2 . If you’re interested in pushing yourself academically while experiencing college life, our Summer Programs for Pre-College Students (SPP) can be ideal for you. In the programs, you will be able to make friends with fellow students, engage in social activities around the city and on campus, and experience pre-college summer study at one of the world’s top teaching and research universities.

Our long-running summer term pre-college offerings include a choice of one-, two-, three-, and six-week programs that prepare you for success in college. With five exciting and challenging pre-college summer programs to choose from, you can earn college credit, discover a new subject area, perform cutting-edge research in university labs, or immerse yourself in hands-on learning.

Academic life

SPP invites you to join other highly motivated teens from 87 countries in our summer programs for high school students and take the leap into college life and academics, which enables you to take on new academic challenges, explore a variety of interests and consider possible majors. You can take college courses alongside undergraduates either on campus or online. And you can also earn up to eight college credits by conducting in-depth STEM research with individual instructors or as part of a group project. Or, you can immerse yourself in a variety of stimulating noncredit seminars that blend lectures with experiential learning, discussions, and projects.

Campus/Residence life

Embracing college life is an exciting experience. Whether you live on campus or commute, you’ll get to know the ins and outs of college and city life. If you live on campus, you will stay in the residence hall, sharing a room and participating in dorm activities. There are typically two students per room and safety is our highest priority: residence halls have live-in university staff and 24-hour security. Resident program assistants provide guidance, coordinate and lead social activities, ranging from group activities that include comedy shows to field trips.

Your hard work will be combined with social events and fun activities — and you’ll still have time for your own adventures on campus! EmailtheSPPofficeatsppoffice@mail.edu.

3 . I'm big into reading, and since you're on this page, I guess you like reading as well. This page is an ongoing log of books I find to be awesome or useful. If you're looking to create a well-rounded, successful college experience, you can't go wrong with any of these.

The Power of Habit

This book is absolutely amazing. As it turns out, habits shape much more of our behavior than we realize.The habits we do have largely determine the progress (either good or bad) we make in life. Luckily, the way habits are formed can be understood—which means they can be changed—and The Power of Habit is the best overview of how habits work that I've ever read.

A Mind for Numbers

If you’re looking for practical techniques you can use to increase your ability to learn new information effectively, you should read this book. Contrary to what the title would imply, Dr. Barbara Oakley's A Mind for Numbers is applicable to any learning discipline--not just math and science. This book will quickly give you an understanding of how your brain learns and encodes (编码) new information, and will also equip you with strategies for learning more while studying less.

Brain Rules

If you know how the brain works, you' ll be better equipped to manage your own and understand the ones contained inside the heads of the people you know and meet In Brain Rules, John Medina expertly shows us how the brain does things, and lays out 12 rules that form a basis for using that pile of mush (糊状物) more effectively. It's not just an excellent brain book—it's an excellent business book and an excellent college success book as well.

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

I firmly believe that a solid foundation of nutrition, exercise, and sleep will help you succeed in college better than any study hack, which is why I recommend this book. Reading it will educate you on how exercise affects your brain, which in turn will give you more mental ammunition (弹药) that you can use to shoot down excuses when you're feeling lazy or “busy”, and don’t want to work out. By the way, how much exercise have you gotten today?