Located in Poughkeepsie, New York, Marist College is a small, private liberal arts college. Founded by the Marist Brothers in 1905, the college offers 56 undergraduate and graduate degrees in the arts and sciences.

If you’re a native to the Hudson Valley area, Marist College offers multiple opportunities for your high school student to have an invaluable extracurricular experience over the summer. Read on to learn about 15 summer programs at Marist College which span a variety of disciplines across the arts and sciences.

Why Participate In A Summer Program?

Summer programs are a fantastic way for your student to experience what it’s like to live on a college campus and navigate this new environment. Summer programs give teens the opportunity to form relationships with college professors, eat in dining halls, and in some cases, to live on their own in university housing. All of these experiences could help ease the college transition and help a student understand what kind of college atmosphere they feel most comfortable in.

Summer programs can also help your student develop valuable skills that will aid them both in college and in their career. Many summer programs are specialized, allowing your student to focus on a particular academic discipline. For example, if you are interested in Business, there are many programs that teach the basics of entrepreneurship. These programs give teens hands-on experience in whatever it is they are interested in so that they can apply the concepts they’ve learned in a real-world scenario. In the previous entrepreneurship example, this could be something like developing a startup company. This invaluable exposure could help your child decide whether a certain discipline or industry is one they would want to pursue in the future.

How Much Do These Programs Cost/How Can My Child Apply?

Marist offers a variety of for-credit courses for rising 10th, 11th and 12th grade students under its summer pre-college program series. Students can participate in either Session 1 or Session 2 of the program and will earn 3 college credits at the conclusion of their session. Students interested in attending both sessions will earn 6 college credits at the conclusion of their stay. The costs of this program varies depending on how many sessions your student hopes to attend and how many credits they wish to earn.  

Students interested in either Session 1 or Session 2 of the program will earn 3 college credits and be charged $3,400 for the whole program. Students who attend both sessions will earn 6 college credits and be charged $6,460 for the summer. These fees cover the cost of tuition and fees, housing, all meals, field trips, and all course materials.

In order to apply, your teen will need to complete the online pre-college application, submit high school transcripts, and a pre-college recommendation form. Lastly, they’ll need to write a short essay (350 words) explaining their interest in Marist’s Pre-college summer program. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

15 Summer Programs at Marist College For High Schoolers

1. Marist Summer Pre-College Admissions: Business

This is a phenomenal opportunity for any student interested in studying business to learn more about topics such as organization structure and design, the nature of careers in a business environment, and so much more. Most importantly, it allows students to earn three transferable college credits from Marists’ AACSB-accredited School of Management.

2. Marist Pre-College Summer Program: Creative Writing

If your student aspires to write the next great novel, spends their time creating fantastic stories, poetry, or any other form of creative writing, consider enrolling them in Marist’s expert Creative Writing program. This program leverages both Marist’s expert liberal arts faculty and prestigious visiting writers to teach students creative writing techniques and to help them develop their own confidence and writing voice, as they share their work with their peers.

3. Marist College Pre-College Summer Program: Criminal Justice

Is your student a future lawyer? Then this program is perfect for them. In this dynamic summer program, your student will have the opportunity to learn about and meet professionals from the diverse fields of Criminal Justice and develop an individual specialty project for deeper study as they gain invaluable experience with local, state and federal agencies.

4. Marist College Pre-College Summer Program: Cybersecurity

In the Cybersecurity program, your student will learn everything they need to know to create secure code and test for vulnerabilities in information technology systems. They will also have the opportunity to apply these skills to a fake “online banking” system and work with data to examine how major cybersecurity attacks could have been avoided. If your child is a future coder or hacker, then this 2-week summer program is for them.

5. Marist College Pre-College Summer Program: Digital Media

Digital Media and Digital Marketing are huge buzzwords in today’s growing digital environment. With this program, your student has the opportunity to learn about cutting-edge techniques to add to their digital toolbox. Through this program, they’ll be able to start their own website/blog using valuable tools like WordPress, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign. For all the future communications and media professionals, this program could be the first step in an illustrious career in digital media.

6. Marist College Pre-College Summer Program: Entrepreneurship

If you know that your student is going to be the next groundbreaking entrepreneur, Enroll them in this program. This course will introduce your student to the world of entrepreneurship and let them engage in the process of creating their own business, from the ideation of a product to attracting potential investors. This is a great opportunity to earn college credit from Marist’s AACSB-accredited School of Management.

7. Marist College Pre-College Summer Program: Environmental Science

Does your child enjoy being outdoors, learning about the Earth’s natural systems, and both literally and figuratively getting their feet wet? Then they ought to consider joining Marist College’s Pre Summer Program in Environmental Science. In this exciting program, Marist College uses its nearby Hudson River Valley as a lab to examine natural systems, the impact of human activities on those systems, and how society deals with those impacts.

8. Marist College Pre-College Summer Program: Fashion Design

Does your student have what it takes to succeed in the fashion industry? This intensive thirteen-day program at Marist College will immerse your student in all aspects of fashion design, from basic sewing techniques to creating a portfolio of apparel designs. Each session in the Fashion Design covers different topics, so in order to get the most comprehensive experience, your student might consider attending both summer sessions.

9. Marist College Pre-College Summer Program: Fashion Merchandising

If your student loves fashion and thinks that they have what it takes to work in the industry, they can attend this pre-college summer program in Fashion Merchandising. The first session discusses fashion merchandising for buyers, and the second session discusses social media for fashion marketing. To get the most comprehensive experience, your student should consider both summer sessions, which would last a total of 4 weeks.

10. Marist College Pre-College Summer Program: Film & TV Production

If your child loves movies and television and has a creative knack for storytelling, they can really delve deep into cinematic creation through this program. In a few short weeks, your student will have the opportunity to learn the craft of storytelling and how decisions are made by directors, cinematographers, and other key personnel during film production. Most importantly, your child will discover their interests and passions in relation to the cinematic arts.

11. Marist College Pre-College Summer Program: Game Design

So many teenagers like to play video games, whether they be on their phone, computer, or other gaming systems. But how does one create these games? In this summer program, your student will have the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of constructing a successful game using state-of-the-art game-maker software. Some examples of game designs that they will learn include: scrolling shooters, maze games, and 3D parallax games. No prior programming experience is required.

12. Marist College Pre-College Summer Program: Pre-Health

If your child is considering a career as a health professional, this summer program is a great opportunity for them to learn about the different paths that they could pursue. This is a basic course that will give your teen a comprehensive overview of the healthcare industry, the current problems facing healthcare professionals, and some of the important research being published in the field of healthcare. In addition, your student will get to meet healthcare professionals and to run some tests in Marist College’s Simulation Lab.

13.  Marist College Pre-College Summer Program: Pre-Law

Is your child intrigued by the law? Consider enrolling them in the Pre-Law Summer Program, where students will uncover all aspects of United States law starting with the US constitution. Examples of topics you will cover include how to resolve legal questions, case and statutes, and landmark US Supreme Court decisions. This is a great first start to an illustrious career in the law profession.

14. Marist College Pre-College Summer Program: Psychology

Psychology is the study of ourselves and those around us. If the human mind fascinates your student, they can learn more by entering Marist College’s Pre-College Summer Program in Psychology. Through this program, your child will get a comprehensive overview of all fields of psychology, and they will get to apply their knowledge to a project that allows them to delve deeper into a research question of their own interest.

15. Marist College Pre-College Summer Program: Sports Communication

As one of the only schools in the country that offers academic study in Sports Communication, Marist offers a unique opportunity for your child to learn all about this growing and exciting field. Throughout this 2-week program, students will analyze the business strategies behinds sports games and websites, understand the impact sports media has on society, and experience real sports broadcasting under the supervision of experts.

For More Information

Looking for more programs in the New York Area? Check out our post, 16 Summer Programs in New York For High Schoolers.

If you’re interested in some more summer programs in more diverse locations, check out these posts:

15 Summer Programs in New Jersey for High Schoolers

15 Summer Programs at Cornell University for High Schoolers

15 Summer Programs at New York University for High Schoolers

For more guidance about extracurriculars, college applications, and how to choose activities that best suit your teen download our free guide for 9th graders and our free guide for 10th graders. Our guides go in-depth about subjects ranging from academics, choosing courses, standardized tests, extracurricular activities, and much more!

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