10 Summer Tech Programs for High School Students in California
If you’re a high school student interested in tech, summer programs are a good way to explore the field. California has some of the best tech programs for high schoolers in the country and the world. These programs provide theoretical frameworks, practical knowledge, and guidance from experts in the subject. They are a way for you to build a peer network, and they allow you to learn from mentors. Connections built through these summer programs can help you explore the tech industry. Here are California's top 10 summer tech programs for high school students.
1. Stanford AI4ALL
Location: Virtual
Acceptance Rate: Competitive, not explicitly mentioned
Dates: June 18 – July 2
Application Deadline: January 24
Eligibility: 9th graders or rising 10th graders who are over 14 years old at the start of the program
Cost: $4,000 (Financial aid available).
This three-week online program combines lectures, research projects, and mentoring activities. You will engage with professionals and participate in projects like Robotics, Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision, and Medical AI. This experience can provide insight into AI's potential for improving society. The program includes mentorship sessions with Stanford AI Lab professionals, allowing you to participate in significant research. It can help you gain insights into AI and its future impact on the world, foster personal growth, and build an academic foundation for your interest in AI.
2. Veritas AI
Location: Virtual
Cost: Depends on specific program, financial aid available!
Application deadline: On a rolling basis. Spring (January), Summer (May), Fall (September), and Winter (November).
Program dates: Multiple 12-15-week cohorts throughout the year, including spring, summer, fall, and winter.
Eligibility: High school students. AI Fellowship applicants should either have completed the AI Scholars program or exhibit experience with AI concepts or Python
Veritas AI, founded and run by Harvard graduate students, offers programs for high school students who are passionate about artificial intelligence. Students who are looking to get started with AI, ML, and data science would benefit from the AI Scholars program. Another option for more advanced students is the AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase. Through this program, students get a chance to work 1:1 with mentors from top universities on a unique, individual project. A bonus of this program is that students have access to the in-house publication team to help them secure publications in high school research journals. You can also check out some examples of past projects here.
3. UC Berkeley BAIR High School Summer Program
Location: UC Berkeley Campus, California
Acceptance Rate/ Cohort Size: Approximately 30 students
Dates: July 8-12
Application Deadline: Applications typically close in April
Eligibility: Bay Area high school youth entering grades 10–12. Check more details here
Cost: Free
UC Berkeley BAIR High School Summer Program is one of California's most prestigious tech programs. This program explores AI technologies, concepts, and ethics, which are part of Berkeley AI’s research. You’ll explore how AI systems work on a technical and societal level, participate in Python programming and machine learning workshops, and complete a practical project. You will get to engage with fellow high school and graduate students through informal lunch hour discussions. The program also includes visits to research labs This can help you understand the field from a broader research perspective. The program consists of guided lab lectures with guest lectures daily. The BAIR labs bring together researchers from across the areas of computer vision, machine learning, natural language processing, robotics, planning, and control.
4. Lumiere Research Scholar Program
Location: Remote — you can participate in this program from anywhere in the world!\Cost: Full financial aid is available!
Application Deadline: Varying deadlines based on cohort.
Program Dates: Varies by cohort: summer, fall, winter, or spring. Options range from 12 weeks to 1 year.
Eligibility: You must be currently enrolled in high school and demonstrate a high level of academic achievement.
The Lumiere Research Scholar Program is a rigorous research program tailored for high school students. The program offers extensive 1-on-1 research opportunities for high school students across a broad range of subject areas that you can explore as a high schooler. The program pairs high school students with Ph.D. mentors to work 1-on-1 on an independent research project. At the end of the 12-week program, you’ll have developed an independent research paper! You can choose research topics from subjects such as psychology, physics, economics, data science, computer science, engineering, chemistry, international relations, and more. You can find more details about the application here
5. Girls Who Code: Summer Immersion Program
Location: Virtual
Acceptance Rate/ Cohort Size: 20-55 students
Dates: 30 June - 8 August
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Girls and non-binary students in grades 9-11
Cost: Free
This two-week program offers learning in game design in live virtual classrooms. It allows you to build your coding skills. It also provides data science, web development, and artificial intelligence knowledge. You can join a network of peers. You also get to learn about the future career opportunities in the field by connecting with engineers and entrepreneurs, and participate in skill-building workshops. The program lets you explore web development and cybersecurity, among others. You can learn coding languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Python.
6. Meta Summer Academy
Location: Meta headquarters, CA
Acceptance Rate/ Cohort Size: Not specified
Dates: June 16 – July 25
Application Deadline: February 14
Eligibility: High school sophomores; minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA; residents of East Palo Alto, Belle Haven, North Fair Oaks, or Redwood City
Stipend: Paid
The Meta Summer Academy internship allows students to learn more about managing the world's largest social media network. You will gain professional experience as an intern by engaging in Meta’s daily activities. Additionally, a Meta employee will mentor you throughout the program. The internship aims to motivate young professionals to achieve economic success, stability, and mobility through skills and development. As part of the program, you get a comprehensive introduction to the tech industry. The focus is on product development, user experience design, and digital marketing.
7. UCDS Research Experience for High School Students
Location: San Diego Supercomputer Centre, California
Acceptance Rate/ Cohort Size: 45 students per summer
Dates: June 16 – August 8
Application Deadline: March 15
Eligibility: Be a Southern California resident, 10-12 Grade with an age of at least 16 years on or before June 15 of the application year
Stipend: Paid
This program allows you to choose individual research projects you can work on. You will work in groups, which facilitates peer-to-peer learning. This 8-week-long program helps you to gain theoretical and practical knowledge in tech. You learn how to formulate and test hypotheses, conduct computational experiments, and prepare yourself professionally. There are also research scientists and experts from the field who mentor you. You are expected to participate in lab meetings and group discussions during the program. By the end of the program, you will make a poster of your project, which will be displayed at the celebratory event in mid-August. The program employs a research-based approach to understanding tech. Through the program, you will also learn to formulate and test hypotheses, conduct computational experiments, and draw conclusions from those experiments.
8. Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program
Location: Stanford Institute, California
Acceptance Rate/ Cohort Size: Around 50-60 students
Dates: June 9- July 31
Application Deadline: February 22
Eligibility: Must be current juniors or seniors as of Jan of that year, and must also be at least 16 years old by the start of the program
Cost/Stipend: $500
This eight-week program gives you a broad range of experiences in biological science and medicine. You can choose from eight institutes: Stem Cell, Immunology, Neurobiology, Cancer Biology, Bioengineering, Cardiovascular Biology, Bioinformatics, Genetics, and Genomics. The internship provides hands-on experience for you by working on projects and gaining knowledge from the mentors, experts, and faculty members. The campus allows you to network with peers from different backgrounds and be involved in activities other than academics. The program develops a methodical experimental approach for you. Students create a holistic approach towards tech and its broader application in the professional world. There are accommodation facilities at the campus offered at a cost, and can be accessed here
9. COSMOS – California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science
Location: UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Los Angeles, UC San Diego, and UC Santa Cruz
Acceptance Rate/ Cohort Size: Acceptance rate around 20%
Dates: July 6 – August 1
Application Deadline: February 7
Eligibility: students must be California residents, enter grades 8 through 12 by the summer, demonstrate academic excellence, and have a minimum GPA of 3.0
Cost/Stipend: $ 5,007 for four weeks
This program aims to create an intensive academic experience for you, which can have the capacity to go beyond the high-school curriculum. This is developed by STEM professionals and researchers, which gives it an edge from an academic perspective. The program would be interesting for someone who likes science and mathematics. The program connects you to professionals in the field, creating a deeper learning experience from their guidance. COSMOS partners with several organizations that can help you create a network in the field with other organizations and professionals. This four-week residential program offers you a chance to be part of a dynamic environment and gain unique knowledge in the STEM fields.
10. Research Experience | UCSB Summer Sessions
Location: University of California, Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA)
Cost: $75 application fee, $250 deposit; tuition is $4,700 (commuter) or $11,299 (residential); limited scholarships for California residents.
Application Deadline: TBA
Program Dates: Likely in June, based on the previous year’s schedule.
Eligibility: High School Sophomores and Juniors
In this six-week intensive program, students are paired with a mentor (either a graduate student, postdoc, or faculty) to take part in a specific research project. This program has a bonus of earning university credits. CS research varies in topic choice year to year but has included topics ranging from developing an open-source pH sensor to monitoring ocean Acidification to the creation of a Low-Rank Neural Network for Multimodal Sentiment Analysis.
Image source - COSMOS Logo