Summer 2021 Courses Coming Soon
The application for Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes will open in January. Please join our mailing list to receive announcements about the program and application information.
2020 Online Courses
Not for credit or grade, our courses provide in-depth, interactive exploration of advanced topics. Courses range in subjects from Bioscience to Business, Physics to Political Science, and Creative Writing to Computer Science.
Use the left-hand navigation to filter our extensive course listing to find the course that is right for you!
Courses Frequently Asked Questions
What does "grade level" refer to?
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What does "grade level" refer to?
Grade level refers to the applicant's current grade at the time they submit their application. Reference for 2021 programs:
Graduation Year from High School (Class of) |
Current Grade |
---|---|
2021 | 12 |
2022 | 11 |
2023 | 10 |
2024 | 9 |
2025 | 8 |
Do Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies program participants receive grades or credit?
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Do Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies program participants receive grades or credit?
We do not provide course grades or credits for completing a Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies program. Our summer courses are for enrichment purposes only. After the conclusion of the program, participants are sent a written evaluation from their instructor and a certificate of completion.
Biomedical Engineering B
Using the body as a road map, we will explore the latest medical technologies. This is a course that investigates...
Investigations in Bioscience B: Neuroscience
This class is designed to serve as a first dive into neuroscience. We will investigate neuron structure and function, and...
Introduction to Data Science C: Visualization and Modeling
Data science has revolutionized the way our world works and how we understand it. Technology enables us to ask more...
Artificial Intelligence
The goal of this course is to help students better understand what artificial intelligence is, and how intelligent systems learn...
Artificial Intelligence B
The goal of this course is to help students better understand what artificial intelligence is, and how intelligent systems learn...
Introduction to Data Science B: Visualization and Modeling
Data science has revolutionized the way our world works and how we understand it. Technology enables us to ask more...
Philosophy through Science Fiction
In this course we'll examine philosophical issues concerning knowledge, the self, mind, ethics, and time by looking at the ways...
Investigations in Bioscience: Understanding Genetics
The field of genetics (the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity) has rapidly progressed within this last century, effectively...
Product Design
We are entering an era where many new design-related careers are emerging that will require unique, interdisciplinary skills. This intensive...
Introduction to Organic Chemistry
Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen are three of the four most common elements in the universe. Substances composed primarily of these...
Why Music Matters
What is music? Why do we make music? And how can our collective experiences of physical distancing and online connection...
Restoration Ecology
This course will introduce students to the discipline of Restoration Ecology and explore project planning on the applied side of...
Investigations in Bioscience: Nanobiomaterials
This 2-week introductory course on "Nanobiomaterials" is targeted towards exceptional high school students interested in bioengineering, nanotechnology, and materials science...
Investigative Journalism: Is Seeing Believing?
Contemporary journalists are reporters, commentators, cultural critics, photographers, captioners, reviewers, essayists, and more. They write pieces from 280 to tens...
Business Strategy
What are the key business strategy issues facing companies today? What can entrepreneurs do now to out-perform their competitors in...
Number Theory
Number theory, the study of properties of integers, has attracted the interest of mathematicians for over 4,000 years. This branch...
Investigations in Bioscience: Neuroscience
This class is designed to serve as a first dive into neuroscience. We will investigate neuron structure and function, and...
Introduction to Data Science: Visualization and Modeling
Data science has revolutionized the way our world works and how we understand it. Technology enables us to ask more...
The Frontiers of Physics
Frontiers of Physics will launch students into an exploration of the groundbreaking discoveries in physics in the early 20th century...
The Nature of Evil
Evil is a powerful term that has been applied to everything from windstorms to serial killers to the unreflective actions...
Artificial Intelligence
The goal of this course is to help students better understand what artificial intelligence is, and how intelligent systems learn...
Digital Marketing
With the global reach of the internet and the prevalence of mobile devices, it is a challenge to imagine a...
Ethics: The Art of Persuasion
Books, magazines, newspapers, TED talks, political speeches...a great deal of writing and speech is persuasive. Persuasion is not only a...
Topics in Politics and Public Policy: Deliberative Democracy
This course examines the theory and practice of democracy (in particular, deliberative democracy) and engages in a dialogue with critics...
AI Robotics
Welcome to the multidisciplinary field of Robotics! Students will explore the primary subsystems of robotic solutions starting with embedded programming...
Introduction to Programming
The course teaches students the basic principles of problem solving through computer programming, including identifying abstractions and developing simple algorithms...
Mayhem and Shadows: Writing about Film Noir
This course will teach students to write, and give them something very cool to write about. We'll watch several films...
Writing Across Disciplines
How can a computer scientist help archaeologists study Neolithic China? How can studying literature help neuroscientists understand the human brain...
Chemical Engineering
Chemical engineers are multi-disciplinarians who apply principles of chemistry, physics, biology, and engineering to solve a range of practical real-life...
Business and Entrepreneurship
This course provides students with an intensive introduction to core business disciplines, addressing a wide range of topics including business...
Ancient Art and Archaeology
This course is a broad survey of Greek and Roman culture focusing on the archaeological and art historical methods of...
Cosmology
Cosmology means study of the universe: its origin, history, and fate. This course aims to provide a solid foundation of...
Architectural Design
This course will introduce students to the inspiring field of architecture. We will practice a process of creative problem-solving which...
Theory of Relativity
Developed a little more than a hundred years ago, Einstein's Theory of Relativity is a groundbreaking scientific breakthrough that revolutionized...
Authenticity and the Good Life
Today, common sense tells us that a good life is one lived authentically. Though it seems simple, this idea rests...
Topics in Bioscience
How does the brain allow us to think, sense, behave, and feel? In this course, we will begin by learning...
Astrochemistry: Origins of Life in Space
Remarkable advancements in experimental techniques, development of observational telescopes, and powerful computer algorithms are making the detection of complex molecules...
Quantum Mechanics
This course is intended for students who have had exposure to physics but yearn to discover more about the modern...
Topics in Physics
Physics seeks to discover and understand the how of nature. With its tools, we can reveal the order beneath apparent...
Embedded Systems
To many people, embedded systems are mysterious because the way they function is often hidden from our eyes. The reality...
Materials Science and Engineering
Materials science and engineering (MSE) is one of the newer engineering fields, stemming primarily from a need to understand how...
International Relations: The Ethics of War
In the 1990s, many political writers and commentators hailed the end of the Cold War as the inauguration of a...
Marine Science
This course will include a survey of major marine habitats, from coral reefs to deep seas and ice oceans. It...
Discrete Mathematics
Discrete mathematics encompasses a broad range of mathematical fields centered on discrete (non-continuous) mathematical structures with an eye toward applications...
Oral History
What is oral history and how does it contribute to our knowledge of the past? This course explores the theory...
Biomedical Engineering
Using the body as a road map, we will explore the latest medical technologies. This is a course that investigates...
The Mathematics of Symmetry
Symmetry plays an important role throughout mathematics and the sciences, and this course will lead students on an exploration of...
Topics in Computational Physics
A physicist brings many tools and skills to the task of understanding the universe. Contemporary research in physics and related...
The Making of the American Character
When St. John de Crevecoeur asked in 1782, "What, then, is an American, this new man?," he was asking a...
Logic and Problem Solving
Problem solving is both an art and science; it is a most intellectually entertaining activity. In this course, we will...
Philosophy of Friendship
While we have all experienced friendship, most people are hard-pressed to define what it is or how it is different...
Writing for the Future of the Planet
Good writing can change the world...even, perhaps, a world that is already changing. The writer that aspires to alter the...
Sociology of Inequality
Social justice is often marked as the goal to be achieved by those aiming to reform society to be more...
Cryptography
How can two people communicate secrets back and forth, even when a third party can eavesdrop on everything they say...
The Unprecedented: Reading and Writing about the Pandemic
By the time we convene for this course, our reality might have an entirely new and unrecognizable shape, or it...
Social Psychology
Humans are deeply social creatures, and as such we depend on each other for survival. A lot of what causes...
Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, and Poetry
This intensive three-week course is an exploration into the craft of writing creatively. Students will read a variety of works...
Introduction to Logic
Symbolic logic undergirds a vast range of contemporary sciences. From Mathematics and Computer Science, to Engineering, Law, Philosophy and Game...
Research Writing Workshop
All it takes is a question! In this class, we will use fun, lighthearted, and interesting topics to explore the...
Legal Studies: The First Amendment and Freedom of Speech
This course will cover some basic First Amendment free speech law. By closely reading and decoding caselaw from the Supreme...
Writing Systems of the World
This course will survey the main types of writing systems by exploring specific examples (e.g., Akkadian Cuneiform, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Greek...
Topics in Psychology
This course introduces students to methodological and theoretical aspects of the field of psychology through in-depth study of some of...
Legal Studies: Become a Highly Effective Critical Thinker
The top qualities companies seek in people they hire are critical thinking, problem solving, and communication prowess. This skill set...
Electromagnetics
Of the four types of interactions that control how matter, energy, space, and time produce our physical world, electromagnetism is...
Topics in Sociology: Mental Well-Being and Society
In recent years, mental health has become a hot topic of conversation in the media, following reports of a "mental...