Extracurriculars & Programs in California for High School Students

California pairs Stanford, Caltech, and UC pre-college and research programs with Silicon Valley tech internships and entertainment-industry opportunities in Los Angeles.

90 verified programs match this page; 19 of the featured listings are completely free; 1 can be done online.

Featured programs

Browse 30+ curated programs for high school students:

• Stanford Medical Youth Science Program (SMYSP) — Stanford University: Explore medicine, public health, and research in this free, equity-focused summer program for high school juniors. Build skills and strengthen college
• Caltech Signature Award for Innovation — California Institute of Technology: Earn recognition for your groundbreaking ideas in science with this free high school research award. Boost your college applications and showcase your
• Scripps Research High School Internship Program — Scripps Research: Gain hands-on biomedical research experience in this free high school internship for grades 11-12. Build STEM skills and boost college applications th
• Stanford AI4ALL — Stanford University: Discover a free summer program empowering high school juniors with hands-on AI experience, skill-building for college applications, and diversity-focu
• Caltech YESS Summer Program — Caltech: Explore a 1-week summer program with STEM workshops and lab tours at Caltech. Perfect for high school students to gain hands-on experience and boost c
• Berkeley Model United Nations (BMUN) — UC Berkeley Model United Nations: The oldest continuously running collegiate Model UN conference in the world. Over 1,700 high school delegates tackle global issues across 20+ committe
• ArtCenter College of Design Pre-College Program — ArtCenter College of Design: Intensive pre-college art and design program at ArtCenter in Pasadena for high school students to explore industrial design, graphic design, film, ill
• Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam — Youth Speaks: National slam poetry organization connecting high school students through spoken word performance, workshops, and the annual Brave New Voices internat
• Cal Grant Program — California Student Aid Commission: Cal Grant is California's largest college financial aid program, awarding up to $16,000 per year to California residents attending in-state colleges.
• Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies — Stanford University: Pre-collegiate programs at Stanford University in humanities, bioscience, business, and social justice.
• Victory Briefs Institute — Victory Briefs: Elite Lincoln-Douglas debate camp known for producing national champions. Top-tier instruction from successful competitors and coaches.
• UC Berkeley ATDP — UC Berkeley: Academic Talent Development Program for gifted students.
• UCSF High School Biomedical Research Internship — University of California, San Francisco: Biomedical research at top medical research university.
• California State Science Fair — California Science Center: Largest state science fair in the US. Winners qualify for prestigious national and international competitions.
• Startup UCLA Summer High School Accelerator — UCLA: Startup accelerator at UCLA. Develop business ideas with UCLA Anderson faculty and LA tech community.
• Stanford Compression Forum Summer Internship — Stanford University: Data compression research internship at Stanford. Work with researchers on multimedia compression.
• TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield — TechCrunch: Startup competition at major tech conference. Present to investors.
• Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Student Leadership Program — Reagan Foundation: Leadership program at Reagan Presidential Library.
• Science Internship Program (SIP) at UC Santa Cruz — UC Santa Cruz: 8-week summer research internship. Students work in UCSC research labs. Competitive admission.
• Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes — Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies: Three-week academic intensives across STEM, humanities, and arts.
• Salk Institute High School Research Scholars — Salk Institute for Biological Studies: Research program at iconic Jonas Salk's institute.
• UC Berkeley COSMOS — University of California, Berkeley: 4-week residential STEM program at UC campuses for California students.
• Stanford University High School Summer College — Stanford University: Take Stanford courses alongside Stanford undergraduates. Full Stanford academic experience.
• SLAC National Accelerator Lab Student Programs — SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory: Particle physics research at Stanford's national lab.
• SPUR (Stanford Pre-Collegiate University Program) Research — Stanford University: Conduct original research with Stanford faculty. Highly competitive.
• Lawrence Berkeley National Lab High School Internship — Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: Research experience at DOE national laboratory in energy sciences.
• Haas School of Business Summer Entrepreneurship Program — UC Berkeley Haas: Entrepreneurship program at Berkeley Haas. Develop startup ideas with Silicon Valley-style mentorship.
• Caltech InnoWorks Academy — Caltech: Free hands-on STEM program at Caltech. Engineering projects and science exploration.
• Stanford Graduate School of Business High School Summer Program — Stanford GSB: Business fundamentals program at Stanford GSB. Experience MBA-style learning and Silicon Valley entrepreneurship.
• Student Academy Awards — Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: Oscars for student films. International, domestic, and specialty categories.

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