Program Overview

Program Overview

Pre-College Summer Session provides high school students with the unique opportunity to take summer courses offered by Carnegie Mellon University for credit. Students earn college credit while working in an academic setting that mirrors the supportive, rigorous environment of the first year of college. Every year, Summer Session offers approximately thirty courses from academic disciplines across the university, including: science, humanities, social science, engineering, computer science, and technology applied to the arts. Successful Summer Session students leverage their experiences to demonstrate their ability to succeed in college. Upon successful completion of a course, they receive college credit at Carnegie Mellon University, which is transferable to other institutions that accept CMU college courses for credit.

Curriculum

The Summer Session program is comprised of undergraduate-level Carnegie Mellon courses. The courses are the same ones taken during the fall and spring by Carnegie Mellon students, usually in their first or second years. Students will tackle the same rigorous, college-level work as an undergraduate student studying at Carnegie Mellon. All of the Summer Session instructors are vetted by their respective academic departments, and the majority of them are Carnegie Mellon professors who teach these courses during the academic year.

Program Length

The program runs from June 20 to August 1, 2026, for a duration of 6 weeks.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for Pre-College Summer Session, students must:

• Be at least 16 years old by the program start date.
• Be a current sophomore or junior in high school at time of application submission.
• Be in good academic standing and exhibit the ability to succeed in rigorous, fast-paced coursework.

Application Requirements

The application for Pre-College Summer Session consists of the following:

• Completed online application
• Unofficial transcript
• Standardized test scores (optional)
• One letter of recommendation
• Responses to essay prompts

Application Essay Prompts

Essays are required for the following prompts (300-500 words each):

• What do you hope to gain from participating in Carnegie Mellon's Pre-College Programs?
• What has prepared you for the challenge of rigorous college-level courses?

Housing Options

Students can choose to be either residents or commuters. To be a commuter, the student and parent/guardian must have a permanent residence within approximately 30 miles of the Pittsburgh campus or within Allegheny County.

Academic Integrity Policies

Pre-College Summer Session students at Carnegie Mellon University are members of an academic community dedicated to the achievement of excellence and academic integrity. Therefore, students are expected to meet the highest standards of conduct while on campus. Actions that undermine these high standards, including but not limited to cheating, plagiarism, and receiving or providing unauthorized assistance, are considered academic integrity violations.

Grading Policy

Each instructor will announce their grading policy in their course syllabus for determining letter grades (A, B, C, D, and R, with no + or - grades) based upon student performance. Pre-College Summer Session courses cannot be taken on an Audit or Pass/Fail basis, nor are Incomplete grades possible.

Grade Forgiveness Policy

The University Registrar will only retain A and B grades on Summer Session students' permanent record, including their official Carnegie Mellon transcript. No C, D, nor R grades will be retained in permanent records for students in good academic standing. Students eligible for this policy may request to have C grades officially retained on their Carnegie Mellon transcript by contacting the University Registrar.

Transfer Credits

Every university and college has the authority to determine its own policies about whether to accept credits from another institution of higher education. While it is therefore impossible to state definitively that these college credits will transfer elsewhere, Carnegie Mellon considers these to be college credits, offers rigorous coursework, and is a widely recognized institution.

Transcript Requests

Students may order an electronic version of their transcript, or send their transcript to a requesting institution, through the National Student Clearinghouse.

Age and Grade Requirements

• Age: You must be 16 years of age by June 20, 2026.
• Grade: You must be in high school between 10th and 11th grade or 11th and 12th grade during the summer of 2026.

Course Load

Students who enroll in two courses (between 9 and 12 units each, comparable to 3 to 4 credits each at other colleges and universities) will experience fast-paced academic work. The workload of two courses completed over six weeks will be similar to the workload of five courses in 14 weeks, which is a typical workload for degree-seeking undergraduate students at Carnegie Mellon. Pre-College Summer Session students may enroll in up to 24 units.

Job and Other Studies

Students enrolled in two full courses should not plan to have a summer job. Commuter students enrolled in fewer than two full courses may wish to consider a part-time summer job. Students should not plan to engage in other studies during Summer Session, including preparation for standardized tests or major school assignments.

Dropping Courses

• Summer Session commuter students who are registered for two courses can drop one course before Friday, June 26, 2026. Course drops will not be allowed after this deadline.
• Residential students enrolled in Pre-College Summer Session must be enrolled in two courses for the duration of the program and may not drop below this course load.