Succeed
    Design Your Life with Philosophy
    Online Program

    Design Your Life with Philosophy

    by Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies

    Explore identity, authenticity and the good life through philosophy, then develop a personal framework for making meaningful decisions.

    Last verified: 6 Oct 2026Reviewed by:BSBen Stacy

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    Design Your Life at a glance: cost, dates and eligibility

    Current status

    Upcoming

    Eligibility

    Grades 8-11 at application

    Age range / Year group

    Ages 13-17

    Location / Region

    Online

    Cost

    $3,200

    Duration

    2 weeks

    Format

    Online

    Next deadline

    Not announced · Next cycle not announced

    Get next-cycle reminder
    DesignHumanitiesPhilosophy
    Sessions / cadence: 10×2h weekdays; 1-2h daily homework
    Main output: Personal life philosophy
    Latest verified cycle: 2026
    Learning support: Online office hours
    Study work: Assignments and projects
    Scheduling window: 8:00-11:00 a.m. PDT

    Design Your Life summary

    Design Your Life with Philosophy turns questions about identity, authenticity and the good life into academic exploration. Students draw on philosophers' ideas to develop their own life philosophy.

    Live classes, assignments and projects connect philosophical thinking with everyday choices. It suits students who enjoy examining their assumptions and explaining what matters to them.

    What is Design Your Life with Philosophy?

    Design Your Life with Philosophy is a Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes course about the good life, personal identity and meaningful decisions. Students examine ideas from great philosophers alongside questions about authenticity, social media and the kind of life they want to lead.

    The course combines live online classes with assignments, projects and online office hours. Its central goal is to help students articulate a personal life philosophy that they can use when approaching major choices.

    Why Succeed highlights Design Your Life

    • A personal life philosophy gives the course a clear purpose beyond simply surveying famous thinkers.

    • Questions about authenticity, career choices and social media make abstract philosophy relevant to students' lives.

    • The identity focus connects historical ideas about the good life with contemporary questions about race, gender and sexuality.

    • Live classes and online office hours provide a structured setting for sustained study.

    Who is Design Your Life for?

    Best for

    Students who enjoy open-ended questions about values, identity and how to live, and want to develop a reasoned personal perspective.

    Not ideal if

    You want a light summer activity or cannot accommodate weekday live classes plus daily assignments and projects.

    Is Design Your Life worth it?

    This course is worth considering if you want philosophy to help you think more carefully about your own choices. Developing a life philosophy gives the learning a concrete direction, while the identity questions offer a focused way to test your assumptions.

    The tuition and daily workload make it a substantial commitment. Judge its value by the subject interest and growth it could support; Stanford explicitly separates this experience from undergraduate admissions and offers no admission guarantee.

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    Sean

    Founder, Succeed

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    20 minutes · No obligation to enrol

    A practical overview of cost, time commitment, provider details, student outcomes and online support to review before deciding.

    Cost and what is included

    $3,200; includes Live online classes, Online office hours, Assignments and projects.

    Dates and time commitment

    2 weeks; 10×2h weekdays; 1-2h daily homework.

    Provider details

    Review the Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies provider page and official sources before making a final decision.

    What the student gains

    Potential output: The central output is a personal life philosophy that you can articulate and use to guide major decisions.. Check whether feedback, certificate, recommendation or application evidence is included.

    Online support and safeguarding

    Check how online sessions are supervised, how mentor communication works, and what support route exists if the student needs help.

    What to check before committing

    Confirm current dates, session schedule, payment terms, cancellation rules, support expectations and what output or certificate is included with the provider.

    Compare this program with similar options before deciding on dates, cost, format and fit.

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    How much preparation does Design Your Life need?

    Effort level

    Substantial daily academic commitment.

    Best started

    Allow several weeks before a future application deadline for records, independent responses and work-sample selection.

    Main challenge

    Turning broad personal questions into a clearly articulated philosophy.

    Typical preparation

    • Identify a question about identity, authenticity or the good life that you want to investigate.

    • Gather recent grade reports and transcripts, then choose a work sample that follows the course's application instructions.

    • Write application responses yourself and ask a parent or guardian to review the completed application.

    • Map the Pacific-time class window to your local time and reserve daily homework time.

    Useful if

    You want to examine your values and approach major decisions thoughtfully.

    What do students do on Design Your Life?

    You explore philosophical ideas about living well and use them to develop your own life philosophy. Live classes and independent assignments connect those ideas with questions about identity and major life choices.

    Step-by-step process

    1. 1

      Explore philosophers' views of the good life and how they appear in the world around you.

    2. 2

      Examine questions about authenticity, social media, career choices and personal identity.

    3. 3

      Complete assignments and projects outside live classes.

    4. 4

      Develop and articulate a life philosophy that can guide your decisions.

    Design Your Life dates and deadlines

    Next cycle not announced yet. These dates are from the latest verified cycle and should be used as a reference only.

    Application deadline

    13 March 2026

    Summer Institutes applications and supplemental materials were due by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.

    Reference date

    Programme dates

    15-26 June 2026

    Reference date

    Eligibility and requirements

    • Be in Grades 8-11 when applying.

    • Domestic and international applicants may apply.

    • Admitted students may attend only one Summer Institutes course.

    • Complete application responses independently.

    • Standardized test scores are optional.

    How much does Design Your Life cost?

    Program tuition

    $3,200 — Two-week Summer Institutes course.

    Funding or discounts

    • Financial aid: Domestic and international participants — Both groups may receive aid.

    What's included

    Live online classes, Online office hours, Assignments and projects

    How to apply to Design Your Life

    1. 1

      Create an account in Stanford's application portal using the student's legal name and birthdate, or log in to an existing account.

    2. 2

      Select Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes and indicate the courses you are interested in attending.

    3. 3

      Complete all application responses yourself and follow the selected course's work-sample instructions.

    4. 4

      Upload recent grade reports, transcripts and required supplemental materials through the online application.

    5. 5

      Have a parent or legal guardian review and sign the completed application.

    6. 6

      Review everything, pay the application fee and submit the complete application; submissions cannot be modified afterward.

    Next step with Succeed

    Interested in this programme?

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    Learning format

    The course meets online Monday-Friday for two-hour live classes within an 8:00-11:00 a.m. PDT window, with the third hour used for online office hours. Students should also plan for approximately 1-2 hours per day of assignments and projects outside live class time.

    The exact class time and office-hour schedule are set closer to the program; each student attends one section and time.

    Mentorship and feedback

    • Two-hour live online classes meet Monday-Friday.

    • The third hour of the meeting window is used for online office hours.

    • Each student attends one course section and time.

    Time-zone considerations

    • The published meeting window is 8:00-11:00 a.m. PDT.
    • Live classes meet Monday-Friday for two hours within that window.
    • The third hour is used for online office hours.
    • Exact class and office-hour schedules are set closer to the program.
    • Allow approximately 1-2 hours per day for work outside live classes.

    Assessment style

    Course work includes assignments and projects alongside the development of a personal life philosophy.

    • Complete assignments outside live class time.
    • Work on projects outside live class time.
    • Develop and articulate your own life philosophy.

    Portfolio and outputs

    Main deliverable / output

    The central output is a personal life philosophy that you can articulate and use to guide major decisions.

    Design Your Life FAQs

    You will explore philosophers' views of the good life, authenticity and identity. The course connects these ideas with personal choices and helps you develop your own life philosophy.

    Plan for approximately 1-2 hours per day of assignments and projects outside the two-hour live classes.

    Classes meet Monday-Friday for two hours within the 8:00-11:00 a.m. PDT window. The third hour is used for online office hours, and exact schedules are set closer to the program.

    No. Standardized test scores are optional for domestic and international applicants, and there is no published test-score or GPA cutoff.

    Students must complete all responses themselves. Parents or legal guardians may review the completed application and sign it afterward.

    Yes. Financial aid can be awarded to domestic and international participants.

    No. Admitted students may attend only one course, although applicants may list multiple courses they are interested in attending.

    No. Stanford undergraduate admissions is separate and independent from Pre-Collegiate Studies, and participation does not guarantee admission. The educational value comes from what you learn and how you develop.

    Alternatives to Design Your Life

    Compare these options if you want a broader philosophy track or a different route into understanding people and society.

    Alternatives to Design Your Life

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    Ben Stacy

    Content reviewed by

    Ben Stacy

    Co-founder, Succeed | Former secondary teacher and educational leader

    Ben works at the intersection of education, technology and school adoption, with expertise in how secondary schools evaluate data-driven tools and how education technology is used in practice.

    View author page

    Sources and verification

    Source types reviewed

    • SU26_SPCS_Flyer_TeachCoun.indd
    • Welcome
    • Questions: Application - SI | Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes
    • Design Your Life with Philosophy | Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes

    Succeed uses official provider information where available, but keeps this public page focused on comparison and planning inside Succeed.

    What we verified (on 6 Oct 2026)

    • Course identity checked

    • Grade eligibility reviewed

    • Session dates checked

    • Application deadline checked

    • Tuition and aid reviewed

    • Daily workload checked

    • Official application portal verified

    How Succeed uses this information

    We use source material to verify core facts, then show older cycle dates as reference when a current cycle is not available. Always check current application instructions before applying.