Coursework and Daily Schedule

Get a jump start on college, meet new people, and learn what campus life is all about!
A picture of the Public Speaking and the Career Pathway course.
Live and Learn at Ithaca College this Summer

Choose a course in communications, environmental sciences, health, or the natural sciences. You will finish the program with new friends, memorable experiences, and three undergraduate credits! Choose your own adventure and select one course from a variety of options.

The program runs from Monday, July 07 through Friday, August 25, 2025. (Participants must arrive on Sunday, July 06, between 2:00-4:30pm).

Check back here in January for the application link!

2025 Course Offerings

Enroll in ONE course, learn how to work with college faculty, and earn three undergraduate credits.
Course NameFacultyDescription
Wildlife Tracking and Nature ObservationJason HamiltonThis is an experiential field class that gives you the opportunity for hands-on learning to develop the skills of an ecological field scientist and naturalist. Nature observation skills can be applied wherever you find yourself, from big cities to wild areas. You will become a detective, practicing tracking skills to become familiar with the details of the lives of local wildlife including coyotes, deer, foxes, raccoons, opossums, weasels, mice, and bobcats. Once we understand the lives of our non-human neighbors, we will be positioned to explore wildlife conservation, and the role of humans in today's ecosystems. For required textbooks or course materials, see here.
Course NameFacultyDescription
Foundations of Health, Human Performance, and Wellness
 		Eber BeckThis course offers an engaging orientation to health, human performance, and wellness at the individual, group, and population levels. Together we will explore structures and functions of the human body and the influence of contemporary biopsychosocial factors. During the course students will participate in hands-on learning in a variety of campus-based labs and clinics, as well as off-campus field visits. The course introduces students to the diversity of health, human performance, and wellness professions and the foundations of effective interprofessional health care teams. For required textbooks or course materials, see here.

Please see our Summer Theatre Conservatory. This program exists outside of the Summer College for High School Students and has additional audition material that will need to be submitted along with your application.

Course NameFacultyDescription
Physics of SoundLuke KellerPhysics of Sound is an introductory course intended for non-science majors. We will explore the physics of sound waves as well as basic sound analysis techniques and technology. We’ll spend the first part of the semester exploring the fundamental physical properties of sound and then use the remaining time to investigate applications of the physics of sound by analysis of musical instruments, including the human voice, other animal sounds, basic sound amplification and recording technology, and other technological applications involving sound. For required textbooks or course materials, see here.

Please see our Ithaca Young Writer's Institute.

Course NameFacultyDescription
ScreenwritingNick BennettScreenwriting provides an introduction to writing for film, television, and emerging media. Students will learn the fundamentals of visual writing, character, plot, dialogue, and theme, as well as the integration of these elements into scenes and short scripts. This course emphasizes table-reads and classroom workshops of student scripts, learning screenplay format per the Hollywood standard, and developing stories for the screen. For required textbooks or course materials, see here.

“I really enjoyed bonfire nights, movie nights, and a lot of the activities that just encouraged everyone to hangout on the quad or lawn together. There were no activities that weren't enjoyable.”

2022 participant

Daily Schedule

Classes are held Monday through Friday. Students engage with faculty and one another regularly during the week, and during social activities after scheduled class periods, in the evenings, and on weekends. Over the weekend, students will enjoy more opportunities to explore Ithaca — including the Farmers Market and Taughannock Falls State Park — as well as to interact with students participating other pre-college programs operating on campus. 

What follows is a general schedule of day-day activities for participants in this program. A final schedule will be shared with participants and families about one week prior to the program start date.

TimeActivity
08:00 - 09:30Breakfast
09:30 - 11:30Class
11:30 - 01:00Lunch
01:00 - 02:30Class
02:30 - 03:30 Optional meetings with faculty, teaching assistants, or downtime
3:30 - 5:30Campus Activity
5:30 - 7:00Dinner
7:00 - 9:00Homework or Social Activity