On Tuesday, February 6, 2018, YCIS Century Park held its second annual Summer Programmes Fair. This event, organized by the campus’ University Guidance Counselor, Mr Timothy Gartz, provided Year 9-12 students with the opportunity to learn about 26 summer programme options in academic preparation, career development, service, culture, and high adventure.

With both local and international choices, these programmes offer a wealth of opportunity for our students: everything from improving academics here in Shanghai to exploring the cultures of Japan, or discovering the best of Australia or Hawaii, students can make choices that suit themselves best. For example, if someone is more interested in career exploration and skill development, they could choose to attend the programme offered by the University of California at Berkeley’s Haas Business School (BBAY), or the Carl Benz School of Engineering, which offers programmes in Europe and Suzhou, and whose representatives came all the way from Germany to meet the Century Park Campus students.

Interestingly, among the 26 providers present were all of the campus’ Year 13 students, who do not typically attend Summer Programmes as they prepare instead to enrol in university. These students were instrumental in the fair’s success by selecting and presenting a summer programme they had either attended or one which they wished to share with the campus’ student community. 

Mr Gartz encourages this type of engagement between YCIS students as it creates a culture that demonstrates the value of summer programmes and an opportunity to share personal experience. Florencia, one of the Year 13 students present, shared how her ‘Summer at Brown’ experience was a wonderful opportunity to study on a world-class campus, take fulfilling courses, and prepare for university. These benefits have stayed with Florencia as she met other students from several different countries with whom she is still in contact today.

Mr Gartz hopes that parents discuss the experience their students had at the fair and the options presented to them from country choices across the globe. To help with this conversation, below please find the list of the organisations which attended the fair as well as links to their websites. In addition to these programmes, there are also hundreds of other summer programmes that can be found in the Century Park Campus University Applications Guide created and shared by Mr Gartz, who is always very happy to speak with YCIS students and their parents.

Summer Program Fair Guest Organisations

1. B-BAY University of California Berkeley
2. Carl Benz School of Engineering
3. Elite Educational Institute, China
4. New Horizons
5. New York University Shanghai SPS High School Academy
6. Hult Business School
7. Mandarin House
8. Oxford Bridge World Strides
9.  Princeton Review Shanghai
10. That’s Mandarin
11.  The Essential Learning Group
12. Tutors in China



YCIS Century Park Student Organisations

• Asia Pacific University – Ritsumeikan (ACE Summer Program)
• Aussie Summer Camp
• Bocconi University Summer Program   
• Carnegie Mellon University Maths and Sciences  
• Columbia Summer Programs
• HKU Crimson Summer Exchange
• Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
• Kenyon College Young Writers Writing Workshop
• Summer at Brown University
• Summer Discovery (University of Pennsylvania)
• Temple University Japan High School Program
• University College of London Summer School
• University of Michigan STAMPS (School of Art and Design)
• Wilderness Adventures Hawaii

Here are a few other options that were introduced last year:

Summer Program Fair Guest Organisations 

1. CIEE Global Abroad
2. Cornell Summer College
3. Duke Tip
4. Embry Riddle Aeronautical University - Aerospace
5. Explore Horizons
6. Les Roches International School of Hotel Management
7. Middlebury Intensive Language Program
8. Nike Summer Basketball Camp Shanghai
9. Oxbridge Summer Programs
10. Rustic Pathways
11. Shanghai Jiao Tong Discover Engineering
12. USC Exploration of Architecture