| Application deadline | Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Cost | Last year's cycle (2026): Free attendance; check separate expenses; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Last year's cycle (2026): Free attendance; check separate expenses; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Financial aid | Last year's cycle (2026): Limited travel and food aid: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. Available to some students who demonstrated financial need; award amounts and counts were not published.; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Expenses and aid conditions | Last year's cycle (2026): 2026 application fee: $30. Nonrefundable; applicants with financial need could request a waiver.; 2026 triple-occupancy hotel housing: $0. Included for full-time participants; not provided to local piano or percussion participants in the limited track.; Food during the institute: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. Not included; students prepared food in the hotel kitchenette or purchased meals. Limited need-based aid could help.; Round-trip transportation to Washington, D.C.: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. Not included; limited need-based aid could help. Local program transportation was covered.; Limited travel and food aid: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. Available to some students who demonstrated financial need; award amounts and counts were not published.; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Stipend or pay | Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Eligibility | Unconfirmed — check official site | Grades 9–12; Grade timing: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Additional eligibility | Ages 15–20; Requirement: Be at least 15 by June 7, 2026 and no older than 20 on June 29, 2026 for the completed cycle; Requirement: Be seriously considering music as a career and able to commit to the full program; Requirement: Audition on an eligible orchestral instrument with the required excerpts and solo; Requirement: Participate in all scheduled institute activities if accepted; Exclusion: Full-time fellowships were not listed for percussion or piano in 2026; locally based percussionists and pianists could apply for specified limited, non-residential components; Exclusion: Housing was not provided for the local piano and percussion tracks; Exclusion: The 2027 age cutoff and instrument roster are not yet verified | Minimum age 15; Requirement: Be enrolled in high school during the application academic year and remain in good academic standing; Requirement: Be at least 15 by the program start for CompBio, CoSBBI, or Surgery computational placements; Requirement: Be at least 16 by the program start for wet-lab Cancer Biology, TDX, Pathobiology, ICI, VISION, or WCRC placements; Requirement: Graduating seniors must not be enrolled in college courses during the summer program; Requirement: Commit to the full seven-to-eight-week, 30-35-hour weekly schedule and mandatory first and final weeks; Requirement: Arrange housing and transportation for any in-person or hybrid placement; Requirement: Meet site-specific safety, health, onboarding, vaccine, confidentiality, and research requirements; Exclusion: Applicants younger than 15 by the program start are ineligible; students younger than 16 are limited to computational sites; Exclusion: A graduating senior taking college courses during the program is ineligible under the published 2026 rule; Exclusion: A job, sport, vacation, or other summer program cannot interfere with required Hillman hours; Exclusion: Remote or hybrid work is not available for every research site or project; Exclusion: Need-based compensation is not automatic for all admitted students |
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| Session dates or duration | Last year's cycle (2026): Starts June 7, 2026; Ends June 29, 2026; 3.1 weeks; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Last year's cycle (2026): Starts June 15, 2026; Ends July 31, 2026; 7–8 weeks; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Format | In person | In person / Online / Hybrid |
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| Housing and supervision | Residential. Supervision and housing details: Unconfirmed — check official site | Non-residential. Supervision and housing details: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Location | Washington, District of Columbia; Kennedy Center and the D.C. metropolitan area | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for most sites; limited remote or hybrid computational placements are site-specific |
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| Selection and application | Selection: Competitive recorded audition with musical proficiency as the primary standard; essays and one recommendation inform the review, and instrument balance affects selection. No current acceptance rate is published. Application materials: Two essay responses; One recommendation letter | Selection: Competitive application reviewed for site fit, preparation, essays, references, and available mentors; the public pages do not publish a universal acceptance rate. Application materials: Two application essays |
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| Official sources | Source 1 · checked 2026-08-22Source 2 · checked 2026-08-20 | Source 1 · checked 2026-08-21Source 2 · checked 2026-08-21Source 3 · checked 2026-08-21Source 4 · checked 2026-08-21Source 5 · checked 2026-08-20 |
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