Between the months of June to August students spend their time traveling to foreign countries, catching up on missed sleep from the school year, and attending summer camps at universities across the country. These camps cover a variety of different topics and are located in many different geographic locations around the country.

Below is a list of five of the best academic summer camps and links to their websites for more information.

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Enjoy a summer close to home at the Clemson Biotechnology, Health, and Society camp.

• The UNC Sports Journalism Camp

For four days at the end of June, I was up until ten p.m. each night transcribing interviews and writing on deadline about UNC athletes such as Theo Pinson and Megan Buckingham in the basement computer lab of Caroll Hall.

If this interests you, then you’d love to attend The UNC Sports Journalism Camp. You get to tour athletic facilities, have a press conference with a basketball player, listen to keynote speakers, and attend a class led by one of the University’s professors during the day. Then, each night you have two hours to produce a sports article that will receive feedback during the next day’s class. Despite the never-ending schedule of events, you still have time to hang out with the other campers and make lifelong friendships and memories in only four days.

For more information about the application and 2018 dates, visit: http://mj.unc.edu/csjc

• The NYU High School Summer Art Intensive

For four weeks, you can stay in New York City taking classes like painting, drawing, and printmaking. You can explore the famous art galleries in Manhattan, get inspired by the sights and sounds of the Big Apple, and learn from highly acclaimed professors at NYU. Although this month long course comes with a hefty price tag, you get to spend time in art studios, receive feedback from other campers and instructors, and go on social outings in the city on the weekends. A meal plan and housing is included in the program cost, but there is only space for 54 students. So if you’re interesting in improving and developing your artistic skills, start working on a portfolio before the April 30, 2018 deadline!

http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/art/education/high_school/summer_art_intensive

• The Clemson University Biotechnology, Health, and Society Camp

If you’re more interested in what things are made of or how DNA can be used to identify criminals and explain how food tastes different to certain people, then this is the camp for you! In addition to learning about biotechnology and health, campers will participate in campus events like bowling, swimming, and many others. This camp is run through Clemson Summer Scholars so it is an excellent way to see the campus and stay in the dorms before you decide to apply to the school. This would be a great way to learn from top professors and experience campus life without traveling too far from home this summer!

http://www.clemson.edu/summer/summer-scholars/course-descriptions.html#panel17

• University of Michigan Girls Code Camp

This camp is open to all high school girls who want to learn more about computer programing and focus on specific things like HTML, Javascript or CSS. In addition to spending a week exploring Ann Arbor, Michigan and improving your skills in fields like computer science, coding, and engineering, campers will take field trips to nearby businesses. Some fields trips in the past have been to Google, SPARK, and the University of Michigan robotics labs. This camp is only open to 30 people and is commuter based, so students would have to find housing elsewhere.

https://lsa.umich.edu/wise/k-12-students-families/summer-camps/robotc-for-girls–full-closed-for-2016.html

• The University of Oregon Summer Architecture Academy

If you plan to pursue architecture and design in the future, this summer camp is a great way to get a head start. Campers earn a total of eight college credits when they complete this camp, and learn from the professors at the university. During the days of the camps, students will spend time attending lectures and workshops, working in a studio, and going on various field trips. Since this camp is four weeks long, campers get to experience what a career in this field would actually be like before applying to architecture programs in college.

https://hr.uoregon.edu/summer-architecture-academy

Summer is not just a time to spend every hour at the beach soaking up the sun or procrastinating thesis work. Summer is also a great time to explore fields you’re passionate about that you don’t get to study during the regular school year. Getting a head start and exploring your interests can help narrow down what you want to study later on. And these camps look great on college applications!