Since the pre-college summer courses began in 1990, URochester has welcomed thousands of high school students to campus. (Photo courtesy of the Pre-College Summer Programs)
High school students take a variety of classes while living, dining, and learning at URochester.
For three weeks during the summer of 2023, Norah DeMayo ’28 stayed in Gilbert Hall on the University of Rochester’s River Campus. She ate her meals at Douglass Dining Center and attended classes at the Medical Center.
“I felt like a real college student,” she says.
DeMayo had completed her junior year at Irondequoit High School in Rochester, New York, and was eager to experience “college life.” She enrolled in URochester’s Pre-College Summer Programs, where high school students from around the world take courses ranging from data science, aerospace engineering, and journalism to business, nursing, and ethics.
“There’s literally something for everyone,” says program manager Tom Paradise.
Since the summer courses began in 1990, URochester has welcomed thousands of high school students to campus—from Los Angeles to New York, but also Bangladesh to Brazil, Morocco to South Korea, and Venezuela to Vietnam.
It’s a chance to preview their future—and discover their path.
Summer, done better
Get a head start on college by diving into engaging classes, research opportunities, and real campus experiences at URochester’s Pre-College Summer Program—where curiosity meets community.
Most are half-day courses, but Explorations in Pathology and Mini Medical School are full-day commitments taught at the Medical Center.
“These courses give high school students a taste of college,” says Lauren Ward, URochester’s associate director for programming and development. “And they’re short enough that they don’t take up too much of their summer.”
Current URochester undergraduates serve as resident advisors, allowing high schoolers the chance to ask questions about the University itself or college life in general. The RAs plan community-building social events in the evening, while pre-college staff organize weekend trips to popular destination spots such as Six Flags Darien Lake amusement park, Niagara Falls, and local festivals.
Students enrolled in the pre-college program can also take 45-minute college prep workshops each day after classes. They’re run by admissions or financial aid counselors and focus on subjects including writing college admissions essays, “crushing” your admissions interview, and understanding financial aid and scholarships.
For those who live in residence halls, Paradise strategically pairs students from diverse areas and cultures with one goal in mind. “We want them to meet someone different from them,” he says.
The pathology course offers a full-body experience.
“These courses give high school students a taste of college,” says Lauren Ward, URochester’s associate director for programming and development. (Photo courtesy of Pre-College Summer Programs)
DeMayo enrolled in Explorations in Pathology, where students learn how to perform autopsies, diagnose cancer, and run lab tests while working alongside residents and physicians from the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
“It was an amazing experience and a huge reason why I eventually chose to enroll here,” says DeMayo, a biochemistry major in the Rochester Early Medical Scholars (REMS) program. “The course was a combination of hands-on experience, going into the pathology labs to see how they ran, and listening to different experts who would come in and talk to us.”
One time, students were asked to bring in an object to have it stained. The process involves applying chemical dyes or stains to tissue or cell samples to help identify cellular and tissue features or abnormalities. “I took a petal off a flower outside of Douglass Commons,” DeMayo says. “I stained it and made a slide of it, just like a real pathologist would do.”
Students learn the ropes at Mini Medical School.
Practicing suturing. (Photo courtesy of Pre-College Summer Programs)
Hannah Brooker ’29 also spent most of her time at the Medical Center after being accepted into the rigorous Mini Medical School program.
“I was trying to figure out what to do in college,” says the neuroscience major from Phoenix, a village near Syracuse, New York. “I found my passion that summer.”
A typical day started with breakfast in the dining hall, classes from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., lunch until 1 p.m., then more classes and labs in the afternoon.
“It was an amazing experience,” Brooker says. “We learned how to suture, conduct patient interviews with standardized patients, and take vitals (such as blood pressure, pulse rate, and body temperature).”
The experience offered a great sample of what college life would be like and convinced Brooker that URochester was the school for her.
“I loved the feeling of community and the diversity,” she says. “My roommate was from Greece, and there were people on campus from literally all over the world. It was great.”
Simon says, let’s get down to business.
Yifei “Osborn” Huang ’28 took a pre-college entrepreneurial course—sponsored and run by the Simon Business School—for three weeks during the summer before his senior year of high school.
“It gave me a taste of college,” he says, “and the River Campus was just the right size—not too big, and not too small.”
Huang was born in Shanghai and moved to the US in eighth grade. He was attending a college preparatory school in North Carolina when his college advisor mentioned URochester’s summer course options. “It intrigued me,” he says.
Huang’s course focused on marketing, and students were able to go off campus and meet local company leaders. “Talking to people in the field who are successful offered great insight,” Huang says. “It’s something I had never experienced before. And just being on campus, eating and sleeping and being on my own, was great. I felt ahead of my high school classmates back in North Carolina.”
Courses that were music to his ears.
Zahali Vauclena ’27 took two courses on the River Campus the summer before his senior year of high school—Careers in Engineering as well as Content Creation and World Building with Studio X.
After his pre-college summer course, Zahali Vauclena “couldn’t wait to get started” with his URochester education. (Provided photo)
“I knew I liked music but wasn’t sure about engineering,” the Harlem, New York, native says. “The summer courses really opened my eyes because we got to learn about every engineering department here. And now I love engineering, too.”
At Studio X, Vauclena learned how to use the 3D creation software Blender and other gaming tools. “The course was packed with creativity,” he says. “Someone made a VR (virtual reality) walk of a cemetery! To see how game creation works was amazing. I remember thinking, ‘I want to go to this school. The freedom you have at this school is unlike anything I’ve ever heard about.’”
Vauclena was so excited about URochester that he applied early decision just a few months after taking the pre-college course. “I knew the campus, I knew the people, and I had a plan,” he says. “I couldn’t wait to get started.”
The audio and music engineering major plans to attend graduate school for electrical engineering and, hopefully, work in the audio hardware design industry.
Vauclena believes high school students should dip their toes into college life by taking a pre-college course at URochester.
“It’s one of the best things you can do to prepare you for college,” he says. “It helped me understand where my career was meant to go and the person I was becoming. You get a sense of independence and mini-adulting, and you learn what’s needed to be ready for your first year of college.”
Summer is around the corner
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Through URochester’s Pre-College Programs, you’ll discover your academic potential while exploring career possibilities—all while experiencing a true sense of college life.
