Summer Discovery Combo-Campus Programs

Classes take up about four hours of a weekday in Summer Discovery's sample residential day, with a morning block from 9:30 to 11:30 and an afternoon block from 1:00 to 3:00, and some classes go on field trips around town. Dartmouth's academies run longer, at more than five hours a day, and at Michigan high schoolers either pair two half-day courses or take one full-day academy.

Around the classes, breakfast is at 8:30 and lunch at 11:45. From 3:30 you pick the afternoon activities you've signed up for, such as sports, shopping or museums, then dinner is at 6:00 and evening events start at 8:00, on or off campus. You're back in the residence hall by 10:30 PM, on your floor by 11:30 and in your room by midnight.

Weekends bring bigger trips that differ by campus, such as Cedar Point at Michigan, Disneyland and Universal Studios at UCLA, hiking and canoeing on the Connecticut River at Dartmouth, and the Smithsonian and National Zoo at Georgetown. On a combo you get two different sets of these.

It depends on the campus, because each university works with Summer Discovery differently. At UCLA the university designs the courses and hires the instructors, Georgetown's courses are designed and taught by Georgetown instructors, and Dartmouth's academies are designed by Dartmouth and taught by university faculty and expert instructors. Summer Discovery says enrichment courses are also taught by graduate students, local professionals and secondary school teachers.

Yale is the exception worth knowing about. Summer Discovery runs its Institute for the Gifted there independently, and Yale doesn't sponsor or endorse it, which matters if Yale's name is the main draw of the Yale and Dartmouth pairing.

A few UC Berkeley academies name their instructors, such as Dr. Darren Zook, a senior lecturer in political science, for Cybersecurity, AI, and Global Politics, and Dr. Crystal Chang of the Department of Political Economy for the Global Social Entrepreneurship Academy. Classes are only for Summer Discovery students, and high schoolers are grouped only with high schoolers. The exception is the Institute for the Gifted at Yale, where academic courses are grouped by grade but cultural and recreational classes are usually open to middle and high schoolers together. Most classes are described as small, but no class size is published.

Each campus gives you a certificate of completion and a letter of recognition for every course you take, so a combo leaves you with two sets. Georgetown adds an official Georgetown transcript, and Dartmouth's certificate carries the Dartmouth name. Some courses also end in work of your own, such as a capstone presentation to a panel at Dartmouth, a group AI project presented on the last day at UC Berkeley, or a research proposal in Berkeley's Research in Medicine course, which carries on afterwards with 10 virtual sessions alongside a one-to-one Polygence mentor.

Summer Discovery says students can choose enrichment or college-credit classes, but it doesn't say which courses at which campuses carry credit, so ask before you count on it. It also says the letter of recognition is designed to strengthen college applications. That's Summer Discovery's own claim, not one from any admissions office, so treat the letter as a record of what you did rather than an admissions advantage.

There's no single combo price. You pay the tuition for each of your two sessions and Summer Discovery takes $750 off the total, so on Summer 2027 residential prices the featured pairings in the table come to between $14,348 and $17,048. Those figures use each campus's standard rate, and some options cost more, such as $10,249 for a two-week residential Research Academy with Polygence at UC Berkeley. Tuition covers classes, housing, two or three meals a day depending on the campus, afternoon, evening and weekend activities with transport, use of sports facilities and supervision. The combo adds a night's accommodation, meals and one activity between the two campuses. Summer Discovery also lists airport transfers among the combo extras, but its list of what tuition doesn't cover includes airport transfers between campuses, so confirm what your pairing includes. Flights aren't included either way.

On top of tuition you'll pay the $100 application fee, any course fees (such as $195 for UC Berkeley's Engineering and Robotics Academy or $95 for Careers in Medicine at Michigan), laundry, linens at some campuses, meals off campus, medical costs and spending money. International students at a residential US program pay a $379 registration fee, which includes US health insurance and airport transfers. Paying by card adds 3.5%, while an eCheck from a US bank costs nothing extra.

Cancellation gets expensive quickly, so it's worth settling your plans before 1 February 2027, when the full refund ends. Between 1 May and 1 June, switching campus costs $750 and switching dates costs $500. After 1 June you can't change campus or dates at all, and changing course costs $100.

• Before 1 February 2027

  Full refund apart from the application fee and any travel protection insurance.

• 1 February to 1 April 2027

  You lose a fee equal to the deposit you paid.

• 1 April to 1 May 2027

  The fee is $3,500 or the deposit paid.

• 1 May to 1 June 2027

  The fee is $4,500.

• After 1 June 2027

  No refund at all.

Summer Discovery keeps one staff member for every 10 high school students, and staff pass criminal background checks and complete training for working with minors. Resident counselors, who are at least 20 and are teachers, graduate students or college seniors, live on students' floors, and staff are on duty around the clock.

Students wear an ID on a lanyard, most residence halls use key-card access, and staff run daily sign-ins, room checks and nightly rounds. You can't leave campus alone, although you can walk within a mapped home area in small groups at set times, and every off-campus trip is chaperoned. Medical care is available 24/7, and staff take students to appointments and tell parents afterwards. Staff also store and hand out all medication, including over-the-counter pills, with exceptions only for allergy injectors, asthma inhalers and some diabetes medication. Parents approve any outside visitors, and Summer Discovery's terms require families to cover students with medical and baggage insurance. The full rules are on Summer Discovery's safety and security page.

Applications go through Summer Discovery's online application portal.

1. 1

   Choose two campus sessions from the Summer 2027 dates that run back to back, and check each campus's grade band, since Dartmouth's sessions are listed for grades 9 to 11.

2. 2

   If you're drawn to the Vanderbilt and Georgetown pairing, check it's running, because Vanderbilt isn't on Summer Discovery's Summer 2027 dates list.

3. 3

   Apply online with the $100 application fee, which is never refunded. Summer Discovery says enrolling by 15 December 2026 guarantees your first choice.

4. 4

   Expect a decision within about five business days, since applications are reviewed on a rolling basis and earlier applicants get more choice.

5. 5

   Once accepted, enroll and pay the deposit to hold your place: $1,900 before 31 January 2027, $2,500 from 1 February, or $3,500 from 1 April 2027, when the full tuition is due straight away.

6. 6

   Register for your courses, which Summer Discovery says typically opens in November.

7. 7

   Pay the remaining balance by 1 April 2027.