Pre-College 2026

GW Pre-College Program 2026

High school students in the Pre-College Program spend a summer in Washington, D.C., taking advantage of GW's expertise in various topics such as global development, international relations, public policy and administration, politics, diplomacy, history, biomedical engineering, museum studies and the arts, although not every topic is covered each summer. Top-tier faculty and scholar-practitioners guide, inspire and empower students through immersive programs that connect academic experience with real-world practice. Our summer programs are intensive and exciting, allowing students to experience the academic rigors of learning in a college environment. They are academically-challenging courses that integrate lectures, seminars, and exploration of area organizations.

Pre-College also offers a transformative introduction to college life. Students develop confidence in their ability to become part of a new community, participating in recreational and social activities while making friends with peers from around the world.

A complete list of Pre-College courses for Summer 2026 will be posted before the application becomes available.

Summer Immersion: Residential Programs

Summer Immersion is a two-week, full-day, non-credit program for rising high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors that integrates lecture-based instruction with experiential and applied activities. Students expand and deepen their knowledge of a topic through collaborative learning and an exploration of the diverse intellectual and cultural resources of Washington, DC.

Session I: Sunday, June 21, 2026 - Friday, July 3, 2026

STEM & Health

The Science of Healing: An Introduction to Medicine

This course is designed to introduce students to concepts typically taught in pre-medical, medical, and health sciences curricula. It also aims to help students build transferable skills essential to success in college and beyond. At the end of this course, students should be able to:

Explain the medical technologies that diagnosis and treat disease;
Recognize the responsibilities of healthcare professionals to advance health equity;
Convey scientific information and experimental data visually, textually, and orally;
Collaborate with peers to present a professional presentation; and
Navigate databases of scientific journals to access credible information, plus paraphrase and cite that information appropriately.

The Science of Us: Exploring Social Psychology

Step into the science behind why people think, feel, and act the way they do. In this interactive two-week course, students will explore the foundations of social psychology through hands-on activities, real-world observations, and dynamic discussions. Washington, DC becomes part of our classroom as we examine how identity, culture, social influence, and group behavior show up in everyday life—from museums and monuments to the pulse of city life.

Students will learn how psychologists’ study human behavior, practice analyzing real social situations, and discover how these insights apply to leadership, relationships, media, and the world around us. This course is perfect for curious learners who want to better understand themselves and others while experiencing college-level learning in the heart of the nation’s capital.

Business, Data & Innovation

Innovators Lab: Design Thinking for Real-World Impact

Ready to change the world—one idea at a time?

In this hands-on course, you’ll step into the role of an innovator and problem-solver, learning how to turn challenges into opportunities using the Design Thinking process. Working in small teams, you’ll explore real issues that matter—like sustainability, health, or community well-being—and design creative solutions that make a difference.

Each day brings something new: brainstorming sessions, field visits, rapid-prototype challenges, guest speakers, and teamwork that will stretch your creativity and leadership skills. You’ll learn how to empathize with users, test your ideas, and pitch your final project to a panel of mentors.

Whether you dream of starting your own business, leading change at school, or studying innovation in college, Innovators Lab will give you the tools, confidence, and mindset to make your ideas count.

Law, Politics & Social Justice

U.S. Law

A D.C. Immersion (2-Week Intensive). This intensive two-week course transforms the Nation’s capital into a living classroom, providing high school students with a dynamic, hands-on introduction to the fundamentals of the U.S. legal system. Leveraging the unique resources of Washington, D.C., the program emphasizes experiential learning through site visits, lectures, discussions with guest speakers, and practical simulations. This course combines foundational legal theory with the unparalleled opportunity to visit the institutions where law is made and adjudicated.

U.S. Foreign Policy: Global Conflict Resolution in a Multilateral World

This course explores how the U.S. and other countries develop and carry out global policies on trade, national security, international conflicts, and the environment by meeting with various stakeholders within Washington, D.C.’s foreign policy community such as American government agencies, international embassies, think tanks, interest groups, non-profits, and professional organizations. Students will learn how to recognize, analyze, and articulate various approaches to creating foreign policy while increasing their awareness of multilateral institutions and multilateral suggestions on international issues, where several countries work together as nation-states and/or through multiple organizations that represent them. Students will also learn how to evaluate conflicting goals, agendas and trade-offs of foreign and national security policy. Viewpoints and perspectives of American government officials, foreign diplomats and policy experts will be shared, and the roles played by Congress and the U.S. State Department will be explored with a focus on student participation and questions to encourage open-minded discussions of all topics.

Designing Healing Justice & Collective Care

How can we make change in our communities around the issues that we care about? How can we be impactful and transformative leaders? How can we be effective spokespersons in advocating for people and issues that are important to us? How can we use things like art, music, and social media in ways that raise important conversations in the culture? This course will explore many different ways that you can be a changemaker! There will be an emphasis on hands-on engagement and experiential learning with a focus on local Washington DC history and culture. We will visit museums and exhibits, learn about local changemakers, practice leadership and civic engagement strategies, and make art together. We will work together to develop our leadership, advocacy, and public speaking skills while building a strong learning community and lasting personal networks.

Leadership & Civic Engagement

The Art of Connection: Designing Next-Gen Leadership

Why are so many young people feeling disconnected in one of the most connected generations in history? And what can emerging leaders do to rebuild belonging? In 2025, the World Health Organization identified loneliness as a global public health concern, underscoring how social isolation is shaping modern life. This course explores how belonging, communication, and human systems influence leadership and wellbeing. Through hands-on workshops, applied exercises, and guided ethnographic analysis, students will examine how people build trust, navigate conflict, and create spaces where others feel seen and valued. They’ll then design a living leadership experiment that applies these insights to the real world - gaining practical skills in communication, collaboration, and community development.

Leadership in Action

This course provides an introduction to leadership from both self-development and managerial perspectives. This course utilizes innovative and experiential learning practices for students to learn and practice key leadership skills involving managing oneself (i.e. acting ethically), managing others (i.e., handling difficult interactions), and managing a business (i.e., articulating a vision). Through a variety of learning methods including class discussions, simulations, role plays and field visits, course concepts will be illuminated by current leadership practices.

Humanities, Languages & Culture

How Are Monsters Made? Reading Monstrosity in Literature & Culture

What is monstrous about the monster? Dive into the fascinating world of monsters in literature, art and film. Through engaging conversations and exciting trips to cultural sites around D.C. we will explore what monsters symbolize about the historical period in which they emerge and how they continue to shape society today. Perfect for students interested in critical race theory, queer of color scholarship, psychoanalytic theory, and disability theory as explored through the figure of the monster.

Sustainable Storytelling: Environmental Advocacy Through Social Media

This two-week experiential course empowers high school students to become environmental storytellers by teaching them how to create compelling, platform-specific content that drives climate awareness and action. Through hands-on production workshops and real-world case studies, students will learn to transform complex environmental topics—from ocean conservation to urban sustainability—into engaging digital narratives that resonate with their peers and broader audiences. Students will work individually and in teams to develop, produce, and publish original social media content while learning the fundamentals of visual storytelling, ethical communication, and community engagement.

Session II: Sunday, July 5, 2026 - Friday, July 17, 2026

STEM & Health

Inside the Mind: Exploring the Power of Cognitive Neuroscience

Get ready to step inside the human mind. In this hands-on, high-energy course, students will explore how the brain thinks, remembers, learns, makes decisions, and shapes behavior. We’ll dive into the science behind attention, perception, memory, emotion, and problem-solving — all through interactive activities, real-world demonstrations, and guided experiments.

Washington, DC becomes an extension of our classroom as we visit museums, research spaces, and public locations that highlight how the brain responds to art, culture, technology, and the world around us. Students might map attention in a busy plaza, explore decision-making in public spaces, or examine how the brain processes visual information inside one of DC’s world-class museums.

By the end of the two weeks, students will not only understand the fundamentals of cognitive neuroscience — they will feel how their own brains work. This course is perfect for curious learners who want to explore psychology, neuroscience, health sciences, or any field that involves understanding how humans think and learn.

Biomedical Engineering: Identifying Medical Problems and Developing Solutions

Explore the cutting-edge field of biomedical engineering, where technology and medicine come together to transform healthcare. This course introduces you to the science behind medical innovations. Through hands-on projects, case studies, and discussions on real-world applications, you'll learn how engineers solve complex medical challenges to improve lives. Ideal for students passionate about science, engineering, or medicine, this course provides a dynamic foundation for those eager to shape the future of healthcare.

Business, Data & Innovation

Excel Your Future: Data, Dashboards & Decision-Making for Entrepreneurs

Ever wondered how entrepreneurs make smart decisions, spot business opportunities, or track what’s working and what’s not? In this dynamic, hands-on course, you’ll discover how data can become your most powerful tool — and how programs like Excel can help you think, plan, and create like a real business innovator.

You’ll learn how to build your own datasets, analyze trends, and design interactive dashboards that tell a compelling story. Through fun challenges and real-world scenarios, you’ll step into the role of a startup founder or data analyst, using numbers to make decisions about pricing, marketing, sustainability, and more.

Each day mixes guided workshops, creative projects, and collaborative problem-solving. No prior experience is required — you’ll start from the basics and quickly level up to professional-style tools that college students and business leaders use every day.

By the end, you’ll walk away with a portfolio of dashboards and a data-driven mindset you can use in school, college applications, and future careers.

Key Takeaways:

Learn how to use Excel to organize, analyze, and visualize data
Build dashboards that explain trends and guide smart decisions
Apply data skills to entrepreneurship and real-world challenges
Present your insights with confidence and clarity

Law, Politics & Social Justice

Politics & Culture: Symbols, Memory, and Narratives

How do politics and culture shape each other? This course examines how laws, institutions, media, and the arts create, contest, and circulate meanings in public life. We study political symbolism, cultural policy, agenda-setting, misinformation, and the politics of memory—focusing on the tools actors use to persuade, mobilize, and govern.

Through monument and museum visits, case studies, and media analysis, students explore how historical narratives exhibit and frame the past. The course introduces students to the field of memory politics and the sites of historical significance including memorials, monuments, and museums. Selected readings from various fields and guest lectures inform us to study the institutions and political and cultural elites who construct new discourses and seek power through cultural identities and collective memories.

At the end of the course, students reflect on their own experience of site visits and academic discussions and work in groups to create an audio-visual project, such as a podcast or curated collection of materials from field visits, on a theme of their choice. In short, this class is where the past meets the present.

U.S. Law

A D.C. Immersion (2-Week Intensive) This intensive two-week course transforms the Nation’s capital into a living classroom, providing high school students with a dynamic, hands-on introduction to the fundamentals of the U.S. legal system. Leveraging the unique resources of Washington, D.C., the program emphasizes experiential learning through site visits, lectures, discussions with guest speakers, and practical simulations. This course combines foundational legal theory with the unparalleled opportunity to visit the institutions where law is made and adjudicated.

The U.S. Intelligence Community: Global Terrorism and Nuclear Proliferation

This course spans the entire spectrum of the modern national security chronology, focusing on the creation of the U.S. Marshals (1789), the Secret Service (1865), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1935), the Pentagon (1941), the Central Intelligence Agency (1947), the National Security Agency (1952), the National Reconnaissance Office (1961), the Drug Enforcement Agency (1973), and the Department of Homeland Security (2003), with an emphasis on physical border issues that include international criminal gangs, drug trafficking, global terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and cybersecurity. This course is intended to provide an understanding of the relationships between national security and the policymaking process comparing the American context with that of other countries, especially other industrialized democracies. Students will be introduced to national security formulation, strategic objectives and tactical implementation. This course will also address the challenges of global security by examining the changing international security environment and the many challenges that confront U.S. policymakers, the intelligence community and military commanders. How does American domestic law compare to international law, Geneva Conventions, and Hague Conferences? Is American national security compatible with international and human rights? We’ll examine national security from both an internal and external perspective and propose reforms to improve the efficiency of providing for the national security of the United States.

Humanities, Languages & Culture

Christianity

This course introduces key moments in the history, development, and expansion of Christianity as a global religious movement. We will examine primary and secondary sources from the earliest to the most contemporary expression of Christian beliefs, practices, communities, and conflicts.

Shakespeare (Re)imagined: A Course on Adaptation

Why should we still care about Shakespeare? The (re)imagining and adaptation of his works have long served artists and scholars for centuries. Explore how and why we still read, write, rewrite, watch, and rework the playtexts of William Shakespeare through time and media. Using literary analysis, film studies, and historical context, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of what adaptation is and how to use it yourself. Along with hands-on activities, creative projects, and excursions to Washington DC museums and libraries, prepare to ask questions like who gets to tell the stories? How is a story best told? And how can we keep (re)imagining classic stories as the world becomes increasingly complex?

Session III: Sunday, July 19, 2026 - Friday, July 31, 2026

Law, Politics & Social Justice

U.S. Law

Psychology of Misinformation

Breaking news! This course will teach you how not to fall for the headlines like this, and other wildest lies, even the ones that look totally real. You’ll learn the difference between mis- and disinformation, the psychology behind why our brains sometimes believe things they shouldn’t, learn how to spot tricks used on- and off-line content, and explore how AI is blurring the line between real life and fake. With hands-on activities, museum visits, guest speakers, and real-world investigations(on your own social media feed!), you’ll build the skills to confidently separate fact from fake in your everyday life. We will teach you how to help protect your friends and family from misinformation. Perfect for students who has interest in psychology, journalism, marketing, political conversations or anyone who wants to sharpen their instincts for what’s real and what’s not.

U.S. Foreign Policy: Global Conflict Resolution in a Multilateral World

Leadership & Civic Engagement

How to Be a Changemaker: Leadership and Civic Engagement

How can we make change in our communities around the issues that we care about? How can we be impactful and transformative leaders? How can we be effective spokespersons in advocating for people and issues that are important to us? How can we use things like art, music, and social media in ways that raise important conversations in the culture? This course will explore many different ways that you can be a changemaker! There will be an emphasis on hand-on engagement and experiential learning with a focus on local Washington DC history and culture. We will visit museums and exhibits, learn about local changemakers, practice leadership and civic engagement strategies, and make art together. We will work together to develop our leadership, advocacy, and public speaking skills while building a strong learning community and lasting personal networks.

The Art of Connection: Designing Next-Gen Leadership

Humanities, Languages & Culture

Washington, D.C. and the French-Speaking World

Step into the vibrant world of Francophone cultures in Washington, D.C., through a hands-on exploration of art, history, language, culture, diplomacy, and more! Whether you speak some French or not, join us to discover the capital city and its many Francophone connections. You will visit museums such as the *Smithsonian National Museum of African Art* and the *National Gallery of Art* to experience works and artists from French-speaking countries; embassies and cultural institutions such as the *Embassy of Haiti* and the *United States Institute of Peace* to engage with international relations and diplomacy; experiential spaces such as *Planet Word* and the *Folger Shakespeare Library* to trace the shared histories of French and English; and cultural landmarks such as the *Renwick Gallery ("American Louvre")* and the *Lincoln Memorial* to uncover Francophone influences on architecture and the history of Franco-American cooperation. Immerse yourself in the capital city through interactive excursions, guided discussions, and reflective projects to analyze interdisciplinary connections, articulate insights, and engage deeply with the global impact of French-speaking cultures on Washington, D.C., and beyond!

From Seed to City: Exploring Food Systems and Justice in Washington, D.C.

How does food get from the farm to your fork, and who gets left out along the way? In this two-week experiential course, students will explore the social, political, and environmental forces that shape what we eat and how our food systems function. Through field visits to farms, grocery stores, and community organizations across Washington, D.C., students will investigate how issues like climate change, urban agriculture, labor, and access intersect to influence food security and health. Alongside local leaders and researchers, students will engage in hands-on activities that trace the journey of food from seed to city, examine the challenges of creating equitable food systems, and envision practical solutions for a more just and sustainable future. Designed for curious changemakers, this course blends science, policy, and storytelling to inspire the next generation of food justice advocates.

Course Learning Objectives:

Describe key components of the U.S. food system, from production to consumption, and identify how they interconnect to affect public health and sustainability.
Analyze how policy, environment, and social inequities shape access to nutritious and culturally preferred foods in urban settings.
Engage with community organizations and food system stakeholders to understand real-world efforts that advance food justice and nutrition security.
Apply systems thinking to identify potential solutions for challenges such as food waste, ultra-processed foods, and climate impacts.
Communicate findings and reflections through creative storytelling, linking local experiences to broader issues of justice, resilience, and dignity in food access.

A DAY IN THE LIFE

Students in the Pre-College program are constantly engaged. Connecting with their classmates, their topic of study and Washington, D.C, Pre-College students have the opportunity to interact with this program in an immersive, hands-on experience. Both in and out of the classroom, students are kept busy as we arrange opportunities for exploration through class site visits and residential programming. Students also receive a certain amount of free time to explore DC independently. Here is a sample Pre-College student schedule:

Weekdays
7:30am - 8:30am: Breakfast

9:00am - 5:00pm: Class, Study Sessions, Co-Curricular Activities

12:00pm - 1:00pm: Lunch

1:00pm - 4:00pm: Class, Guest Lecture and/or Site Visit

5:00pm - 6:30pm: Dinner

7:00pm - 9:00pm: College Readiness Activities and Recreational Programs with Residential Staff

11:00 pm: In-Room Curfew (weekday and weekends)

Weekends
Recreational Programs with Residential Staff. Examples of Recreational Programs include 4th of July Celebration on the National Mall, DC Cupcake crawl, and Smithsonian museum tours.

Additional SUMMER Opportunities

Program dates for Summer 2026 to be announced.

College Intensive programs offer rising juniors and seniors the opportunity to earn college credit by engaging in challenging online undergraduate level courses. Grades earned establish an official academic record at GW and may be transferable, depending on the policies of the receiving institution.

Students who wish to engage in credit-bearing online courses may apply for the 6-week online option. Students participating in this program are eligible to enroll in one 1000 or 2000 level course. To be eligible for enrollment, students must satisfy all prerequisites for a given course. For dates and times, please consult the GW schedule of classes, which will be posted later this spring.

Program dates for Summer 2026 to be announced.

Caminos al Futuro is a fully-funded, selective pre-college and residential summer program for rising seniors in U.S. high schools offered by the Cisneros Institute at the George Washington University, in Washington D.C.

During the 3-week intensive program, Caminos scholars examine the social, economic, and political transformations affecting the Hispanic/Latino community. Through lectures by university professors and expert leaders in their fields, scholars not only learn about pressing contemporary issues but also create their own project to bring change in their own communities.