space biology | What happens to a living organism after six months in microgravity? | NASA GeneLab |
| Any of these, or a question of your own | Whatever you want to work on | Horizon |
Research program, internship, course or camp: which do you need?
“Biology program” covers at least four different things, and mixing them up is the most common way to waste a summer.
- Research program. You join a lab for 6 to 10 weeks on a real project. Free, often paid. You leave with a poster or a presentation.
- Internship. You work on someone else’s question, on their schedule. Free, usually paid. You leave able to name lab techniques you’ve actually run.
- Course or camp. Classes and set experiments, from $699 to $15,200. You leave with technique training and a certificate.
- Mentorship program. You build your own project with a mentor. Paid, with aid available. You leave with a research paper you own.
Online or in person
- In person gets you bench skills you can’t fake. You learn to pipette properly, keep a sterile field, and read a gel, and nobody teaches that over Zoom.
- Online gets you access. If there’s no research university near you, an online program isn’t a compromise; it’s the door that’s actually open.
- Three work from anywhere: NASA GeneLab, the remote track at George Mason, and Horizon.
If a camp or an internship is closer to what you want, we keep separate guides to biology camps, biotech internships, biochemistry internships, and free online research programs.
Biology programs open to students anywhere in the US
1. Research Science Institute (RSI)
Location: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cost: Free. Housing, dining and all educational costs are covered. There’s a $75 application fee, waived for financial need. No stipend
Dates: Six weeks. The 2026 session ran June 28 to August 8
Application deadline: December 10, usually the Wednesday of the second full week of December
Eligibility: Current juniors only, with one year left before graduation, and 16 by July 1. Open to US citizens, permanent residents and international students from participating countries
RSI is the hardest program on this page to get into, at under 2.5% acceptance. About 100 students come in from roughly 3,100 applications. You get a week of intensive STEM classes, five weeks in a lab with a mentor, then a final week writing a formal paper and preparing a talk you deliver. The recommended scores are PSAT Math 740 and EBRW 700, or ACT Math 33 and Verbal 34, and our full RSI guide walks through the application.
Who is it right for? Juniors with top test scores who can pull a complete application together by early December.
2. Anson L. Clark Scholars Program
Location: Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
Cost: Free. Room, board and meals are covered, plus a $750 stipend once you turn in a successful project report
Dates: Seven weeks. The 2026 session ran June 21 to August 6
Application deadline: February 16
Eligibility: At least 17 by the start date, graduating in 2026 or 2027. US citizens and permanent residents only
Twelve students, seven weeks, one faculty mentor each. That ratio matters more than any acceptance rate, and it’s why this one punches above its public profile. And Texas Tech covers room, board and meals, so the $750 is money you keep. Clark is also one of very few elite programs that will take you the summer after you graduate. You can look at our full guide.
Who is it right for? A strong student who wants real faculty contact instead of a big cohort, including one who has just finished senior year.
3. NIH Summer Internship Program (SIP)
Location: NIH campuses nationwide, with the main campus in Bethesda, Maryland
Cost: Free, and paid. $2,530 a month while you’re still in high school, $2,840 a month once you’ve graduated
Dates: Placements sit inside a May 10 to August 31, 2027 window
Application deadline: January 26, 2027 at noon Eastern, with reference letters due February 2
Eligibility: US citizen or permanent resident, 18 by September 30, 2027, and graduated from high school before the internship starts. One exception: a graduating senior who turns 18 by September 30 can apply if their permanent home address is within 40 miles of an NIH campus
Individual principal investigators pick their own interns, so researching three or four specific labs matters far more than polishing a general essay. You can learn more about the program in our detailed review.
Who is it right for? A graduating senior heading into a science degree who wants a paid federal placement in the gap summer.
4. Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP)
Location: George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia. Remote, in-person and hybrid placements
Cost: $25 application fee and $1,299 tuition, which covers 3 transferable undergraduate credits. Both are waived for demonstrated financial need
Dates: Eight weeks, full time. The 2026 session ran June 18 to August 12
Application deadline: February 15
Eligibility: 15 by the start date for remote and computer-lab placements, 16 for wet-lab in-person and hybrid placements
The $1,299 isn’t a program fee, it’s tuition for 3 credits that transfer, and George Mason waives it for students who demonstrate need. If you qualify for that waiver, this is eight weeks of faculty-supervised research that’s free and carries college credit. So the remote track makes it one of very few real placements you can do from another state, and at 15 the age floor is lower than almost anything else here.
Who is it right for? A sophomore or young junior who needs the placement remote, or needs the fees waived.
5. NASA GeneLab for High Schools (GL4HS)
Location: Online and asynchronous
Cost: Free. NASA stopped offering stipends from the 2026 program onward
Dates: 12 weeks. The 2026 session ran June 1 to August 28
Application deadline: February 15 to March 15, or as soon as 1,000 applications arrive, whichever comes first
Eligibility: US citizens or permanent residents at US high schools. Rising juniors and seniors, or students entering their college freshman year. Unweighted GPA of 3.0 and at least one high school biology course
You work with real omics datasets from spaceflight experiments, including work run aboard the International Space Station. And it’s self-paced. The only session you have to show up for live is a three-hour capstone orientation. That makes it the one option here that fits around a summer job. Note that it closes on volume rather than on a date, so applying in the first week matters. You can check more details in our review.
Who is it right for? A computational or data-minded student anywhere in the US, especially one who’s working over the summer.
6. Horizon Academic Research Program
Location: Fully online
Cost: $6,950 per course. Need-based financial aid for households earning under $75,000
Dates: Fall and spring trimesters run 15 weeks, summer runs 10. Expect 8 to 10 hours a week and at least 100 hours in total
Application deadline: November 22, 2026 for the winter cohort
Eligibility: Grades 9 to 12, unweighted GPA of 3.67 or equivalent. No prior research experience needed
Horizon pairs you with a professor or PhD mentor for a full term on one research question, and you finish with a research paper that’s yours to submit to journals or competitions. You can pick from Gene Editing and CRISPR, Protein Biophysics, Neuroscience, Computational Neuroscience, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Environmental Health and Engineering, or Bio-Industry.
Who is it right for? Students who want to run their own question instead of assisting on someone else’s, and anyone with no research university within reach.
7. Simons Summer Research Program
Location: Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York
Cost: No tuition or fees, and a stipend is awarded at the closing symposium, though Stony Brook doesn’t publish the amount. Dorm costs were estimated at $2,450 for 2026
Dates: About six weeks. The 2026 session ran June 29 to August 7
Application deadline: February 5, with teacher recommendations due February 13
Eligibility: You must be in junior year when you apply, 16 by the start date with no exceptions, and a US citizen or permanent resident with documentation
You’re placed into an existing faculty research group rather than a teaching lab. And it ends in a written abstract and a poster you present at a closing symposium, which is where the stipend gets handed over. Dorm space is available, which makes this one of very few paid programs here that a student from outside the region can realistically attend. Check more here.
Who is it right for? A junior who can either commute to Long Island or cover the dorm cost.
8. Eugene and Ruth Roberts Summer Student Academy
Location: City of Hope, Duarte, California. No housing offered
Cost: Free, with a stipend of $4,000 to $4,500. City of Hope’s own two pages give different figures
Dates: Ten weeks, June 1 to August 6, 2027
Application deadline: February 1, 2027, with applications opening November 1, 2026
Eligibility: High school or undergraduate students, at least 16 before the internship begins, US citizens or permanent residents, with high school chemistry and biology completed. Full attendance required and no time off approved
City of Hope takes 82 students from around 2,100 applications, and roughly 55% of the cohort is high schoolers, so you work alongside college students rather than in a separate track. There’s a CIRM TEAMS sub-program inside it capped at 14 students. Ten weeks with no approved absences is a real commitment, and no housing is offered, so check both before you apply.
Who is it right for? A student who can reach Duarte daily and give up the whole summer for a long, well-paid placement.
Paid biology internships, if you already live nearby
9. Broad Summer Scholars Program
Location: Broad Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Commuter only, no housing
Cost: Free, with no application fee. $3,600 stipend plus partial reimbursement for transport
Dates: Six weeks. The 2026 session ran June 29 to August 7
Application deadline: January 21, with applications opening in late November
Eligibility: Rising senior at a Massachusetts high school within commuting distance of the Broad in Cambridge. A B or better in science and math. US citizen, permanent resident, or non-US citizen with employment authorization
“A Massachusetts high school” undersells the restriction, since it has to be within commuting distance of Cambridge. But if you can get there, you work on projects drawn from live Broad research in cancer biology, psychiatric genetics, infectious disease and computational genomics. No prior research experience is required, which is rare at this level. If you’re in the area, also see 15 lab opportunities in Boston.
Who is it right for? A Greater Boston rising senior with good science grades and no lab experience yet.
10. Memorial Sloan Kettering HOPP Summer Student Program
Location: Memorial Sloan Kettering main campus, Upper East Side, New York, New York
Cost: Free, with a $1,200 stipend
Dates: Eight weeks at 40 hours a week. The 2026 session ran June 29 to August 21
Application deadline: February 6 at 8:00am Eastern, with applications opening December 1
Eligibility: Currently enrolled as a high school junior, 14 or older by June, with a 3.5 GPA in science subjects and legal authorization to work in the US. You must live in New York, New Jersey or Connecticut within 25 miles of the main campus
MSK takes 20 interns from more than 1,000 applications, a published 2% acceptance rate that makes it the most selective program here after RSI. So you run a self-directed project that feeds a principal investigator’s actual objectives. Two conditions get missed constantly: it takes current juniors only, and the 25-mile radius is a hard requirement rather than a preference.
Who is it right for? A tri-state junior with strong science grades who wants cancer biology at the top of the field.
11. Biorocket Youth Research Internship, Genspace
Location: Genspace, Brooklyn, New York
Cost: Free, with a $2,000 stipend
Dates: Orientation February 20, then February 25 to May 21 on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, then July 6 to August 14 Monday to Thursday in person
Application deadline: Not published. Applications open November 1, 2026
Eligibility: 16 by the orientation date, enrolled at a New York City public or charter school, and living or studying within 45 minutes of Genspace. No minimum GPA
Genspace calls this a six-month internship, and the real shape is two evenings a week through spring, a six-week gap, then a full-time summer block. You work on DNA sequencing, genetic engineering and bioinformatics in a community lab rather than a university one. No minimum GPA is unusual for a paid research internship, so this is worth a look if your grades don’t yet match your interest.
Who is it right for? A New York City public or charter school student who wants paid lab work without the transcript the university programs ask for.
12. Fred Hutch Summer High School Internship Program (SHIP)
Location: Fred Hutch, South Lake Union, Seattle, Washington
Cost: Free. A financial award is paid on completion, with the amount shared at interview stage. A free ORCA transit card is included
Dates: Eight weeks, two of lab training and six in a research lab. The 2026 session ran June 22 to August 14
Application deadline: March 13
Eligibility: Entering senior year, 16 or older by the start date, currently living in Greater Seattle or nearby. International students aren’t accepted, no housing assistance is offered, and a Zoom interview is required
The first two weeks are a wet-lab bootcamp with a named skill list: pipetting, dilutions, sterile technique, tissue culture, blood separation, DNA isolation, PCR and gel electrophoresis. You leave able to list techniques you’ve actually run, which very few high school programs can offer. A March deadline is also late for this list, so it’s a real option if you missed the January rush. See also 15 lab opportunities in Seattle.
Who is it right for? A Greater Seattle rising senior who wants trained technique and needs a later deadline.
13. King Foundation High School Summer Program in Biomedical Sciences
Location: MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Cost: Free. Stipend of $7,200 for ten weeks, or $6,480 for nine, before tax
Dates: The 2026 session ran June 1 to August 7
Application deadline: January 14
Eligibility: A Texas high school senior at a Texas public, private, charter or homeschool, 18 or older by the start date, US citizen, permanent resident or work-eligible visa holder. You must already hold a college acceptance for the fall
The whole cohort is six students. That’s the single most decision-relevant fact here, and the $7,200 stipend is the largest figure on this page. Like the NIH program, it’s built for the gap summer, so you need a diploma and a college acceptance in hand. And MD Anderson will excuse up to three days so you can attend college orientation partway through.
Who is it right for? A Texas senior with a college place already confirmed who wants a serious paid summer before starting.
14. Max Planck Florida Summer Research Internship
Location: Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, Jupiter, Florida
Cost: Free. Paid at $14 an hour for 40 hours a week over six weeks
Dates: Six weeks, full time, Monday to Friday. Specific dates aren’t published
Application deadline: Not published
Eligibility: Entering junior or senior year at a Palm Beach or Martin County high school, and living in one of those two counties. 16 or older by the start date and legally authorized to work in the US. Full six-week availability required
There are four tracks here rather than one: neuroscience, scientific programming, mechanical engineering and public engagement. The programming and engineering tracks are a real route into neuroscience if you don’t want to work at a bench. Max Planck Florida took 7 students from 167 applicants in 2025. And note that you have to both live in and attend school in those two counties.
Who is it right for? A Palm Beach or Martin County student, including one whose strength is code or hardware rather than lab work.
15. Kenan Fellows High School Summer Internships
Location: The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute, Jupiter, Florida
Cost: Free, with a $4,480 stipend for the summer
Dates: Eight weeks at 40 hours a week, Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm. The 2026 session ran June 5 to July 31
Application deadline: Not published. The application period gets announced in the fall
Eligibility: US citizen or permanent resident, entering junior or senior year, at least 14 years old, minimum 3.0 GPA, enrolled at a Palm Beach or Martin County high school
An age floor of 14 is remarkably low for a paid laboratory internship. If you’re young for your year you can qualify here while you’d still be locked out of Max Planck down the road. Fellows produce three outputs: a written abstract, an oral presentation and a poster. The application asks for a personal statement, transcript, resume and two teacher references, so give yourself a couple of weeks.
Who is it right for? A younger Palm Beach or Martin County student who wants paid, full-time research earlier than most programs allow.
16. Project ENGAGES
Location: Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia
Cost: Free, and paid. Georgia Tech doesn’t publish the amount
Dates: A full year. The summer block starts June 1 at a minimum of 35 hours a week, dropping to 15 hours a week after school during term
Application deadline: February 27, with applications opening in mid-December
Eligibility: Rising junior or senior, 16 by June 1, with an overall GPA of 3.0 and a science GPA of 3.0. You must attend one of eight partner Atlanta schools: Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy, B.E.S.T. Academy, Benjamin E. Mays, Charles R. Drew Charter School, South Atlanta, Booker T. Washington, KIPP Atlanta Collegiate or D.M. Therrell
This is the only entry here that isn’t a summer program. It runs a full year, so you stay in the same lab long enough to see a project through. A year in one lab is worth more than three summers in three different ones. And you take site visits to biotech companies including Axion Biosystems, C.R. Bard and Dendreon.
Who is it right for? A student at one of those eight Atlanta schools who wants sustained lab work rather than a summer sprint.
Free biology programs, if you already live nearby
17. Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR)
Location: Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California. Non-residential
Cost: Free to attend. A $50 application fee applies, waived for families under $80,000 adjusted gross income. A very limited number of need-based stipends exist and Stanford publishes no amount
Dates: Eight weeks, June 7 to July 29, 2027, listed as tentative. About 40 hours a week, though the Bioengineering track runs three days
Application deadline: Late February 2027, with the application opening December 18, 2026
Eligibility: Current juniors or seniors, 16 by the start date, US citizen or permanent resident. Strong preference for Bay Area students within an hour’s drive
SIMR splits into eight research areas and ends in a poster you present on campus. The Bioengineering track meets three days a week rather than five, which helps if you’ve got other commitments. The lack of housing is what decides this one for most applicants. From outside the area you have to arrange to live with family or a guardian for eight weeks. Our SIMR application guide covers the rest.
Who is it right for? A Bay Area junior or senior who can get to campus every weekday.
18. Rockefeller University Summer Science Research Program (SSRP)
Location: RockEDU Science Outreach Laboratory, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York
Cost: Free, with no application fee. You get an OMNY card covering city transit. Need-based stipends are available for students facing hardship, and no amount is published
Dates: Seven weeks at about 35 hours a week. The 2026 session ran June 22 to August 6
Application deadline: January 2 for students, with recommendation letters due January 5
Eligibility: Junior or senior when you apply, and 16 by the start date. Students outside the tri-state area can apply, but Rockefeller can’t help with travel, housing or visas
SSRP isn’t a one-to-one mentorship, and that turns out to be the strength. You join a team of 8 to 10 students backed by at least three mentors, out of a cohort of 32, and you choose your own research question inside the team’s topic. Watch the two deadlines, since January 5 is for your recommenders and not for you. If you’re in the city, also see 16 research programs in NYC.
Who is it right for? A New York City student who wants to pick their own question and works well in a team.
19. Biotech Summer Experience, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Location: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California
Cost: Free. No stipend
Dates: Two weeks of weekdays, 8:30am to 4:00pm. The 2026 session ran July 13 to 24
Application deadline: February 26 for students, with recommendation letters due March 6
Eligibility: 16 by the start date, entering grade 11 or 12, attending a Northern California high school. Cumulative GPA of 3.3 and science GPA of 3.5, with biology and chemistry done. If you’re 18 at the start you must be a US citizen, and security screening applies
Two weeks is short. But the output isn’t. You isolate, characterize and sequence genes from the duckweed species Landoltia punctata, then submit your sequences to GenBank. You walk away with a public accession number anyone in the world can look up, which is unusual for a free two-week workshop. The Northern California residency rule is hard, so check it before you spend time on the application.
Who is it right for? A Northern California student with strong science grades who wants something citable out of a short program.
20. KEYS Research Internship
Location: BIO5 Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
Cost: Free. No stipend, but KEYS covers a CatCard, parking, meals and transport, and gives financial support to offset a summer job you’re giving up. Limited campus housing if you’re outside Tucson
Dates: Seven weeks, June 7 to July 23, 2027
Application deadline: December 17, 2026, with recommenders until January 7. Applications open November 2, 2026
Eligibility: 16 on the first day, currently enrolled in high school, US citizen or permanent resident, and an Arizona resident for at least a year
KEYS carries 3 units of molecular and cellular biology credit from the University of Arizona, which is transferable college credit rather than a certificate. And there’s a limited virtual track for computational biology and bioinformatics, so if you can’t reach Tucson daily you still have a route in. This is one of only four programs on this page with a live, forward-looking deadline, so it’s one you can act on today.
Who is it right for? An Arizona student who wants college credit alongside the research and can move on a December deadline.
21. TGen Bioscience Leadership Academy
Location: TGen headquarters, downtown Phoenix, Arizona. No housing or transport provided
Cost: Free. Every graduate gets a $1,000 scholarship. There’s no wage or stipend
Dates: Two weeks, 9:00am to 4:00pm, roughly 80 hours over 10 days
Application deadline: February 5 on the timeline currently posted, which is the 2025 one. Email TGen rather than trusting those dates
Eligibility: 16 by the start date, a rising junior or senior at an Arizona high school, and an Arizona resident
TGen takes 20 Arizona students and picks one per high school. That cap changes your odds completely, because you’re competing with your own classmates before you compete with the state. The content isn’t bench research. It’s lab shadowing, clinical trials, bioethics and experimental design, with training in science communication. Funding runs through 2028, so the program looks secure even though the page is stale.
Who is it right for? An Arizona sophomore or junior drawn to the ethics and business side of biomedicine rather than the bench.
Biology programs you pay tuition for
22. Research in the Biological Sciences (RIBS)
Location: University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. Residential
Cost: $15,200, plus a $75 application fee that’s waived automatically if you apply for financial aid. A $1,000 non-refundable deposit is due within seven days of admission. Need-based aid is available with no amounts published
Dates: Four weeks. Arrival June 13 and departure July 11, with course dates of June 15 to July 10
Application deadline: February 11 for priority and March 12 for regular
Eligibility: Current 10th and 11th graders. High school biology is required, and a full year of an advanced biology course with strong grades is recommended
RIBS is the most expensive entry here and the most technique-dense: four weeks of molecular biology, microbiology and cell biology methods applied to an independent project. And the course fills, so a “Course Full” flag goes up well before the cycle closes. Aid also can’t be awarded once an admissions decision has been released, so if you need aid, treat February 11 as the real deadline.
Who is it right for? A sophomore or junior who wants concentrated wet-lab training and can meet the priority deadline.
23. Boston Leadership Institute biology programs
Location: Babson College near Wellesley and Gann Academy or Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, plus remote programs on Zoom
Cost: $2,500 for a three-week program, with a further $2,097 to board. $1,200 for a remote program, $699 for a one-week program
Dates: Synthetic Biology ran June 22 to July 10 and July 13 to 31. Biotech Research remote ran June 29 to July 10
Application deadline: None. Admission is rolling, reviewed weekly, with decisions in 7 to 10 days. Balances are due May 15 for the remote lab kit to reach you on time
Eligibility: Students entering 8th grade through entering college
The three-week synthetic biology program runs CRISPR gene editing and a microarray experiment on DNA samples you collect yourself, with site visits to the Broad Institute, the Koch Institute, Ginkgo Bioworks and Vertex. And the remote version ships lab supplies to your house. Rolling admission makes this the realistic backup once every January deadline on this page has passed.
Who is it right for? A student who missed deadline season, or a younger student not yet eligible for the research programs above.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, though fewer than you’d hope. Six of the 23 don’t filter on location, and two of those are fully online: NASA GeneLab, which is free, and Horizon. George Mason’s ASSIP also runs a remote track. The other thirteen need you in a specific county, state or set of schools.
Depends what you mean by best. On selectivity, it’s RSI at under 2.5% and MSK HOPP at 2%. On money, MD Anderson pays the most at $7,200. On access, NASA GeneLab is free and open from any state. On what you leave with, the programs that end in a paper beat the ones that end in a certificate. Pick the axis that matters to you, then use the chooser table.
No, and the difference matters. A camp runs a week or two of set experiments and ends in a certificate. A research program runs six to ten weeks on a project the lab actually needs done, and ends in a poster or a paper. Camps are a good way to find out whether you like lab work. So programs are what you do once you know. We keep a separate guide to biology camps for high school students.
Ten of the entries here are internships in everything but name, in that you’re working on someone else’s project on their schedule. If that’s specifically what you want, see 15 biotech internships, 15 biochemistry internships, biology internships and 12 paid research mentorship programs.
From two of them. KEYS carries 3 units of molecular and cellular biology credit from the University of Arizona, and ASSIP’s tuition covers 3 transferable undergraduate credits at George Mason. Most university pre-college courses carry no credit at all, despite being taught on campus and priced as though they might. Check the specific course page rather than assuming.
Only three programs here publish a figure: RSI at under 2.5%, Memorial Sloan Kettering at 2%, and Horizon at 26% of 6,539 applications. Max Planck Florida and City of Hope publish applicant and acceptance counts you can divide yourself. But everything else publishes nothing. For the ones that do, see the most prestigious programs with low acceptance rates.
Three routes. Online programs like NASA GeneLab cost nothing and take students from any state. Mentorship programs such as Horizon pair you with a professor or PhD mentor remotely, so the nearest lab stops mattering. Or you build your own project, which our guides on finding a research lab and the key components of a research paper cover properly.
It’s possible, and it’s worth treating as a separate project from the program itself. Start with how to publish research in high school, 15 research journals for high school students and 15 research competitions. And a poster from a summer program isn’t a publication, though it’s often the raw material for one.
They can, though not the way most people assume. What reads well is a finished piece of work and a clear reason you chose it, not the name of the institution. Our piece on whether summer research programs actually help with college admissions covers the evidence.
Image source: Horizon Academic Research Program