As a high school student, I was always in search of opportunities to enrich my academic preparation outside of the structured four-year curriculum. During extended breaks, for example, I would take electives such as Physical Education at my school's summer session, or participate in Dual Enrollment programs at local universities that offered math and other core subjects at higher levels. I also enrolled in a few Advanced Placement courses at Florida Virtual School and realized that online learning was more accessible than I thought. I loved that I could study at my own pace. Also, course offerings were more varied and I enjoyed the flexibility provided by the Internet to present new material through fun multimedia like videos, presentations and interactive quizzes. 

On top of all these resources, students nowadays can get ahead in their academics with the help of Massive Open Online Courses. MOOCs are distance learning classes offered online through platforms such as edX, Coursera or Udacity. These online portals have emerged as universities and other institutions partner to make their professors and successful classes available to the whole world. The wide availability of MOOCs (many of which are free) makes it very easy to complement school learning and explore new interests. High school students should also know that colleges really value students’ initiatives to enrich their academic training through external resources such as online classes. Applicants should therefore communicate these experiences through their personal statements, curriculum vitae and interviews with college admissions representatives.

One of the most famous MOOCs, edX, recently launched a new set of courses specifically for students who want to take advantage of their summer to improve their academic credentials. According to the official website, "Summer Learning @ edX brings back our most popular courses, while launching brand new ones. EdX offers free online courses from the world’s best institutions and universities. Anyone, anywhere can take edX courses in a variety of subjects from computer science to psychology, engineering, languages, science and more."


To "learn more," visit the edX site. 

McCombs is the School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, and it is one of the top business schools in the United States. In the summer before their third and fourth year of high school, students now have the opportunity to participate in a six-day program at McCombs that will given them the chance to learn and interact with McCombs students and faculty while getting a real glimpse of college life. As I previously wrote in this post, universities really value students' participation in enriching programs during school breaks.

McCombs offers two summer programs for high school students: 1) Discover Yourself in Accounting Majors and Careers (June 21-26, 2015) and 2) Future Executive Academy (June 7-12, 2015). Students may apply to either program at no cost by submitting letters of recommendation, high school transcripts and a resume (which lists academic and extracurricular accomplishments). Eligible students need to have a minimum 3.5 (out of 4.0) GPA. 

The program especially encourages applications from "outstanding African-American, Hispanic or Native American students, first-generation students, and students who have overcome social or economic hardship."

To learn more about the program and access the application, visit this page.