Summer Programs for Middle School Students: Selective Academies, Math Camps, Boarding School Sessions, and the Invitation Letters
By Rona Aydin
What Are Summer Programs for Middle School Students For?
Not for a college application. The Common App activities list covers grades 9 to 12, and no college asks what a student did in the summer after 6th grade. A middle school summer is preparation, and the useful question is what it prepares.
Three things carry forward. The first is a test result: a score on an above grade level test places a student in the right courses and, at Johns Hopkins CTY, opens courses for the rest of high school, because eligibility does not expire. The second is a track: a student who spends a summer on problem solving arrives at the November AMC 8 and the MATHCOUNTS season ahead of the class. The third is information: a family thinking about boarding school for 9th grade learns more from five weeks on a campus than from any tour.
Oriel Admissions advises one program a summer, chosen for what it sets up, with real rest around it. The families this guide is written for can afford any program on the list; the scarce resource is the student’s attention.
Which Summer Programs for Middle School Students Admit by Test Score?
Four programs grew out of the university talent searches, and each admits on evidence of ability rather than on a first come basis.
| Program | Who | Format and length | How a student qualifies | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johns Hopkins CTY | Grades 2 to 12; residential courses for grades 5 to 12 at select sites and 7 to 12 at all sites | Online courses through the year; three-week residential sessions, with tentative 2027 dates of June 27 to July 16 and July 18 to August 6 | An above grade level test (SCAT, PSAT 8/9, SAT, ACT, or Spatial Test Battery) or a 98th percentile score on an accepted school test; eligibility does not expire | $55 to open an account, then tuition per course |
| Northwestern Center for Talent Development | Day and residential camps at Northwestern for grades 6 to 12; online courses for grades 7 to 12 | Three-week courses; the 2027 catalog was not posted when this guide was written | By tier: a report card with a teacher recommendation, or the 90th percentile (95th for faster paced and accelerated courses) on a nationally normed test, or CTD above grade level testing | Tuition per course; a $500 deposit for three-week programs, and prices rise $100 after May 30 |
| UC Berkeley Academic Talent Development Program, Secondary Division | Grades 7 to 11 | Six weeks, June 22 to July 31 in 2026, meeting two or three times a week in person at Berkeley or online | An application with a Letter of Interest, reviewed in the order received; 2026 deadlines were February 25, March 23, and May 29 | Tuition per course |
| Institute for the Gifted (Summer Discovery) | Grades 6 to 12 at Yale, 6 to 8 at UCLA, 5 to 8 at Cornell, 1 to 8 at Bryn Mawr | Residential, commuter, and day sessions | A 95th percentile score on a nationally normed test within five years, or a record in a gifted program or talent search, or a teacher recommendation | Posted by campus on the program’s site |
Two notes for families who remember the old talent searches. Duke no longer runs its Talent Identification Program, and its former address now leads to Duke Pre-College, a university program described below. The Davidson Institute runs one-week camps at the University of Nevada, Reno (June 20 to 24 and June 27 to July 1, 2027, with a session for ages 11 to 13), but only for students already admitted as Davidson Young Scholars.
Which Programs Suit a Strong Math Student?
Two programs are built for middle school students who like hard problems, and both select with a test the student works on at home.
| Program | Who | Format and length | How a student qualifies | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MathPath | Ages 11 to 14; most applicants are in grades 6 to 8 | Four weeks, residential; the 2026 session ran June 28 to July 26 at the University of Portland, and the site changes each year | A Qualifying Test of six problems, worked over two to four weeks; partial credit counts | $6,600 in 2026, with financial aid up to full tuition |
| AwesomeMath Summer Program | Ages 12 to 18 | Online, in three-week sessions (June 8 to 26, June 29 to July 17, and July 20 to August 7 in 2026), with live classes Monday to Friday and daily homework | An admission test and a teacher recommendation; USA(J)MO qualifiers are admitted without either | $1,275 to $1,575 per course in 2026, depending on the enrollment date |
In the reading of Oriel Admissions, a summer of problem solving before the November AMC 8 is the most useful thing a strong 7th grade mathematician can do, because the AMC 8 result and the MATHCOUNTS season that follows are the first measures of mathematical ability that travel beyond the school. A student who is instead a year or two ahead in the standard sequence should read our guide to 8th grade algebra before adding a camp.
What Do Boarding Schools Offer Middle Schoolers in Summer?
Four New England boarding schools run summer sessions that take middle school students, and all four have posted their 2027 dates.
| Program | Who | 2027 dates | Length and structure | 2026 cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Access Exeter, at Phillips Exeter Academy | Students who have completed grade 7 or 8 and are 13 to 18 by September 1 | July 5 to August 5; the application opens in November and runs on a rolling basis until April 15 | Five weeks; three courses in a themed cluster, taught at the Harkness table | $11,500 boarding, $8,000 day |
| Lower School Institute, at Phillips Academy Andover | Rising 7th and 8th graders | June 29 to August 1 | Five weeks; one interdisciplinary institute equal to two courses | $11,350 boarding plus $600 in required fees, $7,750 day |
| Choate Summer Programs, Middle School | Students who have completed grade 6 or 7; boarders must be 11 | June 26 to July 30; the 2027 application and fees appear in the first week of November 2026 | Two, four, and five-week options | $11,240 boarding for the five-week academic program, $5,050 for a two-week workshop, $2,975 per course for day students |
| Hotchkiss Summer Portals | Rising 7th graders and older for most courses | June 27 to July 10 and July 11 to 24; the application opens October 15, 2026 | Two-week sessions of one course each; most students stay for both | $4,850 for a two-week course such as Writers and Writing, with room and board included |
Families choose these for the campus and the classroom, and often because a boarding school application is coming. The programs know it: Andover offers an optional SSAT preparation course for $990, and Hotchkiss lists SSAT preparation and a boarding school application process course among its afternoon options. Exeter asks for transcripts and teacher recommendations with the summer application, which makes it the most selective of the four.
None of the four schools says that a summer session helps with admission to the school, and Oriel Admissions advises families not to count on it. What a summer gives is information. A student who thrives in a Harkness classroom in July has a concrete reason to give in a January interview, and a student who does not has learned something cheaper than a year of tuition. Our guides to top boarding schools, the ISEE, and private school interview questions cover the application itself.
Which University Programs Take Middle School Students?
Most university pre-college programs start at rising 10th or 11th grade. Three take younger students.
| Program | Who | Format and length | How a student gets in | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke Pre-College, Middle School | Current 6th to 8th graders with a 3.0 GPA or higher | Twelve-day residential or commuter programs on the Duke campus; 2027 dates and courses are announced in October 2026 | Enrollment with a deposit, in order of registration, with a waitlist when a course fills | Posted with the 2027 courses |
| Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes | Grades 8 to 11 | Online, two-week sessions (June 15 to 26 and July 6 to 17 in 2026), single subject, non credit | Application; the 2026 deadline was March 13 | Posted with the application |
| EXPLO at Wellesley College | Ages 12 to 14, rising grades 7 to 9 | Two or four weeks, residential or day, with more than 40 program choices; the 2027 application opens October 15, 2026 | Enrollment with a deposit | $6,295 residential or $4,045 day for two weeks, and $12,090 or $7,790 for four weeks, in 2026 |
The Duke and EXPLO programs enroll rather than select, and the Stanford program is online. All three are good summers for a student who wants a subject rather than a test score, and none of them tells a reader anything later. Our guide to the most prestigious summer programs for high school students shows where the selective tier begins in 10th and 11th grade.
Are the Invitation Letters Worth Anything?
Three Envision programs reach middle school families by letter: the Junior National Young Leaders Conference for grades 5 and 6, NYLF Explore STEM for grades 6 to 8, and Junior Medicine and Health Care for grades 7 and 8. Each runs five to eight days on a university campus, and the Junior National Young Leaders Conference was priced at $2,799 to $3,499 depending on the site when this guide was written.
The letter says the student was nominated. The programs enroll any student whose family pays, so the nomination is marketing, not selection. Our guides to the National Youth Leadership Forum and the National Student Leadership Conference explain how the same model works at the high school level.
A family can still send a child who wants to go. It is a trip with a curriculum, and some children enjoy it. It is not an honor, and it should never appear on an application as one.
Do Colleges Care About Summer Programs for Middle School Students?
No. The Common App activities list covers grades 9 to 12, admissions readers do not ask about earlier summers, and no program on this list is an admissions credential. The academic record that matters begins in 9th grade. For Ivy League admission, a student needs nearly all As in the hardest classes the school offers, and a middle school summer is preparation for that record, not part of it.
What carries forward is specific. A CTY eligibility score earned in 7th grade still opens CTY courses in 11th. An AMC 8 result in 8th grade tells a family whether the AMC 10 is worth preparing for. A summer at a boarding school tells a family whether to apply. Private school applications for 9th grade do ask about a student’s interests and summers, and a program the student can talk about helps there.
How Should a Family Choose a Program?
Oriel Admissions suggests three questions. Who selects the students, and on what? What will the student do between breakfast and dinner? What does the summer lead to in 9th grade?
The answers sort the list. A student who tests well and wants to go faster belongs at CTY, CTD, or ATDP. A student who likes hard problems belongs at MathPath or in an AwesomeMath session. A family weighing boarding school belongs at one of the four school sessions. A student who wants a subject and a campus belongs at Duke or EXPLO. The invitation letters answer the first question badly and can be set aside.
The calendar is earlier than families expect. Hotchkiss and EXPLO open their 2027 applications on October 15, Exeter and Choate open in November, Duke posts its courses in October, and the talent programs enroll on a rolling basis from the winter. The five-week boarding sessions cost $11,240 to $11,500 before travel in 2026, and a family that does not need the campus can get the same academic push for less online. Our guide to free summer programs for high school students shows the selective, no cost tier that opens from 10th grade.
Frequently Asked Questions About Summer Programs for Middle School Students
It depends on the goal. Johns Hopkins CTY and Northwestern CTD for a student who tests well, MathPath or AwesomeMath for a strong mathematician, and Access Exeter, the Andover Lower School Institute, Choate, or Hotchkiss for a family weighing boarding school.
CTY and CTD admit by test score, MathPath by a qualifying test, and AwesomeMath by an admission test with a teacher recommendation. Exeter asks for transcripts and recommendations. Duke Pre-College and EXPLO enroll without a test.
Yes. Hotchkiss takes rising 7th graders, Choate takes students who have completed grade 6, Andover takes rising 7th and 8th graders, and Access Exeter takes students who have completed grade 7 or 8.
Five weeks of boarding at Exeter, Andover, or Choate cost $11,240 to $11,500 in 2026. MathPath cost $6,600 for four weeks. AwesomeMath charged $1,275 to $1,575 per online course.
No. The Common App activities list covers grades 9 to 12, and no admissions reader asks about earlier summers.
No. The programs enroll any student whose family pays. Oriel Admissions advises treating them as trips, not honors, and leaving them off applications.
None of the schools says so. Oriel Admissions advises families to treat the summer as a look at fit, which is worth having before a 9th grade application.
Hotchkiss and EXPLO open on October 15, 2026. Exeter and Choate open in November, Duke Pre-College posts its courses in October, and CTY, CTD, and ATDP enroll from the winter.
Sources: Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, Northwestern Center for Talent Development: Summer Programs and Eligibility, UC Berkeley Academic Talent Development Program: Secondary Division, Summer Discovery: Institute for the Gifted, Davidson Institute: Davidson Summer Programs, MathPath: Who Applies and Financial Aid and Tuition, AwesomeMath Summer Program: Program Information and Tuition, Phillips Exeter Academy: Exeter Summer, Tuition and FAQs, Phillips Academy Andover: Summer Session Tuition and Dates, Choate Rosemary Hall: Summer Programs and Program Fees, The Hotchkiss School: Summer Portals, Duke Pre-College: Middle School Courses and FAQs, Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies: Summer Institutes, EXPLO: Tuition and Financial Aid, Envision by WorldStrides: Educational Experiences
About Oriel Admissions
Oriel Admissions is a Princeton-based college admissions consulting firm advising families nationwide on elite university admissions strategy. Our team brings deep expertise across every dimension of the application, and our distinctive 360 approach develops strategy, positioning, activities, essays, and interviews as one coherent whole. To discuss your family’s admissions strategy, schedule a consultation.
