Summer Springboard Middle School Medicine

Class runs from 9am to noon, Monday to Friday, so the course itself is five 3-hour sessions, and Wednesday afternoon adds extra academic time that may include an excursion or guest speaker. The week ends with check-out at 2:30pm on Friday.

Summer Springboard's Berkeley timetable shows the rest of a residential day: lunch at noon, a recreational activity or course excursion at 1:30pm, an academic skills lab at 3:30pm, free time from 5pm, dinner at 6pm and supervised evening activities such as trivia nights and karaoke at 7pm. Everyone is back in the dorm by 8:30pm. Commuters are on program from 9am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and go home before dinner and the evening activities.

Each campus has its own instructor, and every one Summer Springboard names has worked in clinical care as a doctor, nurse or EMT.

• Berkeley

  Coordinated by Dr. Mariam Hjaige, a former chief resident in emergency medicine at UCSF, and taught by a group of UCSF resident physicians.

• Georgetown

  Nilufer Mutlu, an associate professor of nursing at Montgomery College with acute care experience and formal training in simulation teaching.

• UC San Diego

  Matthew Mandel, an EMT and CPR instructor who spent nearly a decade in hospital emergency rooms, teaches sessions 1 and 2, and registered nurse Kimya Owens teaches session 3.

• NYU

  Alethea Johnson, a licensed nurse with more than 10 years of experience who previously taught Summer Springboard's high school Emergency Medicine course.

• University of Washington

  Dr. Engi Attia, an associate professor in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Washington.

• Vanderbilt

  Donald Hollis III, a pediatric physician at Meharry Medical College in Nashville.

Middle schoolers live and take part in activities apart from Summer Springboard's high school students, with their own staff trained for the age group and what the organizer calls increased supervision. At Berkeley, a staff mentor lives on each hall floor, other staff are on campus around the clock for emergencies, and dorms have 24-hour security with electronic keys to every building and room. Floors are separated by gender, students are back in the dorm by 8:30pm, and every excursion is supervised by middle school staff.

At NYU, students check in each day with the Summer Springboard team at the Kimmel Center front desk, where entry is controlled by NYU Campus Safety, so it matters that they arrive on time.

Students need to have finished 6th grade by the start date and hold a 3.0 GPA or local equivalent, and Summer Springboard aims the course at students completing grades 6 to 8. NYU goes a little younger, taking ages 11 to 14 who have finished 5th grade, while Berkeley lists ages 12 to 14.

The application includes short-answer essay questions and signed agreement forms, and international students show their English through a telephone interview or test scores. Summer Springboard reviews applications holistically against its Essential Eligibility Criteria, which expect students to manage their own personal care and medication, and it may ask for medical documentation. It doesn't publish an acceptance rate, but it warns that some programs close and move to a waitlist after each application wave.

With the mandatory $250 Medicine supplement, a residential week costs $3,048 to $3,448 and a commuter week $1,648 to $2,048, depending on the campus, plus a non-refundable application fee that starts at $99 and rises to $149 after 21 February 2027 and $199 after 18 April 2027. These are the prices Summer Springboard lists in November 2026, and it says tuition goes up on 1 December 2026.

Residential tuition covers all meals, lodging, excursions, the course and evening activities. Commuter tuition covers lunch, the course, excursions and daytime programming. Flights, health insurance, airport transfers ($95 each way in the group window) and unaccompanied minor transport ($145 each way) are extra. A $600 deposit holds the place when you apply, and Summer Springboard doesn't say outright whether it counts toward tuition. If you apply before 10 March, the balance is due in thirds on 10 March, 10 April and 10 May.

Cancel before 1 March and only the application fee is kept. From 2 March you lose the deposit too, and the tuition refund drops to 75% from 2 April, 25% after 1 May and nothing after 1 June. The optional $699 Tuition Protection Plan lets you cancel for any reason up to the start day. Need-based scholarships cover up to 30% of residential or 60% of commuter tuition, but not the deposit or application fee.

You apply through Summer Springboard's enrollment page, which leads to its online application portal.

1. 1

   Check Summer Springboard's program availability page to confirm your campus and session still have room.

2. 2

   Enter basic contact details, confirm the verification email and finish your account details on the dashboard.

3. 3

   Create a new application, choosing the campus, session, course and residential or commuter tuition, and set aside about 30 minutes with the student present.

4. 4

   Pay the $600 deposit and the application fee to hold the place.

5. 5

   Expect an enrollment decision within 5 to 7 business days, after which more forms open up for you to complete.

6. 6

   Watch the wave deadlines of 21 February 2027 and 18 April 2027, after which some programs close or waitlist, and the final general admission deadline of 16 May 2027.