8 Tips to Get Accepted to the Summer Science Program

Updated October 2026

TL;DR

The Summer Science Program (SSP) is a five-week residential research program for current high school juniors, run by the nonprofit SSP International on college campuses in the U.S. and Canada. You choose one of four tracks (astrophysics, biochemistry, bacterial genomics, or cell biology), work in a team of three, and apply for free. The fee is $11,800, but admission is need-blind, and aid covers 100% of demonstrated need. This guide covers what SSP is, its dates and deadlines, who can apply, how much it costs, and 12 tips to get accepted. If you also want to research a question of your own with a PhD mentor, you can apply to the Horizon Academic Research Program.

If you’re thinking about applying to the Summer Science Program (SSP), you’ve probably wondered what makes an application stand out. Good grades in science and math help, but they’re not the whole story. SSP looks for students who are curious, ready to work through difficult problems, and able to collaborate with a team. This guide covers what SSP looks for, how to approach your essays, and what you can do to prepare before applying. It also includes 12 tips to help you put together a stronger application, from choosing recommenders to showing how you work with others. For more options like it, see our list of astrophysics programs for high school students.

What is the Summer Science Program?

The Summer Science Program is a five-week residential research program run by SSP International, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It’s one of the oldest residential STEM programs in the country, and it runs on college campuses in the U.S. and Canada. In the last cohort, that meant 13 host campuses, from Colby College in Maine to Chadron State College in Nebraska to the University of Guelph in Ontario.

You live on campus with about 35 other high schoolers, share one research project with two teammates, and spend roughly 60 hours a week on it. SSP describes the pace as very fast and the schedule as jam-packed, with a lot of personal attention from faculty. There are no grades or tests, which SSP says is on purpose, to build a spirit of cooperation.

Each track works on a defined research project, so you won’t invent a topic from scratch. Your team still makes real decisions inside it, like which asteroid to observe or which gene to edit, and collects its own data. An admissions committee of staff, volunteer alumni, and former faculty reads every application.

SSP dates and deadlines

SSP hasn’t posted exact 2027 dates yet, but it has shared a rough calendar. Here it is next to what happened in the 2026 cycle.

When should you apply: The week the application opens, and well before your deadline. SSP says its review starts quickly; it cannot accept late applications, and it doesn’t consider updates (like a new award) after the deadline. You can sign up for SSP’s reminder form to get an email when applications open.

Which deadline is yours? You’re a domestic applicant if you’re a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and you attend school in the U.S. You’re international if you attend school outside the U.S., aren’t a citizen or permanent resident, or both. Exchange students who aren’t citizens or permanent residents count as international even while studying in the U.S.

Who can apply to SSP?

You need to be a current high school junior who is at least 15 and not yet 19 during all program dates. The FAQ says that it includes exceptional sophomores who meet the age and course requirements. If you graduate in 2028, 2027 is your cycle.

The only academic requirement is coursework in your track, finished or in progress by June, taken for credit and with a grade at your school. SSP doesn’t require AP or advanced classes, and self-study doesn’t count. SSP also isn’t collecting or considering standardized test scores for 2027 (PSAT, SAT, ACT, or AP), except that international applicants must show English proficiency. The eligibility page has the full details.

How much does SSP cost?

Applying is completely free. The last program’s fee was $11,800 and covered tuition, room, board, supplies, and local field trips and transportation. SSP says that’s its cost per person (about $14,600) minus donor support, and the full 2027 fee will be posted in December 2026.

Most families pay less. Admission is need-blind, so you don’t ask for aid until after you’re admitted, and a parent or guardian applies through the status page of the applicant portal. SSP says families with typical expenses and assets and an annual income of about $75,000 or less attend free, and families up to roughly $140,000 usually get a full or partial discount.

In the last cohort, SSP gave out more than $4.1 million in fee discounts, travel aid, and cash stipends, and over half of the people in the program received some aid. Aid can include round-trip airfare for you (not for parents or guardians), and international applicants can request aid too. SSP also has a limited number of $3,000 “lost wages” stipends, on top of free attendance, for people who would normally work over the summer. You request one at the time of admission.

12 Tips to Get Accepted to the Summer Science Program

How do you get accepted to SSP? Match your track to coursework you’ll finish by June, send in every piece of the application on time, and write like someone who would be a good teammate. SSP reads each application as a whole, looking at your motivation, your resources, and the obstacles you’ve overcome. These tips are built around what SSP’s own pages say it wants.

1. Pick the track your transcript can support

You can apply to only one track. You can switch while the application is open, but not after the deadline. So start from your schedule. Astrophysics needs physics and precalculus, biochemistry needs biology and chemistry, and genomics and cell biology both need biology and algebra II. If two tracks fit, choose the one whose project you’d still be curious about at 11 p.m. in week four. Our guide to biology programs for high school can help you compare what else is out there.

2. Apply this year, because juniors get one shot.

SSP only takes current juniors, so there’s no second try as a senior. If you’re a sophomore reading this, use the year to line up the right courses for next fall and build a record of curiosity SSP can see. Our guide on how to get into a top high school research program covers what to start now.

3. Try your track’s real tools before you write a word.

SSP’s track pages name the tools: Python with JupyterLab, Matplotlib, and Astropy in astrophysics, and the open-access Galaxy platform for genome work in bacterial genomics. Spend a weekend with one of them. Plot a dataset, or run through a genomics tutorial, and notice what confuses you. Then you can write one honest line in your essay about what you tried. Since SSP isn’t looking at test scores this year, those prep hours can go here. If you need help finding a first question, start with our guide to choosing a research topic or research programs for complete beginners.

4. Open the application the week it goes live.

SSP says applications open in December 2026, though last year they opened December 31. Once you start, the portal shows a checklist of every required piece with its due date. That lets you see the real workload early, before a missing transcript turns into a February problem. Fill out the reminder form so you hear about it the day it opens.

5. Work out your deadline, then finish two weeks early.

Last cycle’s deadlines were January 29 for international applicants and February 19 for domestic applicants. SSP says it can’t take late materials and doesn’t consider anything you add after the deadline, including a new award. Use the status page in the portal to check which pieces SSP has received, and set your own finish line two weeks before the real one.

6. Hand your math or science teacher a one-page brief.

SSP requires one recommendation from a math or science teacher at your school, preferably someone you’re working with this year. A second is highly preferred, and if you need to, you can ask any adult outside your family who can describe your character, interests, and academic preparation. Give your recommender a one-page brief with your track, one moment you stuck with a hard problem in their class, and why SSP. Then confirm with them that they got SSP’s email, and check the status page to see it went through.

7. Write about your motivation and what you’d add to a team of three.

SSP says who you are, what interests you, and what you bring and hope to gain are the most important parts of your application. The committee looks for the people who have the most to gain from the program and the most to contribute to it. You’ll spend five weeks sharing every stage of a project with two teammates, so pick one story where you worked on something with other people, and it went sideways. Tell the reader what you did next.

8. Describe your school and your life as they are

SSP’s review considers your resources and obstacles you’ve overcome, and it encourages applications from people underrepresented in STEM, first-generation college applicants, and applicants from rural areas. If your school doesn’t offer physics, astrophysics accepts calculus. If your course has a different name than the one SSP lists, check the FAQ before you guess. By “precalc,” SSP means trigonometry and matrices, and it lists IB and Cambridge courses that count toward calculus. Then describe your course content plainly in your application.

9. Clear your summer before you hit submit.

You’ll need to arrive on the designated day, stay until departure day, and skip other coursework, programs, or internships during SSP. Expect about 60 hours of research a week plus lectures, with very little free time. SSP says exceptions outside of emergencies aren’t typical. So check your calendar for summer school, sports camps, and family trips now. If you’d normally work over the summer, ask for a $3,000 lost-wages stipend at the time of admission.

10. Don’t let the price talk you out of applying.

The application is free, admission is need-blind, and you don’t request aid until after you’re admitted. SSP says your anticipated need is in no way considered during admissions, so there’s nothing to gain by writing about money in your application. If you’re admitted, a parent or guardian applies for aid, and the travel part of the cost is included in the calculation.

11. Flag anything that affects where you can be placed.

SSP assigns your campus after you’re admitted, and the assignment isn’t open to change. If something matters for placement, like access to a place of worship near campus, SSP asks you to note it in your application. For disability accommodations, email admissions@ssp.org early so SSP can talk through options. SSP provides transportation between the arrival airport and your campus on the official arrival and departure days.

12. Build a backup plan, because SSP won’t give you a paper of your own

SSP’s FAQ says the research stays under the SSP banner and can’t go into a competition without SSP’s approval. It also says that if your goal is publishable work or your own topic, SSP isn’t the best place. So apply to other programs alongside it, and keep working on your own questions at home. Our guide to finding a research lab has seven ways in, and our post on whether a published paper helps with Ivy League admissions explains what’s worth aiming for.

What research can you do at SSP?

SSP’s tracks share a structure (a team of three, one research problem, a lot of real tools) but cover very different science. SSP hasn’t published its 2027 campus list, so the campuses below are from 2026.

1. Astrophysics: asteroid orbit determination

Your team picks a near-Earth asteroid from an ephemeris (a table of calculated positions), writes an observing proposal like the ones astronomers send to observatories, and takes images on several nights. You measure the asteroid’s position against the background stars, then write Python (yes, really) to calculate its position and velocity vectors and estimate its six orbital elements. By the end, your calculations go to the NASA-funded Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union to help improve its predictions. For more programs like it, see our list of astrophysics summer programs and astronomy research programs.

2. Biochemistry: fungal inhibitor design

Your team characterizes an enzyme from a fungal species that infects crops (one that has never been modeled before), builds a molecular model of its 3D structure, and designs a molecule that could inhibit it. The work mixes bench techniques like affinity chromatography, gel electrophoresis, and enzyme kinetics with homology modeling, ligand docking, and molecular dynamics. SSP says the project goes beyond what undergraduate biochemistry majors do in an analytical lab course. You finish with a poster and a written report.

3. Bacterial genomics: directed evolution of stress resistance

You grow a non-pathogenic bacterium in a custom chemostat while the stress on it keeps increasing, forcing it to evolve resistance. Then your team sequences the evolved strain, rebuilds its genome, and maps the mutations that appeared, using Galaxy for read trimming, genome assembly, gene annotation, and mutation calling. Lab skills include aseptic technique, PCR, gel electrophoresis, and growth-rate calculations, and you write a collaborative manuscript and defend a poster.

4. Cell biology: CRISPR in yeast

Your team uses CRISPR gene editing in baker’s yeast to study cell cycle genes tied to how cells control (or fail to control) their growth. Each team proposes a target gene, makes its own guide RNA, runs the full CRISPR protocol, and checks that the edit landed where it should. After that, you characterize what changed in the cells.

What do you actually sign up for?

SSP is a full-time commitment, and it helps to know that before you apply. You’ll spend five weeks on a campus, with SSP’s faculty, teaching assistants, and residential mentors around you. The mentors include rising college seniors, graduating seniors, and graduate students in STEM. When you’re not in the 60 hours of research, the schedule has field trips to local museums, scenic hikes, guest lectures, talent shows, and professional dinners.

After the program, everyone receives a letter of completion, and you can request a letter of recommendation, though SSP gives those at its discretion. You also join an alumni network of more than 4,300 people and can take part in College Link, an optional fall mentorship program.

What skills do you build at SSP?

Each track teaches its own techniques, but a few things carry across all four:

• Reading and writing like a scientist: Journal article comprehension, observing proposals, collaborative manuscripts, and poster defenses, depending on your track.
• Programming and data tools: Python in astrophysics, and online bioinformatics tools in the biology tracks.
• Hands-on instrument work: Telescopes, micropipettes, chemostats, microplate readers, and microscopes.
• Applied math: Vector calculus and numerical methods in astrophysics, and rate equations and curve fitting in biochemistry.
• Working with other people: SSP’s FAQ lists time management, intrinsic motivation, group participation, and doing science where you don’t know the outcome before you start.

How does SSP compare with other programs you can apply to as a junior?

If you’re a junior, last cycle’s calendar would have you applying to RSI in December, then SSP, SEES, and SIMR in February. Start drafting now so your essays don’t collide. Our RSI guide walks through that application.

One more option: the Horizon Academic Research Program

SSP gives you a team project that SSP designed and five weeks on a campus. If you’d like to go deeper on a question you choose, the Horizon Academic Research Program pairs you one-on-one with a PhD scholar or professor. In a typical 10- to 15-week program, you build your own project and finish with a 20-page research paper that’s yours to submit to journals or competitions. The program is selective and fully online, so it fits around school.

What you might still be wondering about SSP

Image source: Summer Science Program