The Best of UPenn Summer Program Options
Summertime is a time for high school students to take advantage of the time they get away from the classroom and explore their passions and interests. For many, that may mean trading in the high school classroom for a university lecture hall in a UPenn Summer Program.
Enrolling in a summer program at a top university in the United States, such as a UPenn Summer Program, can be an incredible experience for high schoolers for many reasons. Summer programs offered at top schools such as UPenn offer students a fantastic blend of fun, education, personal growth and enrichment, and more! Colleges know that offering high school students a first-hand experience of life on campus can play a large role in encouraging those students to apply to, and ultimately attend, a school.
If you’re reading this, you’re not worried about what the university gets out of it, however. Surely, you’re more worried about what you (if you are a student) or your child (if you are a parent of a high schooler) gets out of this fantastic experience.
Luckily, we at AdmissionSight can easily break down what the many benefits of attending a UPenn Summer Program class are. Not only that, we’ll go into some of the most popular summer program classes that are available to high school students all over the world.
The simple reason why university programs can be such a great thing for high school students to attend is that it gives the students a great chance to learn and grow in ways that are simply not possible if they spend their entire summer vacation living at home, working at the local ice cream stand, and hanging out with their friends.
Of course, summer vacation is a time for every student to blow off some steam, and they should be given the opportunity to do so, but it can’t all be fun and games if your student is interested in attending a prestigious university such as UPenn when they graduate from high school.
Attending a UPenn Summer Program helps students make the very most of their summer vacation while also allowing them the chance to have a great load of fun during the summer months.
Why attending a UPenn Summer Program would benefit your high schooler
As we have already mentioned, high schoolers who attend summer programs at UPenn get much more than just a fun experience. Let’s break down some of the very best benefits together!
Dive deep into a topic of interest
High school is a fantastic bedrock of education for every committed student, and while students can learn a huge amount of important information and lessons in high school, it can also be hard to dive deep into a single subject. For example, if your child excels at math and science that’s great. But it can be hard to advance as far as possible in those important subjects because they also have to study important subjects such as English, history, or a foreign language.
In university, your student will be able to focus primarily in math and science as a part of a STEM related major, and a UPenn Summer Program can allow them to do that as well.
Not only that, but these summer programs give students an inside look into an industry or academic focus that they would not be able to enjoy in a traditional class setting. The class can also expand your student’s awareness of opportunities in these fields. Even if a student has not yet decided on what major they will pursue when they ultimately start college, unique summer programs can help open their eyes to some fantastic options.
Get that college experience before college
Attending university is an exciting and daunting undertaking for every student. One way to make that transition far less overwhelming is to allow them to dip their toes into what college life is like by having them attend a summer program.
Even if students have a sense of how difficult college might be thanks to their experience in AP classes and honor roll courses, nothing can really prepare a student for college-level courses and the lifestyle changes that come with living in a dorm away from home. When enrolling in a summer program such as a UPenn Summer Program, they get exactly that and get to dip their toes into college life. This will not only make the prospect of college more exciting; it will also make it feel less daunting. That’s a win-win for both you and your student.
Beef up that college application
This might be one of the primary reasons why you or your students want to attend a UPenn Summer program, and you’d be right to have that as a strong motivator. College admissions officers at top schools consider a student’s extracurricular activities heavily to see how a student will be able to contribute in a college community.
While there, of course, is no clear blueprint for how to build out the strongest possible college application with the best extracurricular activities a student should pursue, summer programs are certainly a valuable option. The reason why is because summer programs can show off that a student has a real dedication to their education and is looking for ways to grow both inside and outside of the high school classroom. While part-time jobs and playing club sports during the summer months is valuable, it’s also pretty typical and won’t help a student stand out and shine. When it comes to getting into a top university, students simply need to stand out and shine.
Get to know the staff and faculty
If your student’s dream school is UPenn, one of the very best ways to improve their chances of getting into that school is forming relationships with current faculty and students at the school. Believe it or not, this might be the most beneficial aspect of attending a UPenn Summer Program. By attending any of the programs that we are about to break down, your student will get the chance to not only meet with current UPenn students who are also spending their summer months on campus but also get the chance to meet and learn from university faculty.
If you are concerned that attending a summer program at UPenn will keep you or your student from other fantastic summer opportunities such as working, interning, and simply relaxing and having fun, you will be happy to learn that the vast majority of summer programs that are offered at various universities across the country only last one to four weeks typically. Usually, they’re approximately only a couple of weeks before your child is back home and telling you about the fantastic time they had while learning at their UPenn Summer Program.
List of the best UPenn Summer Program classes
If your student is interested in attending a UPenn Summer Program, but they do not know quite where to start, we’ve broken down some of the best-reviewed and best-enjoyed summer programs that UPenn offers for high schools across the world. Here are some of the best!
Penn Medicine Summer Program for High School Students
This is a perfect option for any students that are interested in pursuing a career in medicine. This class will introduce high schoolers to some of the routine medical procedures that many medical students learn. They’ll even learn useful techniques such as drawing blood, suturing, IVs, dissections, and even start delving into minimal surgical techniques. Finally, students of this course will even get the chance to observe a live surgery like full-time medical students.
Penn Law Pre-College Summer Academy
For any students that are hoping that their undergrad college years will lead to law school and fruitful career as an attorney, one great way to get that pursuit off to a great start is to attend UPenn Law Pre-College Summer Academy. This is a three-week program that will introduce students to basic law concepts such as torts, contracts, criminal law, the constitution, and more. It also allows students to dive into different areas of law such as human rights, legal advocacy, business, and more.
Management & Technology Summer Institute
In this course, students will get the chance to earn college credit within this course that blends both business and engineering. This is a perfect course for students who have displayed an entrepreneurial spirit and also excel at math, science, or other engineering-related subjects. In the class, students will attend lectures that explore the concepts that are related to technological entrepreneurship. They will also get the chance to use the new knowledge they have acquired to build a prototype and create a market plan to try to roll out their own design.
Leadership in the Business World
This class is a business class for students who are entering their senior year of high school and are serious about pursuing a career in business. In this class, students will get the chance to attend lectures from Penn faculty and incredible guest speakers. Students will also get the chance to develop their team-building skills and learn from field trips in which they visit local business enterprises. Finally, they will work in teams with other students to create a business plan that will be looked at by real venture capitalists.
Penn Summer Prep Program
If your student is still unsure of what they want to pursue once they get to college but knows that they are interested in learning more about what college life is like, this is a perfect UPenn Summer Program for them. In this course, students choose two academic modules to study. Topics that are available include philosophy, psychology, computer science, life science, and general college prep.
What makes this class especially valuable is that once the course is completed, they can request a letter of recommendation from the UPenn college instructor who taught their module.
Penn Summer Academies | Social Justice Research Academy
In this course, students will develop their research and leadership skills in a dynamic and engaging three-week course. In those three weeks, students will learn about historical movements and moments that shaped the modern United States and the world, from as far back to the American Revolution to as recent as the Black Lives Matter movement. Students will learn in a mix of lectures, field trips, and finish up the course by developing a research capstone project.
Penn Summer Academies | Chemistry Research Academy
This class is, as the name would suggest, perfect for students who are interested in chemistry or the life sciences. In this course, students will get the chance to build upon their knowledge and passion by creating experiments and getting a look at some of the nation’s most advanced chemistry labs located on UPenn’s campus. They will also learn modern chemistry techniques such as chromatography and spectroscopy.
Penn Summer Academies | Mathematics Academy
For math lovers, there are few better options than the Mathematics Academy course, where students will get to explore forms of math that they may not encounter in their high school classrooms. Subjects such as Discrete Math, Algebra, and Number Theory and Topology are subjects that they will get to interact with during this class. They will also get to learn about applied math through varying demonstrations and take engaging field trips to local museums such as the National Cryptologic Museum.
Penn Summer Academies | Experimental Physics Academy
In this three-week course, students will get the chance to combine learning advanced physical concepts with seeing physics act out in real-time. They will get the chance to learn about specialized topics including non-Newtonian fluids, radio astronomy, high-energy physics, cloud chambers, alternative energies, quantum phenomena, and more. On top of that, students will get the chance to learn about intertie, mechanics, visit the automotive museum and even get to see physics at its most fun on a roller coaster at a local theme park.
Conclusion
Now that you know how fantastic some of the summer programs at UPenn are, you and your student can dive deeper into the full list and see which pique the most interest. The benefits of attending a UPenn Summer program are vast. Now, it’s time to see what the future holds for your student at UPenn. Good luck!
