Columbia University Pre-College Programs Urban Planning and Design Summer Course

Urban Planning and Design meets Monday to Friday from 9:10 to 11:00 a.m. and again from 1:10 to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and both sections keep the same hours. The two hours in between are for lunch and campus activities, and Columbia says to expect an hour or two of homework on an average night.

Over the midday break and in the early evening, there are lectures by program instructors, workshops on preparing for college, career exploration and leadership activities. Residential students eat breakfast between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m. and dinner between 5 and 7 p.m. on weekdays, and they get special events every Friday and Saturday. Commuters can join early-evening programming that ends before 6:30 p.m., but Columbia expects them to leave campus by then from Monday to Thursday. They need a parent's permission to stay for the Friday evening community events.

Columbia invites students from rising 9th grade through current 12th grade, from the US and abroad, and each in-person option adds its own rule. To live on campus you must be at least 15 and turn 16 by 31 December 2027. Commuting is also open to students about to start college. Every commuter has to live with adult supervision, meaning family members or family friends in the same home, and never in a hotel, hostel or Airbnb.

There's no minimum GPA and no SAT or ACT scores are requested. Columbia calls admission selective and wants your application to show that you have the academic background, motivation and maturity to take a full part, but we couldn't find an acceptance rate in its published material. International applicants don't have to send TOEFL or IELTS scores, although Columbia expects English at about the level of 90 on the internet-based TOEFL or 6.5 on IELTS.

The application asks for an unofficial transcript, a recommendation from a current teacher in a related subject, a second one from a school counselor or administrator, answers to two short-response questions and the $95 application fee.

You leave with a Columbia University Certification of Participation and an evaluation letter from your instructor, but no grade and no college credit. The letter comments on your effort, participation, assignments, progress and potential in the field. Columbia says you can ask your school counselor to add both documents to their recommendation letter for your college applications.

To earn the certificate you can miss no more than two classes in the three weeks. Because the course meets twice a day, missing either the morning or the afternoon session counts as missing a full day, and repeated absences are noted in your evaluation letter. The documents usually appear in your applicant portal by mid-October.

Columbia is clear that taking part has no influence on admission to Columbia College, its undergraduate school.

Living on campus costs $12,838 for the three weeks and commuting costs $6,381. Both are Columbia's Summer 2027 estimates and still need approval from its Board of Trustees. The residential price covers your room, three meals a day, activities, health services and technology fees. The commuter price covers the course with activities, health services and technology fees but no meal plan, so commuters pay for their own food.

On top of either price there's the $95 application fee, and Columbia suggests budgeting about $50 for textbooks and field trips. Urban Planning and Design isn't on Columbia's list of courses with extra fees. Travel is up to you, and in-person students need their own medical insurance, which for international students has to cover care in the US.

Once admitted, you pay a non-refundable deposit of $3,500 if you're living on campus or $2,000 if you're commuting, and it counts toward the total. The balance is due by 11 June 2027 and there's no payment plan. Paying by card adds 2.85%, or 4.25% for an international card. If you withdraw by 24 June 2027 you get everything back except the deposit. After that date you owe the full amount.

Need-based aid of 25% to 50% of the program cost is open to commuter students who are US citizens or permanent residents living in the US or its territories. It doesn't cover the fees and isn't offered for the residential option. You have to ask for it in your application, and all documents must be in by 10 February 2027.

Residential students are supervised by live-in resident assistants who go through two weeks of training. Professional resident directors are on call around the clock, and Columbia gives its staff-to-student ratio as 6 to 1. Public Safety officers guard the residence hall entrances 24 hours a day, and rooms are on single-gender floors or in single-gender suites. Students must be on their floor by 11 p.m. on weeknights and by midnight on weekends, and breaking curfew means dismissal. Without a staff member, they have to stay between 110th and 120th Streets and between Amsterdam Avenue and Riverside Park, and they can't go into any park.

Instructors pass background checks and complete Columbia's Protection of Minors training, and program staff are required by law to report suspected abuse. Columbia enforces its community standards strictly, and a breach normally means dismissal on the first offense with no refund. Nobody meets students at the airport, so families need to arrange the trip to campus themselves.

You apply through Columbia's summer programs application.

1. 1

   Choose whether to live on campus or commute for Summer A, because you apply to that program option rather than to the course itself.

2. 2

   Gather your unofficial transcript, ask a current teacher and a school counselor to recommend you, and pick your top two courses, with Urban Planning and Design as one of them.

3. 3

   Submit the application and the $95 fee by 1 February 2027 for early registration, or by the general deadline of 1 March 2027 for residential places or 1 April 2027 for commuter places. If you're a commuter who wants aid, request it before you submit.

4. 4

   Expect a decision by email three to five weeks after your application is complete.

5. 5

   Once admitted, pay the non-refundable deposit, then sign the enrollment forms and upload proof of immunization, which is due within two weeks of admission.

6. 6

   Register yourself for the course once your holds clear, and keep a backup in mind, because admission doesn't guarantee a seat and full courses have no waitlist.

7. 7

   Pay the remaining balance by 11 June 2027.