Summer Session New Course Proposal Guide

Pre-College Courses

• About Pre-College Students

  Pre-college students are:

  • Rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors, mostly ages 15 through 17

  • Drawn from the prospect pool for the College

  • Come from all over the U.S. and abroad 

  • Gain entrance through a competitive admissions process. 

  Most pre-college students live in a UC residence hall for the duration of their program, where they are mentored by a dedicated residential program staff (composed mostly of UChicago College students) outside of class. A small number (about 10%) commute from home. 

  All pre-college applicants request a ranked list of courses when they apply. They are admitted for enrollment in one (1) course based on their academic readiness for that course, as well as their particular interest in the course subject matter. These courses can serve as powerful pipelines into The College and individual majors.

  Pre-college programs allow students to “test drive” the university, and help them make decisions about their future academic and professional paths.

• Pre-College Course Guidelines

  Pre-college courses:

  • Provide a deep dive into a specific topic (e.g., The Theory and Politics of Capitalism) or a broad exposure to a field of study (e.g., Pathways in World Politics)

  • Expose academically advanced and ambitious high school students to undergraduate-level concepts, practices, and habits of mind 

  • Engage students through traditional classroom activities like lecture and discussion, and also varied activities like labs, field observations, trips, guest lectures, simulations, and group projects, especially those that introduce students to the rich resources available on campus and throughout the city.

  Review our Immersion and Summer Online course offerings to see what sort of course topics and approaches were offered in 2026.

  We seek proposals in a variety of subjects, but are especially interested in Chemistry, Economics (particularly ECON/BUSN), Mathematics, and online STEM courses .

• Pre-College Course Schedules

  For pre-college course proposals, you will be asked to provide your preferred dates and times.

  Program	Start Date	End Date	Holiday(s)
  Immersion (session 1)	June 14 (Monday)	July 1 (Thursday)	June 18
  Immersion (session 2)	July 6 (Tuesday)	July 22 (Thursday)	n/a
  Summer Online	July 6 (Tuesday)	July 22 (Thursday)	n/a

  Immersion (In-Person) Courses

  • Monday through Friday, 9-11:30 AM and 1-3 PM (90-minute lunch break)

  • 13 instructional days.  

  • Either in session 1 or session 2.

  Summer Online (Remote) Courses

  • Monday through Friday 

  • Synchronous time slots: 9–11 am or 6–8pm CDT, via Zoom. 

  • Asynchronous activities and materials (e.g., prerecorded lectures) do not replace synchronous (live) published class time.

  • July 7-26, 2026 (Session 2) only.

• Reflections on Teaching Pre-College Students

  Rich Kron (Astrophysics)
  The students are excellent and already motivated. It is rewarding to watch the cohort take shape and help each other as the course progresses, i.e. seeing the social dynamics acting in a positive way to achieve the academic goals. The summer course I teach is similar to PHSC 12700, a core course, which I also teach. PHSC 12700 is designed for non-science students. The summer course, by contrast, includes students ready to use math and computers and analyze data, so the summer course is tailored to exercise and develop those skills and interests. The intensive format means that the instructor has all of the students’ attention for the period of time. The instructor can depend on what was accomplished an hour ago to be remembered for the next hour or next day. This in turn allows projects to be extended from one day to the next, for example, giving a lot of flexibility.

  Christopher Schonbaum (Biological Sciences)
  The extended period of interaction each day and the ability to meet daily allows us to do experiments that we can’t do very easily during the school year. Typical once a week undergraduate labs are disruptive, especially when working with living organisms. In RIBS, students perform experiments in a more natural manner, and similar to the way they would perform experiments in a research lab. An experiment that might stretch out for several weeks in an undergraduate lab can be done in three days in the summer. The experiment is fresh in their minds, and the outcomes can more easily be discussed as a class. Moreover, the summer students can carry out experiments that are not possible during the school year. In RIBS, the students perform experiments on cancer cells that require daily observations and follow-up. In addition, in undergraduate courses, students are often asked to design an experiment but there is not time to actually do the experiment. In the summer course, the students not only design experiments but they also have the opportunity to carry them out and test their hypotheses.
  One other aspect of the summer course that I find appealing is that the students are all excited about studying biology and, in general, are eager to talk about science. They are taking the course and spending all day in lab because they want to be here, not because it is a requirement. The students have lots of interesting questions based on something they read in the news. Because of the extended day, we have time to digress and talk about science topics other than what was scheduled.

  Katherine O’Doherty (Psychology)
  I love working with the high school students! The group is typically very diverse and includes many international students — so we have many different perspectives brought to the classroom. Their diverse educational experiences really enrich our discussions. I enjoy the high school students’ enthusiasm and excitement for the future — particularly when they begin collecting and analyzing the data for their research project. They work so hard to finalize the methodology and when they get to put it into practice, collect actual data from human subjects, and present the results they are thrilled.
  The content and assignments are actually quite similar to my college courses, what differs greatly is the timing. Having a full day of class five days a week for three weeks straight is really different from the school year and very fun. I incorporate longer videos in the summer, which are great in psychology courses. I just don’t often have time to show them during the school year. The research project is a fun summer assignment that only works because we have time each afternoon to meet individually with each group to plan and implement their study, analyze the data, etc. It is really fun to end the class with their research presentations — it feels like a real celebration of learning.

  David Reid (Physics)
  I find the students to be the most appealing aspect of the course. They are very eager to learn and work hard and don't complain if the course is challenging. They want the challenge. For this program, because of the length of the class periods, I definitely plan things differently. I spend much more time with students working on things, and on in-class discussions, than I would during the regular year. I am able to have much more in-depth discussions because of the longer class period. Another less conventional assignment students really enjoy in the intensive summer class is to give them a quiz in the form of a game (it takes 90 minutes, and doesn’t work well in a normal class).

Undergraduate Courses

• About Undergraduate Students

  The majority of College students do not take classes in the Summer unless they have a compelling reason to do so, such as completing a required course so they can graduate on time or study abroad in the coming year.

  Summer Quarter is open to UChicago students and visiting undergraduate, graduate, and pre-college students.

  September Term is only open to UChicago students.

• Schedules and Dates

  Beyond your own availability and preferences, here are some guidelines to consider when requesting your course schedule:

  1. Stand-alone courses (i.e. not part of a sequence) can be scheduled for:

  Start Date (Monday)	End Date (Friday)	Length	Holiday(s)
  June 14	July 2	3 weeks	June 18, July 5
  July 5	July 23	3 weeks	n/a
  June 14	July 16	5 weeks	June 18, July 5
  July 19	August 20	5 weeks	n/a
  June 15	August 7	8 weeks	June 18, July 5
  August 23	September 10	3 weeks	Sept 6

  2. Two-course sequences that need more than 3 weeks to meet pedagogical goals can run for 5 weeks: 

  Start Date	End Date	Length	Holiday(s)
  June 14	July 2	3  weeks	June 18
  July 5	August 20	3 weeks	n/a

  3. Three-course sequences, such as Self, Culture and Society, can be completed in one summer, with each segment taking place in 3 weeks: 

  Start Date	End Date	Length	Holiday(s)
  June 14	July 16	5  weeks	June 18, July 5
  July 19	August 20	5 weeks	n/a

  4. Eight-Week Evening Courses
  
  Evening courses run for 8 weeks and have been very well received by students. We want to expand those offerings and encourage instructors to consider proposing evening courses.  

• Days and Times

  Contact Hours
  Undergraduate courses must meet for a minimum of 27 contact hours. During Summer Quarter and September Term, this means a three-week course should meet for a minimum of 9 hours per week and a five-week course for 5.5 hours per week.

  Days & Times
  When you fill out your proposal form, request the specific meeting days and times you would prefer, but please be aware that you might be asked to make changes, such as teaching in the afternoon rather than the morning, or in a different session, as we try to balance the overall schedule.

  If you are proposing to teach a remote course for College students, consider scheduling the synchronous sessions in the evenings (6-8 pm CT) to accommodate students with jobs and internships during the day.

• In Person or Remote

  You will also be asked if you would like to teach your course in-person, remotely, or have no preference.

  We tend to emphasize remotely taught courses during Summer Quarter as College students need the flexibility they provide.

  September Term will offer a mix of in-person and remotely taught undergraduate courses, aimed at second, third, and fourth-year students in the College.

• What Sort of Courses Are Offered During the Summer?

  Since the student population is smaller in the summer than during other quarters of the academic year, the number of courses offered is reduced accordingly. Preference is given to courses that will best serve student needs. Strong preference is given to often-oversubscribed course offerings that fulfill degree requirements in the College. Electives rarely draw student enrollments during the summer, no matter how compelling the topic.

  How do you determine if your proposed course might be a fitting addition to Summer Quarter or September Term? You should be able to answer “Yes” to more than one of the questions below:

  • Does it fulfill a Core or major requirement, especially one which students have trouble fulfilling?

  • Is it a course which is often oversubscribed or very full?

  • Is it an especially rigorous course that students might want to take at a time when they can focus on it?

  • Is the department, committee, or division which offers the course willing and able to help recruit students to take the course?

  • For September courses: Does it take advantage of campus and city resources, or involve pedagogically creative activities that would be difficult to include during a regular academic quarter?

  • Is it this sort of course offered at many institutions, so that a visiting undergraduate student could likely transfer credit from UChicago to his or her home institution?

  • Does this course showcase well-known strengths of UChicago or otherwise appeal to students from other institutions who would be looking for an opportunity to study here?