Make Your summer Count: Engineering - Part 1
Virginia Tech: CEED Pre-College Programs
Date: April, June, July & August
Application Date: Differs by program
Course Delivery: In person
Tuition: Free-$2,250
Virginia Tech's Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED) has transformed lives through people-powered academic and summer programs like Summer STEP and C-Tech², creating a supportive community driven by mentorship and guidance that assists underrepresented engineering students from K-12 through graduate school. Founded in 1992 under the visionary leadership of Associate Dean of Equity and Engagement Bevlee Watford, CEED has become a cornerstone of the Virginia Tech community, providing comprehensive support throughout the entire engineering education pipeline while fostering belonging, academic excellence, and professional development for students from diverse backgrounds. Through proven mentorship models, hands-on programming, and sustained community engagement, CEED continues to break barriers and create pathways for the next generation of diverse engineering leaders, demonstrating how strategic support and inclusive programming can fundamentally transform both individual lives and the broader Virginia Tech engineering community.
North Carolina State: College of Engineering Residential Summer
Programs
Date: June & July
Application Date: March
Course Delivery: In person
Tuition: $1,500
Experience total engineering immersion as students dedicate an entire week to mastering one specialized workshop from an incredible array of cutting-edge options, including traditional favorites like Aerospace Engineering ("Look Up! Way Up!"), Biomedical Engineering ("The Human Machine"), and Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering alongside exciting new additions like "Slytherin with Python" computer programming and "Vital Ventures" personalized health monitoring technology. Choose from 15+ intensive workshops spanning Agriculture Robotics, Bioenergy Systems, Materials Science, Textile Engineering, Civil Construction, Data Analytics, and more, each designed to provide authentic hands-on experience in your chosen engineering discipline through real-world problem-solving and expert instruction. With limited space available and varying workshop schedules throughout different weeks, students maximize their acceptance chances by selecting multiple workshop preferences and week options, ensuring they secure their spot in this transformative deep-dive experience that could define their engineering future.
University of Notre Dame: Intro to Engineering Program
Date: June & July
Application Date: Until full
Course Delivery: In person
Tuition: $2,650
Engineering represents a profession of immense scope with endless career opportunities spanning Aerospace, Mechanical, Chemical and Biomolecular, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical, Civil, Environmental Engineering, and Geological Sciences—fields where men and women are successfully practicing at companies worldwide while others prepare for these dynamic careers. The University of Notre Dame College of Engineering invites you to discover this world of opportunities through an intensive two-week summer program between your junior and senior years, featuring campus visits with renowned engineering faculty, comprehensive updates on current career opportunities, exploration of engineering's many fascinating facets, and hands-on overviews of engineering design principles and computer programming. This transformative experience includes exclusive tours of state-of-the-art computer facilities and invaluable networking opportunities with professional engineers, providing you with the insights and inspiration needed to make engineering a major part of your life's plans while experiencing firsthand why Notre Dame stands among the nation's premier engineering institutions.
Rice University: ELITE Tech Camps
Date: June & July
Application Date: Until full
Course Delivery: Online & In-person
Tuition: $1,695-$3,795
Rice ELITE Tech Camp stands as the premier pre-college engineering summer program, uniquely designed by Rice University School of Engineering faculty and the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership to prepare high school students to become tomorrow's technology and engineering leaders through intensive one-week sessions combining rigorous STEM learning with real-world problem-solving applications. This transformative experience delivers college-level engineering concepts tailored specifically for high school students, featuring hands-on curriculum in cutting-edge topics including machine learning, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, data science, 3D printing, deep learning, and data analytics, while students work in small groups to tackle real-world challenges using technical, scientific, and analytical approaches. Beyond technical mastery, participants develop essential leadership, project management, and communication skills through engineering design processes, while gaining invaluable college readiness preparation and insights into various engineering fields from professors, researchers, professionals, and current students who provide comprehensive guidance for future academic and career success.
University of Pennsylvania: Engineering Summer Academy
Date: July
Application Date: March
Course Delivery: In person
Tuition: $8,500
The Engineering Summer Academy at Penn (ESAP) invites highly motivated and talented students to experience cutting-edge engineering at the prestigious college level through intensive three-week programs that seamlessly blend sophisticated theory with hands-on practical experience in tomorrow's technologies. Working directly with Penn's leading faculty members, students earn actual college credit while exploring dynamic fields including Artificial Intelligence, Biotechnology, Computer Graphics, Computer Science, Nanotechnology, and Robotics, all while living on Penn's historic Ivy League campus and forging lifelong friendships with exceptional peers from around the globe. This transformative residential experience provides unparalleled access to world-class research facilities, renowned professors, and innovative technologies that define the future of engineering, positioning participants for success in competitive college programs while immersing them in the academic excellence and collaborative spirit that makes Penn one of the world's premier engineering institutions.
Or…If none of these are right for you
Sigma Scholars:
Date: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter Cohorts
Application Date: November 1st (Winter Cohort)
Course Delivery: Online
Tuition: Varies by program and scope, reach out for more info!
Sigma Scholars is our flagship research program, allowing students to create research that adds to the body of knowledge within the field of their interest. With dozens of PhD candidates and professors in our network, no matter what a student is interested in, we find a mentor that can guide their learning! From their first taste of the research world to researching with Ivy League professors and year-long in-depth fellowships, our program provides opportunities for students to not only delve deeper into their interests, but to develop valuable skills while doing so. Included are our proprietary Research Bootcamp, Writing Specialists, and publication support—all while our consultants ensure that their work weaves into the larger narrative of their applications and academic development.
