Extracurricular Deadlines in February — Programs to Apply to

February is the single busiest deadline month for competitive summer programs, research placements, and merit scholarships.

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.

215 verified programs match this page; 24 of the featured listings are completely free; 7 can be done online.

Featured programs

Browse 30+ curated programs for high school students:

• Beaver Works Summer Institute — MIT: Elite summer program for high schoolers in Grades 10-11 focused on STEM fields like drones and cybersecurity. Gain hands-on experience and boost colle
• Amgen Scholars Program — Amgen Foundation: Transform your summer with a paid high school research internship in biotech. Conduct hands-on projects at top universities to boost skills and colleg
• 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
• Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) — IMSA: Transform your high school journey with a free, residential STEM program in Illinois. Gain hands-on experience, boost college applications, and develo
• 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
• Harvard Summer School — Harvard: Transform your summer with a 7-week program at Harvard. Earn college credit, deepen academic skills, and boost your college applications through hands
• Clark Scholars Program — Texas Tech: Elite summer research program for high school juniors and seniors. Gain hands-on STEM experience, earn a $750 stipend, and boost your college applicat
• Davidson Fellows Scholarship - Music Category — Davidson Institute: Prestigious music scholarship recognizing high school students with exceptional compositions. Boost your college applications and showcase your creati
• Davidson Fellows — Davidson Institute: Win $50k, $25k, or $10k scholarships in this elite STEM competition for high-achieving high school students. Boost college applications with hands-on
• Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneur Competition — Blue Ocean Global Network: Join the world’s largest virtual pitch competition for high school students. Build entrepreneurship skills, boost your college applications, and showc
• PROMYS at Boston University — Boston University: Explore number theory in a 6-week immersive summer program for high schoolers. Build research skills, enhance college applications, and dive into hand
• Beta Alpha Psi High School Competition — Beta Alpha Psi: Financial literacy and accounting case competition. Regional and national levels.
• MITES Summer — MIT Office of Engineering Outreach Programs: Six-week, residential MIT program for underrepresented rising seniors in STEM.
• Silicon Valley Math Tournament — Silicon Valley Math Initiative: Compete in the Silicon Valley Math Tournament to sharpen problem-solving skills, boost your college applications, and connect with like-minded high sc
• USA Biochemistry Olympiad (USABO) — American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology: Compete in a national biochemistry competition for high schoolers to test STEM skills, boost college applications, and gain molecular biology expertis
• Congressional Award Gold Medal — The Congressional Award Foundation: US Congress's highest award for youth. Requires 400+ hours across volunteer service, personal development, physical fitness, and expedition.
• Yale Science & Engineering Association Award — YSEA: Special award at ISEF and regional fairs for outstanding research.
• Stanford Summer Global Studies — Stanford University: Immerse yourself in a transformative summer program blending academics and global culture at Stanford. Boost college applications while developing cri
• Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference — Freedom Forum: Join a free, all-expense-paid journalism conference in Washington, DC, for high school juniors and seniors. Build hands-on skills and boost your colle
• FAA High School Competition — University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts: Engage in a dynamic arts competition for high schoolers in grades 9-11. Explore architecture, music, and design while boosting college applications. F
• St. Gallen Symposium Wings of Excellence Essay Competition — St. Gallen Symposium Foundation: Top 100 essayists invited to prestigious annual symposium with global leaders. Fully funded trip to Switzerland. One of most selective student opportu
• Mayo Clinic Summer Research Fellowship — Mayo Clinic: Clinical and biomedical research at world-renowned medical center.
• Vanderbilt Programs for Talented Youth (PTY) — Vanderbilt University: Summer and weekend academic enrichment programs at Vanderbilt for gifted K-12 students, offering fast-paced college-level courses in math, science, wr
• MITES Semester — MIT Office of Engineering Outreach Programs: Explore advanced STEM topics in this free virtual semester program for high school students. Build skills, gain mentorship, and boost your college app
• Fermilab TARGET Program — Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory: Summer research internship at premier US particle physics laboratory. Work with world-class physicists on cutting-edge experiments. Exceptional prepar
• Stanford Compression Forum Summer Internship — Stanford University: Data compression research internship at Stanford. Work with researchers on multimedia compression.
• TARGET Science and Engineering Program — Fermilab: Explore a free, in-person high school internship in physics, engineering, and computing. Gain research skills, hands-on STEM experience, and boost you
• Fred Hutch Summer High School Internship Program (SHIP) — Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center: Paid laboratory internships in cancer and biomedical research.
• MIT Office of Engineering Outreach Programs — MIT: Explore free in-person engineering programs for high school students at MIT. Build hands-on STEM skills, enhance college applications, and join a dive
• Optimist International Essay Contest — Optimist International: Compete in a virtual essay competition for high school students (grades 9-12) to sharpen writing skills, build your resume, and boost college applicat

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