Immerse Education’s Residential Programs for High Schoolers: Is It Worth It?
As a high schooler, you have many options to explore your academic interests, from virtual courses to local camps. But if you're looking for something that goes beyond a subject deep-dive and gives you a feel for college life, a residential academic program might be what you're looking for. These programs place you on a university campus for a few weeks, where you take classes, live with other students, and get a taste of undergraduate life. As a participant, you’ll attend lectures, participate in extracurriculars, and go on weekend excursions with peers from all over the world.
What makes residential programs especially valuable is the access they give to the unique resources a university and city have to offer. For example, if you’re interested in artificial intelligence, you could visit tech startups in Silicon Valley while learning how to code. A summer enrichment program can also strengthen your college applications by showing your intellectual curiosity and willingness to challenge yourself by living independently.
There are plenty of summer residential programs for high school students, and our review today will look at one long-running option, Immerse Education. Immerse offers residential academic and career programs for high schoolers at Oxford, Cambridge, and 8 other universities around the world. In this review, we're going to walk you through Immerse’s programs, the subjects you can study, instructors, application process, and what past students have to say. We’ll analyze student outcomes and the program’s pros and cons to help you decide whether it's the right fit for you. Let’s begin!
What is Immerse Education?
Founded in 2012, Immerse Education runs residential summer programs at universities in Oxford, Cambridge, London, and 7 other global cities. The programs span 40 subjects and three distinct pathways. You can study at a top university, explore a career field in a major city, or develop a research project online. Immerse has worked with over 20,000 students.
Immerse is accredited by the British Accreditation Council (BAC), which is a strong indicator that the program meets high standards for academic quality and student safety. They also run a global scholarship essay competition each year, where you can win full or partial scholarships to any Immerse program. You can check the contest out here!
What programs does Immerse Education offer?
Immerse has three pathways, each built around a different goal. Here's a breakdown:
1. Academic Insights
This is Immerse's flagship two-week program, open to students aged 13–18. You'll take undergraduate-style courses at a university in Oxford, Cambridge, Sydney, Toronto, or another global city. You can choose from over 20 subjects, from economics and psychology to computer science and engineering. Classes have no more than 12 students, so you’ll get close engagement with your tutor. Sessions include a mix of seminars, personalized tutorials, and activities like participating in a moot court in law tracks.
P.S. — We're fans of this one! This program allows students from anywhere in the world to live at a prestigious university, and the academic rigor is impressive for a high school program.
2. Career Insights
For students aged 15–18 trying to decide what they want to do in the future, Career Insights is a two-week program in London, New York, the Bay Area, Tokyo, and other major business cities. You can explore one of 10 industries, from finance and medicine to journalism and software development. The program includes office and facility visits, one-on-one career coaching, and workshops run by professionals in the field. For instance, you could take the Film & Animation track in San Francisco, visiting top studios to see how they create full-length films.
3. Online Research Programme (ORP)
The ORP runs year-round for students aged 13–18 and pairs you with a tutor from Oxford, Cambridge, or an Ivy League university for one-on-one research mentorship. You'll pick a subject from law, history, math, computer science, international relations, and more, and write an original research paper. If you opt into the publication track, a publication coach will help you prepare your work for submission to independent high school research journals.
Who are Immerse Education's tutors?
We checked out Immerse’s tutors’ credentials, and they have studied at leading universities, including Oxford and Cambridge. Beyond their academic background, many Immerse tutors have impressive professional experience at McKinsey and R&D departments at biotech companies.
Overall, Immerse tutors come from prestigious universities, business schools, and companies, which means they could give you insight into these environments. Here are some of the tutors you can take classes with:
Who can apply for Immerse programs?
Immerse is open to students from anywhere in the world, within the following age ranges:
Academic Insights: ages 13–18
Career Insights: ages 15–18
Online Research Programme: ages 13–18
You'll need to be proficient in spoken English, and to receive academic credit, you must be at least 14 years old.
How do I apply for an Immerse program?
To apply, select a program on the Immerse website and fill out an application form covering your academic interests, subject focus, and motivation. Once the team confirms you're a good fit, you'll finalize enrollment, decide if you want to live on or off campus, and choose add-ons like academic credit.
How can I pick the right Immerse program?
With 40 subjects, 3 pathways, and 10 locations, it can be difficult to choose the Immerse program that would be the best fit for you. Here are some tips to help you narrow it down:
Define your goal: Do you want exposure to college-level academics, a sense of future careers, or mentorship as you research a question that interests you? Knowing if you want a future in research, academia, or industry can help you choose an Immerse pathway that aligns with your long-term plans.
Choose a subject you see a future in: It’s normal not to be certain about what you want to do in the future, but knowing the field you want to pursue can make a summer program a valuable investment. You’ll learn about the subject in-depth before you even head to college, preparing you for introductory classes and internships.
Consider a personalized consultation: Immerse offers free consultations to help you select an Immerse program. Since their team has worked with thousands of students, they can advise you on which universities and locations have the best resources for your subject.
Does Immerse help with college applications?
Immerse offers a rare opportunity to live and study at a university while in high school, which can help you decide what kind of college you want to attend. Through Immerse, you can experience university towns like Oxford and bigger cities like Toronto. You may discover which subfield within a subject you enjoy the most and want to major in.
Immerse programs can also strengthen your college applications through letters of recommendation and academic credit. You can ask your Immerse tutor for a recommendation letter, a useful validation of your academic abilities from outside your school. Through the Academic Insights program, you can earn 3 US academic credits or 8 UCAS credits, and all participants receive a Certificate of Completion.
In terms of alumni’s college outcomes, past Immerse students have been accepted to Oxford, Cambridge, and Cornell. The program doesn't publish comprehensive admissions data, but these are strong academic results.
What do Immerse alumni say about the program?
Immerse generally has good reviews across TrustPilot and Reviews.io. Immerse has a 4.8/5 rating on TrustPilot across 400+ reviews and a 4.9/5 on Reviews.io from 200+ reviewers. Students frequently highlight the quality of their tutors and the friendships they form with international peers. More than a few reviewers mention that the program helped them choose a college major, which is a pretty good outcome for a two-week summer program.
Here are a few more student reviews:
Pros and cons of Immerse Education
Pros
Preview of university life: Immerse allows you to study at leading universities around the world, such as Oxford, Barnard College in New York City, and University College London. You’ll get to live in the dorms and attend advanced classes in lecture halls, helping you understand what being a college student is like. This can help you make informed decisions about the kinds of colleges you want to apply to.
Large subject choice: With 40 options across academic, career, and research tracks, including niche fields like criminology and film and animation, you’ll likely find a subject you want to explore. The ability to combine different subjects, locations, and formats means you can build an experience that fits your goals, such as studying finance in New York or English literature in Cambridge.
International exposure: If you choose an Immerse program abroad, you’ll gain valuable experience stepping outside your comfort zone, developing self-reliance and interpersonal skills. You’ll expand your cultural knowledge by exploring your host city with peers from different countries. This experience can also help you prepare for the transition to college, especially if you’re applying to universities abroad.
Cons
Numerous options: Given the number of options available across subjects and locations, it may be difficult to identify a program you’d benefit most from. This is especially true if you’re drawn to multiple subjects and locations. You may need to spend some time with the prospectus or book a consultation to find the right fit.
Requires independence and responsibility: All Immerse programs need a high level of commitment. For the in-person programs, you’ll have to live in a new place for two weeks, adjusting to a different country, currency, and potentially language. The online research program requires a high degree of academic independence to finish the research paper.
High cost: Immerse programs can be expensive, and if you’re applying to a program abroad, you’ll have to account for visa fees and processing. Immerse offers scholarships through its essay contest and bursaries, but this financial support isn’t guaranteed. It’s important to weigh the potential benefits of the program against the cost.
Wrapping up: Should you apply?
If you're a high schooler genuinely interested in a subject who wants to know what campus life feel like, Immerse is a strong option. It's especially useful if you want to test your interests before choosing a college major or career path. Through undergraduate-level lectures and career immersion workshops, you can decide if the field would be a good fit for you.
The ability to pair subjects with different cities is a real advantage: you can visit startups in the Bay Area by choosing the technology Career Insights track in San Francisco, and learn in top fashion studios in New York City through the fashion and design track. You should look into the specific resources a city and university offer for your target subject if you’re considering Immerse.
The main drawback to Immerse programs is their cost. However, many students mentioned in reviews that Immerse helped them finalize their college major and make lasting friends, so carefully weigh the cost against the program’s potential impact on your future. Overall, Immerse is genuinely worth considering if you're looking to explore a subject in a new city and build skills that prepare you for college and your career.