Admissions FAQs

Summer Science Program is open to current high school juniors who have completed the relevant coursework by the summer. Applicants must also be at least 15 years old, but not yet 19, during all program dates.

You may still apply for any of the programs if you have not yet completed but are in the process of completing specific courses needed for the program for a grade and credit by by the start of the program.

No, the application is open only to high school juniors. Even exceptional sophomores who meet age requirements and course prerequisites are not eligible to apply. If you are currently a sophomore, we hope you will return to apply during your junior year.

The Summer Science Program is not a college prep course, but the experience will provide students with the skills and experience to better understand themselves and their interest in STEM. The Summer Science Program experience will help you strengthen your time management skills, intrinsic motivation, written and verbal communication, effective group participation, and ability to read primary literature and do real-world science (where you don’t know the outcome before you start). It will also help you learn what it takes to succeed at college outside of the classroom or the lab, including the social and living aspects of campus life. Overall, after Summer Science Program, you’ll understand yourself better, which will make you a stronger college applicant and a successful college student. Further, the experience of doing real science research will give you a visceral sense of whether STEM is the right path for you or not.

Summer Science Program also offers an optional mentorship program called College Link where participants are paired with younger alumni mentors who can offer guidance on the college application process.

You must commit to arriving on the designated arrival day and staying on campus until departure day. All participants must agree to commit exclusively to the Summer Science Program and not be engaged in other coursework, programs, or internships during the program. Summer Science Program is immersive and requires full participation. If you have a special circumstance, feel free to inquire but exceptions are not typically granted outside of emergency situations.

The Summer Science Program does not discriminate based on race, gender, national origin, or disability. We are able to provide reasonable accommodation for many circumstances; please contact [email protected] to discuss possible options.

The Summer Science Program is not collecting or considering standardized test scores for admission (including PSAT, ACT/SAT, and APs). The only exception is for international students who will be permitted to include test scores that demonstrate English proficiency.

By “pre-calc,” we mean trigonometry and matrices. If you have taken a course covering these topics, you are welcome to apply.

In the IB curriculum, we consider HL and SL Analysis and Approaches and HL Applications and Interpretations sufficient for meeting the calculus requirement. In the Cambridge curriculum, we consider IGCSE Math Higher Tier, IGCSE Additional Mathematics, and Math A-levels as sufficient.

In addition to the courses above, we also take into consideration whether the courses demonstrate a strong curriculum to ensure you have a foundational proficiency in calculus.

Caltech and Harvey Mudd were in the original consortium that operated the Summer Science Program for many years. Many of our alumni have gone on to attend these colleges. While participation in the Summer Science Program will make you a better college applicant, it is no guarantee of admission to any college. See the “University Partners” page for more information.

A parent or guardian can apply for financial aid on your behalf after admissions decisions are released. You can request a financial aid application on the status page of the applications portal.

Admitted students will be invited to apply for aid at the time of admission. Deadlines for the aid application will be shared at that time.

The financial aid application is designed to help the Financial Aid Committee determine how much your family can reasonably afford. Major considerations include income, assets, college expenses for your family members, and special circumstances such as unusual expenses or unemployment. Assuming typical expenses and assets, the Summer Science Program is free for participants with a family income of $75,000 or less, and participants with a family income under approximately $140,000 will qualify for a discount.

No, the financial aid application is available after admission decisions are announced. This means that your need for aid has no impact on whether you will be admitted or not. We aim to make the Summer Science Program accessible to all participants and encourage you to apply regardless of financial need. We will do our best to make Summer Science Program possible for all students with financial need.

No, never.

Yes, international applicants can also request a financial aid application at the time of admission. We ask that English translations of income tax forms and other documents be provided.

Yes. Your parent or guardian may request travel aid for you on the financial aid application. Determination of financial need also takes travel expenses into account. Please note that the Summer Science Program only provides airfare to you (the student) and not your parents or guardians if they decide to travel with you.

No, you must choose one when you register. You may change to another project while the application is open, but you may not change after the deadline. We encourage you to explore the details of each project under the “Hands-On Research” tab of our website and apply to the program that sounds most appealing. Try not to stress and follow your instincts. Regardless of the program you choose, your Summer Science Program experience will be about much more than the exact research you do.

Exchange students who are not U.S. citizens nor permanent residents (Green Card holders) and are currently studying in the U.S. would still be considered international applicants.

We require one recommendation to be from a math or science educator at your school, preferably one you are working with in the current year. While a second recommendation is not required, it is highly preferred. Similarly to the required recommendation, we prefer that the second comes from a science or math educator at your school. If necessary, we’ll accept a second recommendation from any adult outside your family who can describe your character, interests, and academic preparation.

No, all applications are considered together and no preference is given to applications received early.

That being said, completing and submitting your application well before the deadline will lead to increased peace of mind on your side as well as ours. High volumes on and near the application deadline can lead to longer processing times that affect how quickly we can mark the receipt of your documents.

It is important to get all required parts of your application to us by the deadline. Use the status page to check which pieces we have received and which pieces are outstanding. Confirm with your teachers and registrar if they have received an email from the Summer Science Program and are able to submit by the deadline. Our application review process begins quickly, and we cannot accommodate late applications.

Here are some tips and tricks for dealing with log-in/application issues:

• Consider whether you may be logging in with an email that is different from the one we have on record.
• Try using your other email address(es) even if you don’t think you entered another one.
• It is possible that your browser’s autofill option overwrote your email with another (i.e. a parent’s) email, so try those too.
• If you are able to log in to some but not all parts of the application, or if the page is having reload issues:
• Try clearing cookies/cache from your browser and make sure your browser is set to allow cookies from the application website.
• Try using a different browser or a different computer to log in.
• Please do not register a second account to try to solve log-in issues. Thoroughly check for your existing account using the methods shared above before trying to start over. If it’s necessary to create a second account, please let us know first so we can delete the old one.
• Applicants with two accounts risk having application pieces logged in two different places which can result in both getting marked incomplete. Email [email protected] for additional help.

You will only be able to submit your application if all required parts of your application have been received or marked as received. If you are unable to submit due to errors on your transcript or recommendation page (you will see red text), then we have either not received or not yet processed the material. Read any red error text carefully. Missing items/submission errors are summarized in the Review section of your application portal.

Additional information regarding post-submission updates will be sent in the confirmation email you receive upon submitting your application.

Each application is read and carefully considered by an admissions committee of staff, volunteer alumni, and former faculty.

We will update your application status and email decisions to applicants in mid-March for international students and in mid-April for domestic students.

Everyone on our waitlist is qualified to attend, but we will only be able to offer admission to a few. The degree to which we admit from the Alternate List varies per year.

Yes. Complete travel instructions (and lots of other instructions) are sent to admitted students with their enrollment documents.

If the activity only takes a small amount of time each week and can be done on a flexible schedule that does not conflict with the Summer Science Program schedule, that may be okay. However, Summer Science Program is an immersion experience, so please note that there will be very little free time for activities outside of the program available each day.

The Summer Science Program welcomes participants from any religion, religious tradition, and background. Attending religious services is possible if there is one operating near your campus. However, we cannot guarantee the locations or schedules of places of worship, so please note in your application if that is a factor to consider in campus placement. 

Yes. For more information on the application process for 2026, please visit ssp.org/2026evaluation/

Everyone receives a letter of completion, and you may request a letter of recommendation from a faculty member.

The simple answer is “no.” Each participant completes the prescribed research program under the guidance of the academic directors and in collaboration with two teammates, but all of that work is done under the Summer Science Program banner. Your data and specific project may be unique, but the Summer Science Program maintains intellectual property over the outcomes, as it devised the topic, prepared the materials, and has the primary contribution in this regard.

Thus, for entry into a competition, you would need approval from SSP International, Inc. and an academic director and be able to demonstrate that you have completed research outside of the program that has advanced the project in a significant and unique way. If your goal is to do publishable work or come in with your own research topic, Summer Science Program is not the best place to accomplish that.

Absolutely! You’ll join an alumni network of 4,300+ strong and be eligible to participate in College Link, a volunteer mentorship program for alumni in the fall. For more details, visit our alumni page.