15 Competitive Social Science Programs for High School Students

Key Takeaways

• These 15 programs cover a wide range of social science disciplines, from political science and economics at Yale Young Global Scholars and USC Dornsife’s internship to interdisciplinary humanities at Yale’s Citizens Thinkers Writers and the Stanford Summer Humanities Institute, alongside Horizon’s Research Seminars and Labs, which offers a virtual research track across subjects like political theory and data science.
• Acceptance rates for several of these programs are extremely low, with Yale Young Global Scholars accepting under 1% and Telluride’s Summer Seminar accepting 3 to 5%, so a strong application matters as much as meeting the baseline eligibility criteria.
• Costs vary enormously, from fully free programs like the Telluride Association Summer Seminar and USC Dornsife’s internship to premium university offerings like Yale Young Global Scholars and UC Santa Barbara’s Research Mentorship Program, which run into the thousands of dollars.
• Several programs, including UC Santa Barbara’s Research Mentorship Program and the University of Chicago’s DSI Summer Lab, place you in a genuine research role with a faculty mentor, culminating in a formal paper or presentation rather than just coursework.
• Program length and format vary considerably too, from short two-week intensives like UPenn’s Social Change and Social Justice Academy to longer multi-month commitments like CUNY’s STEM Research Academy and UPenn’s Young Scholars Program.

Social science is a wide-ranging field that explores how people, societies, and institutions function. If you’re interested in understanding how people think, behave, and make decisions, you should consider attending a social science program for high school students. These programs allow you to dive into fields like psychology, economics, political science, and sociology. Additionally, you will have the chance to go beyond textbooks and learn through hands-on experiences and research projects. 

Why choose a competitive program? 

While most academic enrichment programs will help you develop knowledge and skills, gaining admission into a competitive program is an accomplishment in itself. These programs often have rigorous application processes that may include a range of criteria, such as a high minimum GPA, letters of recommendation, or proof of extracurricular activities. Being selected and then completing the program’s advanced curriculum can demonstrate your strong academic potential and commitment to your field of interest. 

Here are 15 competitive social science programs for high school students. 

You can also check out these guides on free + online sociology programs or sociology research programs for high school students!

1. Telluride Association Summer Seminar

The Telluride Association Summer Seminar is a prestigious summer program for high school students interested in the social sciences, including fields like politics, history, race, social justice, literature, and art. The program offers two tracks: TASS-CBS, which studies contributions from people of African descent, and TASS-AOS, which examines how different forms of power shape social structures. You will learn through a combination of lectures, group projects, discussions, and essay-writing assignments. A significant portion of the program focuses on building a democratic community, for which you and your peers will work together to plan activities, outings, and service projects.  

2. Horizon Academic Research Program (HARP)

Horizon offers trimester-long research programs for high school students in subjects such as data science, machine learning, political theory, and more! Horizon is one of the few research programs for high school students that offers you the choice to engage in either quantitative or qualitative research. Once you select a particular subject track, Horizon pairs you with a professor/PhD scholar who acts as a mentor throughout your research journey. As a participant, you will be expected to develop a 20-page research paper that you can send to prestigious journals for publication as a high school student. The program also provides a letter of recommendation for each student and detailed project feedback you can use to improve future projects. Apply here!

3. Yale Young Global Scholars

The Yale Young Global Scholars program offers you a two-week intensive experience that dives into interdisciplinary courses. The “Politics of Law & Economics” course is a good option if you’re interested in exploring public policy, human rights, governance structures, and economic theories. If you’re more inclined towards studying gender equality, poverty alleviation, and environmental sustainability, you can opt for the “Solving Global Challenges” course instead. Whichever course you choose, you can expect a blend of lectures, seminars, panel discussions, breakout discussions, and a collaborative capstone project. 

4. UPenn’s Social Change and Social Justice Academy

The University of Pennsylvania’s Social Change and Social Justice Academy is a two-week program that explores how positive change can be implemented across various fields to bring about social justice. You will do this by exploring the historical and contemporary contexts around topics like war, militarism, immigration, poverty, nationalism, women’s rights, discrimination, climate change, and more. The program will include group discussions, field trips, guest speakers, and sessions to engage with film, music, and art in order to gain a wide variety of perspectives.  

5. UC Santa Barbara’s Research Mentorship Program

UC Santa Barbara’s Research Mentorship Program is a competitive research program through which you’ll get to work on university-level research projects under the guidance of a mentor. You will start the program with a virtual learning component, which is followed by the in-person research experience on campus. The available research areas include social science subjects like history, economics, psychology, geography, global studies, and sociology. You can expect to spend 35-50 hours per week on hands-on research, including lab work, field work, and data collection. Your work will culminate in a research paper, which you will present during the program’s closing symposium. 

6. Yale University’s Citizens Thinkers Writers

Citizens Thinkers Writers is a two-week residential program and yearlong fellowship program that offers an interdisciplinary exploration of history, politics, civics, and philosophy. The syllabus ranges from ancient Greece to the 21st century, covering topics like morality, law, justice, democracy, city life, freedom, self-governance, and more. In the process, you will study the works of people like Aristotle, Plato, James Baldwin, W.E.B. Du Bois, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and William Shakespeare. Through active discussions, seminars, readings, and field trips, the program aims to improve your critical thinking and analytical writing skills.  

7. University of Chicago’s DSI Summer Lab

The University of Chicago’s Data Science Institute Summer Lab is an eight-week research program that brings together data science with other fields of research. As a participant, you will be paired with a mentor and work on a research project that applies data science to fields such as computer science, biomedical research, and materials science. Available research areas also include options like social science, public policy, and psychology. During the program, you will learn advanced research methodologies, culminate your work in a video, and present it at the concluding symposium. You can go through previous projects here. 

8. Stanford Summer Humanities Institute

The Stanford Summer Humanities Institute is a three-week summer program that allows you to explore advanced humanities courses under the guidance of Stanford faculty. There are eight available courses, spanning social science topics like ancient Rome’s legacies, Indian cinema, Greek philosophy, revolutions over the years, and racial identity in America. You will learn through a combination of college-level readings, assignments, debates, workshops, and field trips, ending the program with an independent research project. 

9. The School of The New York Times’ Programs

The School of The New York Times has several summer programs in journalism for high school students, offering hands-on experience in the field under the tutelage of media experts. While the general focus of these programs is on journalism basics like reporting, writing, and editing, the available courses hone in on fields like politics, law, economics, and arts and culture, which will be of interest to students pursuing social science. In addition to classwork, you can also expect to go on field trips and site visits in New York City. 

10. George Mason University Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP)

George Mason University’s Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program offers you the chance to develop an independent research project with one-on-one mentorship. Under the guidance of a faculty member, you will get experience with hands-on research, cutting-edge tools, scientific writing, and developing a research poster. The program offers several research areas, including social science fields like economics and geography. You will also earn three college credits at the end of the program.  

11. UPenn’s Young Scholars Program

The University of Pennsylvania’s Young Scholars Program allows you to attend undergraduate courses during the spring and fall semesters. While the course offerings vary with each semester, you can expect options from fields like history, psychology, economics, and literature. The program will allow you to step into the shoes of a college student and experience attending lectures, completing homework, taking midterms, and writing research papers. You will also have the opportunity to earn one course unit (4 college credit hours) for each course you take.  

12. CUNY’s STEM Research Academy

The City University of New York’s STEM Research Academy is a two-semester program that gives you the chance to attend advanced STEM courses and earn college credit in the process. The program begins with a spring semester pre-college course and then continues with a six-week summer research experience in one of CUNY’s professional laboratories. The available research areas include social science options like organizational psychology, cognitive psychology, and medical psychology. As a participant, you will receive hands-on research experience, mentorship opportunities, and the chance to present your research at an exhibition.

13. Stanford University’s SPICE Program

The Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education offers online, college-level courses that allow you to explore foreign societies. The program has three different tracks focusing on China, Japan, and Korea, respectively, with each one exploring the country’s history, culture, politics, economics, social issues, literature, and arts. The coursework includes readings, assignments, an independent research project, and lectures given by experts, ambassadors, and scholars. Additionally, the program gives you the opportunity to earn three units of credit.   

14. Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth’s Courses

The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth offers STEM and humanities courses for students who want to engage with challenging academic coursework. There is a wide range of courses available for students interested in social science, including fields like political science, history, psychology, economics, and philosophy. Taught by experienced instructors, these courses will allow you to explore college-level concepts while developing critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and research skills.  

15. USC Dornsife’s High School Summer Internship Program

The USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future offers this internship for high school students interested in political science. During the program, you will choose a local, state, or federal-level bill that focuses on environmental policy or sustainability and develop two projects in relation to it – a legislative policy memo and a legislative process analysis. Through this process, you will gain hands-on experience in policy research, legislative analysis, argumentative writing, and a deeper understanding of how government and public policy work. On completion of the program, one of your assignments will be published online!  

Frequently Asked Questions

What kinds of competitive social science programs are available to high school students?

You’ll find a mix of formats, including interdisciplinary humanities and civics programs like Telluride’s Summer Seminar and Yale’s Citizens Thinkers Writers, research-intensive placements like UC Santa Barbara’s Research Mentorship Program and the University of Chicago’s DSI Summer Lab, and policy-focused internships like USC Dornsife’s High School Summer Internship Program. Horizon’s Research Seminars and Labs offers a different kind of option, letting you conduct independent, mentored research remotely across subjects like political theory and data science rather than joining a fixed in-person program.

What makes these programs so competitive?

Acceptance rates vary widely but are generally low across this list. Yale Young Global Scholars admits less than 1% of applicants, and Telluride’s Summer Seminar admits only 3 to 5%. Selectivity typically comes down to a combination of strong academic records, demonstrated interest in the subject area, and a competitive application, since most of these programs receive far more applications than they can accept.

Do you need prior research experience to apply?

Most of these programs don’t require prior research experience, since they’re designed to teach research methods and analytical skills from the ground up. That said, some, like the University of Chicago’s DSI Summer Lab, prefer familiarity with at least one programming language, and research-intensive programs like UC Santa Barbara’s Research Mentorship Program set a high GPA threshold rather than requiring prior research background specifically.

Are there free options available?

Yes, several programs on this list don’t charge a fee. The Telluride Association Summer Seminar, Yale’s Citizens Thinkers Writers, the University of Chicago’s DSI Summer Lab, and USC Dornsife’s High School Summer Internship Program are all free to participate in, and a couple of these also provide a stipend on top of being free.

Which programs offer stipends or paid positions?

A few of these programs compensate participants. Yale’s Citizens Thinkers Writers offers a $500 stipend, and the University of Chicago’s DSI Summer Lab provides $5,600. CUNY’s STEM Research Academy is also paid, though the exact amount varies depending on which campus you’re assigned to.

Which programs focus specifically on policy or government work?

If policy and government interest you, USC Dornsife’s High School Summer Internship Program is the most directly relevant option, having you develop a legislative policy memo and process analysis around a real bill. Yale Young Global Scholars’ “Politics of Law & Economics” track and UPenn’s Social Change and Social Justice Academy also touch on governance and policy topics, though with a broader interdisciplinary focus rather than USC’s hands-on legislative analysis.

Is there a way to pursue independent social science research beyond a structured program?

Yes. If you want a mentored research experience without needing to secure a highly competitive spot in a fixed program, Horizon’s Research Seminars and Labs pairs you with a professor or PhD scholar to develop a 20-page research paper you can submit for academic publication, across subjects including political theory and data science. The program also provides a letter of recommendation and detailed feedback, and covers over 600 research specializations. You can find the application here.

When should you apply?

Deadlines for these programs are spread throughout the year, so it helps to plan ahead. Telluride’s Summer Seminar has one of the earliest deadlines, running from October 15 to December 3, followed by the University of Chicago’s DSI Summer Lab (January 12) and Yale Young Global Scholars (January 7). February and March bring a wave of deadlines, including the Stanford Summer Humanities Institute (February 2) and UC Santa Barbara’s Research Mentorship Program (March 9). Horizon, by contrast, has multiple deadlines throughout the year across its Spring, Summer, and Fall cohorts, giving you more flexibility if you miss an earlier cutoff.

Image source: Yale University