This summer, Dartmouth will host 200 high schoolers for its inaugural Dartmouth Summer Scholars pre-college program. Summer program participants will enroll in classes during one of three two-week sessions while the Class of 2026 is on campus for their sophomore summer, according to Dartmouth News.
The non-credit courses will be taught by Dartmouth faculty and alumni, according to an email statement from Dartmouth Summer Scholars program leader Christine Parker. According to the program’s application form, courses will fall under nine subjects: business, computer and data science, engineering, humanities, law and government, leadership, medicine and health science, social science and STEAM.
Courses include “Business Foundations” — taught by Tuck Bridge fellow manager Patroklos Karantinos — and “The New Essentials of Medicine,” co-taught by anthropology professor Elizabeth Carpenter-Song and student affairs interim director Manish Mishra, according to Parker.
According to the online application, tuition costs $7,999 per session. Prospective participants must submit test scores, transcripts and short answer responses as part of their application. Parker wrote that the program is seeking “academically ambitious and intellectually curious” participants.
“We seek participants who share many key qualities of Dartmouth students, as well as those with interests in eventually attending selective institutions,” Parker wrote.
Parker wrote that Dartmouth will work to “significantly increase the financial assistance available by identifying more funding sources” to increase the program’s accessibility.
The College will join other top universities that have summer sessions for high schoolers. Peer institutions such as Harvard University and Brown University currently operate similar programs, according to The Washington Post.
Dartmouth will work to “hone the program’s structure” following this pilot year, according to Parker. The College is looking into other summer program models, including hybrid, online, off-campus and certificate programs, which would allow Dartmouth to reach more people than can live on campus, she added.
“We are excited by the many possibilities and look forward to involving more members of the campus community — students, faculty, staff, alumni and many others — in what we are building,” Parker wrote.
The high schoolers will use Dartmouth’s classrooms, dining halls and library spaces, according to Parker.
Members of the Class of 2026, who will be on campus during the program for their sophomore summer, expressed concern about sharing campus with high schoolers.
William Summitt ’26 said it is “already weird” to see younger children and families around campus, adding that the College’s social environment might be difficult for high schoolers attending the program.
“I imagine being a high schooler in this program might be a little alienating, or it might be hard to get integrated into the Dartmouth social space,” Summitt said. “Especially if they’re living on campus, I’m curious to see what they’ll end up doing in their free time.”
Grace Caplan ’26 said that for her, the presence of high schoolers on campus may make it feel “a little bit overrun.”
“It feels kind of selfish, but I feel like it would be super nice to have this calmness, [where] everyone you bump into is someone you probably know,” Caplan said. “I kind of hope that when this program happens, [the participants] will be somewhat relegated to certain spaces.”
Despite his reservations about the presence of high schoolers on campus, Summit said prospective applicants should “go for it.”
“It’s cool to be able to use [campus] to help people who might even be looking at going to Dartmouth for college,” Summit said. “I think getting our name out there and getting students exposed is important.”
