Extracurricular Deadlines in August — Programs to Apply to

August deadlines are mostly fall program and early competition registrations — beat the September crowd by applying now.

Most programs listed here run on annual cycles, so this month's deadline pattern repeats every year — check each listing for the exact current date.

31 verified programs match this page; 26 of the featured listings are completely free; 8 can be done online.

Featured programs

Browse 30+ curated programs for high school students:

• National Student Poets Program — Institute of Museum and Library Services: Prestigious poetry competition for 10th-11th graders. Become a literary ambassador, gain recognition, and build creative writing skills for college an
• White House Internship Program — The White House: Gain hands-on leadership experience with this prestigious White House internship. Perfect for building government skills and boosting college applicat
• PennApps Hackathon — University of Pennsylvania: Compete in the nation’s largest student-run hackathon for high schoolers. Build coding skills, innovate in tech, and boost your college applications.
• New England Conservatory Preparatory School — New England Conservatory: Conservatory-level training for pre-college musicians at NEC. Saturday program with NEC faculty.
• Long-Thibaud-Crespin International Competition — Fondation Long-Thibaud: Prestigious Paris-based international competition for young pianists, violinists, and opera singers launched by Alfred Cortot in 1943.
• The Concord Review Published Author — The Concord Review: The only quarterly journal in the world to publish academic history papers by high school students. Publication is extremely prestigious and valued by
• The Concord Review (Publication) — The Concord Review: Publish your high school history research in a prestigious peer-reviewed journal. Enhance writing skills, boost college applications, and gain recogni
• International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) — International Olympiad in Informatics: Qualify via national computing Olympiad selection; annual international finals.
• China Girls Mathematical Olympiad — China Mathematical Society & local hosts: An international proof-based math competition in China for high school girls, featuring team and individual exams.
• Google Code Next Program — Google: Free multi-year program at Google labs teaching computer science and career readiness. Includes mentorship and internships.
• Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship — Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority: Earn the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship for academic merit. Boost college applications and gain recognition as a top-performing high scho
• International Johannes Brahms Competition — International Johannes Brahms Competition Association: An annual classical music competition in Austria for young musicians in piano, strings, voice, and chamber music.
• Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) National Competition — YEA!: National pitch competition for YEA! entrepreneurs. Students compete with businesses launched through YEA! program.
• Lemonade Day National Competition — Lemonade Day: Empower your entrepreneurial spirit in this hybrid national competition for high school students. Gain hands-on business experience and boost your col
• BEST Robotics Competition — BEST Robotics: Free robotics competition. Six-week design challenge.
• Lumiere Research Scholar Program — Lumiere Education: 1-on-1 research mentorship with Harvard/Oxford PhD researchers; publication opportunity
• Harvard International Review Academic Writing Contest — Harvard International Review: Join a selective global writing competition for high schoolers to explore international relations, build policy analysis skills, and enhance your coll
• E-Yantra Robotics Competition — IIT Bombay (e-Yantra Project, CSE Dept.): A major educational robotics competition by IIT Bombay that teaches embedded systems and robotics through themed challenges.
• Greenhill Fall Classic — Greenhill School: Compete in the Greenhill Fall Classic, a top-tier debate tournament for high school students. Build critical thinking skills, boost college applicatio
• Interactive Fiction Competition (IFComp) — Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation: An annual global competition for creating and playing new works of interactive fiction and text-based games.
• European Bat Night Outreach Events — BatLife Europe & EUROBATS: Annual Europe‑wide late‑summer events where the public learn about and observe bats with experts through talks, walks, and activities.
• Aspiring Scholars Directed Research Program (ASDRP) — ASDRP: Free year-round research program. Students publish papers and present at conferences.
• Columbia Scholastic Press Association Crown Awards — Columbia University: Gain national recognition in journalism and publishing! This high school competition develops writing skills, boosts college applications, and honors
• U.S. Senate Page Program — United States Senate: Gain hands-on government experience through this prestigious in-person program in DC. Build leadership skills, boost college applications, and explore
• Denison University Fly-In Program — Denison University Fly-in Program: Free campus visit program for high school seniors at Denison University in Granville, Ohio.
• Lumiere Education Research Program — Lumiere Education: One-on-one research mentorship with PhD researchers for high school students developing original research projects.
• Ladder Internships — Ladder Internships: Virtual internship program connecting high school students with startup and organizational work experiences.
• International Aerial Robotics Competition — Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International: A long-running international competition challenging teams to solve complex missions with fully autonomous aerial robots.
• Applied Psychology — New York University: A stem opportunity for high school students.
• Student Historian Internship Program — The New York Historical: School-year history internship at The New York Historical for students entering grades 10-12 in the NYC metro area; interns research museum collection

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