All About Experiential Learning: The Summer Program
Photo by Leonardo R.
What is the Summer Program?
Every summer, our students concluding their sophomore and junior years in high school participate in the Summer Program. The students select and apply to attend rigorous 1-2 week academic camps on college campuses throughout the United States.
Students have the option to choose their program focus, with choices including STEM, business, architecture, creative writing, coding, aerospace research, computer science, classical studies, music, leadership, general precollege studies, and journalism.
Sophomores largely attend commuter or residential programs in Texas, at schools such as Rice, University of Houston, Baylor, Sam Houston State, TCU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, University of Dallas, UT San Antonio and UT Austin. Juniors attend immersive, on-campus residential programs around the United States at universities such as Brown, Boston College, UC Berkeley, University of Chicago, Wheaton, Stanford, Cornell, Duke, Yale, Harvard, Notre Dame, and Rice.
Minds Matter Houston students gain numerous benefits from their participation in the Summer Program, including:
Application experience: With the guidance of their mentors, students gain practice drafting personal statements and topical essays, managing deadlines, collecting recommendations, and going through a formal financial aid application process TWICE before they actually apply to college.
College practice: Students gain invaluable real-world experience with the transition to college, including personal independence, solo travel, collegiate-level academics, and non-familial residential living. For many students, the Summer Program provides their first experience travelling on a plane, their first time going out of state, and their first encounter with truly independent budgeting and time management.
Peer networking: Students practice building relationships with peers from other socioeconomic backgrounds and communities, and gain early experience with the cross-cultural exchanges that are key to building a successful collegiate life.
Photo by Jennifer S.
What Our Students Think
Recently, our current MMH class of juniors created presentations to share their experiences with the 2025 Summer Program. After the completion of their sophomore year, 7 students attended residential programs across Texas including: a criminal justice seminar at Sam Houston State University, a pre-law academy at SFA University, a survey of the Classics at University of Dallas, a STEM seminar on carbon capture at Rice University, and a computer science academy at UT Austin. Through their attendance at these programs, our students discovered a range of academic passions that are pointing them towards new college majors and career options.
After attending the Rice STEM seminar, Jose has decided to pursue a STEM major in college and Leonardo expanded his love of aerospace engineering with a visit to the NASA Space Center. At SHSU, Maria appreciated her exposure to a variety of law enforcement careers, and Mayra uncovered a specific interest in forensic science. Alejandro really enjoyed studying C++ and the History of the Internet at UT Austin, and found he loved exploring the large campus and the variety of food available to students.
Karla overcame her fear of engaging in classroom debates at the University of Dallas and appreciated her new exposure to ancient Greek philosophy and culture. She discovered she wanted to attend a mid-sized college, and that a natural campus setting was important to her.
Photo by Jennifer S.
Through her time preparing for a mock trial at SFA, Jennifer learned a lot about self-confidence and responsibility, stating she “learned how to study better and manage my time. I gained independence…(and) grew more confident about talking to new people”.
All of our students agreed that the most valuable part of their residential experience was gaining the self-confidence to put themselves “out there” to approach and speak to new groups of people, learning how to “loosen up around new people”, and the fun they had once they “learned how to open up” and make new friends from different communities (and even different states). Maria advised current sophomores to use the Summer Program to “get out of that little shell, to push ourselves to know our strengths and weaknesses” and “ASK QUESTIONS!”
