WashU Pre-College Programs High School Summer Scholars Program

In-person classes run Monday to Friday in one of three blocks, 9:00 to 10:45am, 11:00am to 12:45pm or 1:00 to 2:45pm, so two courses take up about three and a half hours of your day. The rest of the school day goes on lunch, studying alone or in groups, and work for your noncredit online course. Late afternoons and evenings bring optional enrichment activities and dinner, followed by community events. Weekends are for friends, study and getting out into St. Louis, and Sundays are kept as slower rest days.

Commuters can be on campus from 7:30am to 5:00pm on weekdays, and evening or weekend time needs a parent's request approved in advance. The online course works differently. It's mostly asynchronous with some live office hours, activities and assessments, and WashU can withdraw an online student who goes more than five days in a row without activity in Canvas, its course platform.

Places go to current high school juniors, meaning the class graduating in 2028. WashU reviews every application holistically after the deadline and looks for mature, motivated students taking challenging courses such as honors, AP or IB where their school offers them. It doesn't accept test scores or résumés. WashU says it often gets more qualified applicants than it has places and offers some of them a spot on an unranked waitlist. Applying in the early round doesn't change your chances.

You're admitted to the program, not to a course. You choose courses after admission, seats go first-come, first-served, and you need any prerequisites a course lists. In 2026, for example, Differential Equations required Calculus III.

• Essays

  Two required 100- to 250-word responses, one on what makes you suited to the program and one on which parts of the curriculum, or which course, drew you to apply, plus an optional third.

• Transcript

  An unofficial copy is fine as long as it shows your name, birth date, school and every course and grade to date.

• One recommendation

  It has to come from an academic subject teacher, not a counselor or coach, and WashU won't read a second one.

• English scores

  International applicants for whom English is a second language need TOEFL iBT (90 on the old scale or 5.0 on the new one), IELTS Academic 6.5, Duolingo 125 or GATEWAY 495, from a test taken on or after 1 April 2025, unless they qualify for an exemption.

Each course is worth 3 credits, and your grades become part of your record at WashU. You can order an official transcript from the University Registrar to send to the colleges you apply to. WashU treats the work as pre-matriculation credit, meaning credit earned before you enroll at a college, but whether another university accepts it is up to that university. Counting it toward high school credit is something you'd arrange with your own school.

On WashU admissions, the university says taking part in a pre-college program can count toward the demonstrated interest it considers, and participants get a fee waiver for the undergraduate application, but it guarantees no outcome. The grades are real, so a weak one goes on the transcript too.

For summer 2027, one course costs $4,075 if you commute or study online and $8,560 if you live on campus. Two courses cost $7,825 for commuters and $12,310 for residential students. Every option includes one noncredit online Exploration Course, and the residential price adds housing and a meal plan. On top of that there's a $50 nonrefundable application fee, which WashU waives for financial hardship, plus textbooks, travel and the laptop or tablet you'll need for class. Commuters can add a lunch plan for $375.

Once admitted, you pay a $500 nonrefundable deposit, which comes off the total. Cancel in writing by 24 May 2027 and you get everything back except the deposit. After that you get 50% back, again minus the deposit, until the first day, and nothing once the program has started.

Need-based scholarships are available, but you have to request one in the application and send income documents (for US families, a parent's 2025 Form 1040) by your application deadline. They don't cover travel, books or personal costs. International students coming on an F-1 student visa must take two courses, so living on campus costs them $12,310, plus visa fees and the US health insurance WashU requires.

Residential students live alongside program assistants, who are current WashU students. Every staff member has passed a background check and is CPR and first-aid certified, and program supervisors live on campus as the emergency contact for families. Curfew is strict. You sign in to the hall by 9:00pm, are in your suite by 11:00pm and stay in the building until 7:30am. Hall doors are locked around the clock with key-card access, and no visitors are allowed except at move-in and move-out.

You can leave campus only in groups of two or more, signed out with staff, from 5:00 to 9:00pm on weekdays and 9:00am to 9:00pm on weekends. Rideshares and taxis aren't allowed during the program unless they're part of a program-approved activity and a parent has given written permission. There's no routine medical care on campus in summer, so staff help a sick student get to Total Access Urgent Care. WashU doesn't run airport pickups, so families arrange arrival and departure themselves. The full rules are in the Code of Conduct and WashU's Youth Protection Policy.

You apply through WashU's Slate portal, which you reach from the program page.

1. 1

   Applications for summer 2027 open on 1 December 2026, when you can create an account and start the application.

2. 2

   Add your teacher recommender as early as you can, because WashU emails them the form straight away, even before you submit.

3. 3

   Fill in each section, including whether you qualify for a fee waiver or want a scholarship, upload your transcript, write your essays and submit, knowing you can't make changes afterward.

4. 4

   In your portal, pay the $50 fee unless you qualified for a waiver, and upload any English test report and your scholarship application with income documents.

5. 5

   Have everything in by 4:00pm CT on 1 March 2027 for a decision by 5 March, or by 4:00pm CT on 1 April 2027 for a decision on 8 April.

6. 6

   If you're admitted, confirm your enrollment and pay the $500 deposit by the 22 April 2027 enrollment deadline, then register for courses right away, because seats go first-come, first-served.