The Best Activities for the Summer After Freshman Year of High School

The summer after freshman year is your first “real” summer, and we find that the time is best used to explore initial interests in certain areas. That doesn’t mean that you can’t see your friends or that you aren’t allowed to have fun, we’re just saying that colleges look specifically at how you spend your free time as an indicator of success and work ethic and summer means a lot of free time. You could spend it at camp, but that won’t do much to further your interests. We’d like you to use this free chunk of 2-2.5 months to do something that is both fun and related to something academic that you’re interested in. And make sure that you find time to be active and play basketball with your friends. Here are some initial ideas that we have that are perfect for freshmen beginning to explore their interest(s):

STEM/Engineering 

• Bluestamp Engineering 2 Week Introductory Program (NYC, Silicon Valley, San Francisco)

• Take an intro course at a local coding academic like General Assembly, The Coding Space, or Upperline.

• Duke TIP Program: Computer Skills for Today’s Scientists and Engineers (Duke)

English/Writing

• Bard College at Simon’s Rock Young Writer’s Workshop (Upstate NY)

• Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship Program

• California State Summer School for the Arts Programs in the Arts (writing, dance, visual arts, etc.)

Math

• Duke TIP Course: Spy 101: Cryptology and Number Theory (Rice University)

• Duke TIP course: Crunching the Numbers: Global Finance (Duke, Georgia Tech)

• MathILy Program (Bryn Mawr)

Psychology

• Duke TIP Course: Social Psychology (Rice University)

• Psychology in Everyday Life 1-Week Course (Illinois Institute of Technology)

• Summer Discovery Psychology Courses (throughout U.S.)

Law and Government

• Duke TIP Course: Criminal Law and Mock Trial (University of Georgia, Louisiana State)

• Summer Discovery Law and Government Courses (throughout U.S.)

• Duke TIP Course: American Foreign Policy (University of Georgia)

Film/Acting

• Duke TIP Course: Big Screen, Little Screen: Writing for the Camera (Duke)

• School of Creative and Performing Arts Summer Film (NYC, LA, Vermont)

• Acting Intensive Program (USC)

And please, please, PLEASE, we beg of you, read some books. They will help you figure out what you are and aren’t interested in! We promise. Take a look at some of the lists we’ve put together on what to read, choose a book, and start there.

Let us know if your area of interest isn’t listed above. It’s by no means comprehensive and we’d love to help you find the perfect summer program.