Published October 28, 2026.
For summer 2027, the computer science programs with a date or a price on their own sites are RSI, Carnegie Mellon’s SAMS, MIT Beaver Works, MITES, MIT PRIMES-USA, Wharton’s Data Science Academy, and UC COSMOS. RSI is cost-free to attend, accepts less than 2.5 percent of applicants, and is due December 11, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern. Only 11th graders may apply. SAMS and MITES cover program costs. Beaver Works is free when family income and assets are under $200,000, and $3,000 when they are over $200,001. Wharton’s academy is $10,999 for June 13–July 3, 2027. PRIMES-USA is free, and its application is due November 2, 2026.
Apply to the free programs before you pay for a course. PRIMES-USA closes first, then RSI. A search that starts with a paid catalog in the spring has already missed both. If your student is not in 11th grade, RSI, SAMS, and MITES are not this year’s applications. If your student cannot do a hard math problem set, skip PRIMES-USA. Beaver Works or USACO is the better use of the year.
How the programs compare
| Program | Cost | Dates | Who can apply |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research Science Institute | Cost-free to attend. Application fee $75. Accepts less than 2.5% of applicants. | MIT: June 20–July 31, 2027, about 100 students. Stanford: June 27–August 7, 2027, 50 students. Apply by December 11, 2026, 11:59 p.m. Eastern. | 11th grade only. Sophomores and seniors are not eligible. |
| SAMS, Carnegie Mellon | Fully funded. Students pay travel. No option to pay tuition instead. | Jumpstart June 21–22, 2027. On campus June 26–August 7, 2027. | U.S. citizen or permanent resident, in 11th grade, and 16 by June 26, 2027. |
| MIT Beaver Works | 2027: free if family income and assets are under $200,000. $3,000 if over $200,001. Housing is not included. | Online courses open February 1. The summer application goes out in March. July is the program at MIT. | Students living or attending high school in the United States. July is not open to students outside the U.S. |
| MITES Summer and Semester | Program costs covered. Students pay transportation to and from MIT. | 2027 dates are not set. Summer 2026 was June 20–July 31. Semester 2026 was June 22–December 6. | 11th graders, including homeschoolers. U.S. citizen or permanent resident with a current green card. |
| MIT PRIMES-USA | Free. Year-long and remote, not a residential camp. | Apply by November 2, 2026, 11:59 p.m. Eastern. Letters due November 6. Decisions in early January 2027. | Sophomores and juniors in the U.S. outside Greater Boston. Greater Boston students apply to local MIT PRIMES. |
| Wharton Data Science Academy | $10,999 for 2027. Application fee $100, travel, and Saturday meals are extra. Housing and weekday meals are included. | June 13–July 3, 2027. | High school graduation years 2028 and 2029. |
| UC COSMOS | Summer 2025: a maximum of $5,256 for eligible in-state residents. The state report calls the acceptance rate about 16%. | 2027 dates are not out yet. | Applications as early as eighth grade. Almost all students are finishing 9th, 10th, or 11th. |
Read the cost column before the name. Four of these programs charge no tuition. Wharton is a three-week course at a posted price, and admission to Wharton’s youth programs does not decide admission to Penn. For a student who wants research, the applications are RSI, SAMS, and, if the math is there, PRIMES-USA. Wharton is a purchase, and only after those applications are in.
Research programs
RSI is six weeks: one week of classes, then a five-week research internship. The Center for Excellence in Education runs it with MIT, and in 2027 also at Stanford. CEE says it receives over 2,500 U.S. applications and 600 international applications a year. Less than 2.5 percent are accepted. That rate is why RSI cannot be the only plan. Apply if the file is real, and send a second application the same week.
CEE recommends, and does not require, a PSAT Math of at least 740 and an Evidence-Based Reading and Writing score of at least 700, or an ACT math of at least 33 and a verbal score of at least 34. A lower score has to be carried by the rest of the file. A junior with neither those scores nor a math or research record is applying against a standard CEE has already written down. U.S. citizens and permanent residents apply to CEE. Students in other countries go through their own country’s selection. The RSI application guide walks through the file.
SAMS is the funded residential program to pair with RSI. It is six weeks at Carnegie Mellon, with math, science labs, and a research project advised by faculty or a graduate student. Families cannot buy a seat. Applicants submit tax documents or a NACAC fee waiver, and the office reads the whole file, including that financial review. The page encourages students who would be first in their family to finish a bachelor’s degree, who attend a high school with few admits to selective colleges, or who qualify for free or reduced lunch. Eligibility is separate from that encouragement: citizenship or permanent residency, 11th grade, and age 16 by the first day on campus. A student who is not 16 by June 26, 2027, cannot attend, whatever the rest of the file shows. The SAMS application guide lists the documents.
PRIMES-USA is not a summer camp, and that is why it belongs on the list. It is a free, year-long mentorship in math and theoretical computer science. Summer work is independent study, so it can sit beside another program. Submit the problem set only if your student can solve at least 70 percent of it. If they are not close to a USAMO or USAJMO qualification, a college proof-based course, a serious summer math program, or a letter from a college mathematics professor, skip it. They are not a weak PRIMES applicant. They are an applicant to Beaver Works, SAMS, or USACO.
Beaver Works and MITES
Beaver Works is the program for a student who will do the work. Students register themselves, finish online prerequisite courses, and may then be selected for July at MIT. The 2027 prerequisites are open. The courses open for study on February 1. Students who do not finish the minimum of the online course are unlikely to be accepted, and the courses stay open even if July does not. Start them either way. The $3,000 fee, for families over the income-and-assets line, does not include housing, so it is not the cost of being there. The Beaver Works application guide covers the sequence.
MITES is the other MIT program that covers its own costs. Summer is residential. Semester is longer, and the virtual semester cannot be done from outside the United States. The FAQ still prints 2026 dates and says 2027 dates are to be determined. Use the 2026 calendar as the shape of the commitment. Do not buy flights from it.
For a junior who is not a contest-math student, Beaver Works is the MIT program to start. The online course is a public requirement. MITES is the right application when covering the program cost matters and the family can wait for a 2027 calendar.
When a priced program is worth it
Wharton’s Data Science Academy is three weeks on campus in data science, machine learning, programming, analytics, and statistics. Buy it if the student wants that course and the free applications are already in. Do not buy it to be noticed by Penn. The program page says youth-program admission does not decide Penn admission. A student graduating in 2030 is not on the 2027 chart, which lists graduation years 2028 and 2029.
COSMOS is the California program, and it is the one younger students can enter. It is four weeks of math and science on UC campuses. The 2025 report lists Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Cruz. The University of California describes the acceptance rate as about 16 percent, and it also reports an older count: 1,164 of 4,512 completed applications were admitted for summer 2021. About 16 percent is not this year’s odds. It is still a different door from RSI’s less than 2.5 percent. For a 9th or 10th grader in California, COSMOS is the summer to watch. RSI is not.
USACO, whether or not a summer comes through
USACO is free and open. New students start in Bronze and promote through Silver, Gold, and Platinum. For the 2025-26 season the site describes three online contests and a proctored US Open, and Platinum contestants were reset to Gold at the start of that season. The next season’s dates are on the USACO site.
A contest score and a summer program answer different questions. A student who does USACO and is not admitted to RSI still has a result that does not depend on a selection under 2.5 percent. A student who attends a summer and never opens the contest has the thinner computer science record.
What to do this fall
If your student is in 11th grade and the math is honestly there, open the PRIMES-USA problem set this week. November 2 is the deadline. Start the RSI file for December 11, and treat SAMS as the funded program you are also applying to. Register for Beaver Works so the February courses are not a surprise.
If the math is not there, skip PRIMES-USA. Register for Beaver Works, read SAMS, and start USACO in Bronze. RSI is still worth one careful application when the rest of the file can carry a score below the recommended line. It is a poor use of the winter as the only plan.
If your student is in 9th or 10th grade, leave RSI, SAMS, and MITES for 11th grade. A sophomore outside Greater Boston can apply to PRIMES-USA. A California student should watch COSMOS. Everyone in this group should be in USACO. The guide to building a research portfolio is the longer version of what to build before junior summer. If the interest is engineering more than computing, use the engineering summer programs guide. If tuition is the constraint, use the free summer programs guide. Admit rates for the colleges are in the computer science colleges guide. A summer program is not a back door into those colleges.
To see which research deadlines are still open, the free research program deadlines list covers competitions, summer research programs, and student journals, with who can apply, cost, and deadlines checked against each official site. No sign-in. Before a summer goes on the Common App, the activities and honors checklist is also free: role, contribution, impact, and hours.
Questions families ask
Which computer science summer programs are free?
RSI is cost-free to attend in 2027. The application fee is $75. Carnegie Mellon SAMS charges no tuition and asks families to pay travel to Pittsburgh. MITES covers program costs and asks students to pay transportation. MIT PRIMES-USA is free. Beaver Works is free when family income and assets are under $200,000, and $3,000 when they are over $200,001. Housing at Beaver Works is not included.
Who should skip PRIMES-USA?
A student who cannot solve at least 70 percent of the 2027 problem set. MIT prefers a USAMO or USAJMO qualification, a college proof-based math course, a serious summer math program, or a letter from a college mathematics professor. Beaver Works or USACO is the better use of the year. Students in Greater Boston apply to local MIT PRIMES, not PRIMES-USA.
Can a high school senior apply to RSI?
No. Students apply in 11th grade. The Center for Excellence in Education says sophomores and seniors are not eligible. The RSI 2027 deadline is December 11, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.
Is Wharton’s Data Science Academy worth $10,999?
Only if the student wants the course. The 2027 Philadelphia session is $10,999, plus a $100 application fee, travel, and Saturday meals. Housing and weekday meals are included. Dates are June 13–July 3, for graduation years 2028 and 2029. Wharton says admission to any of its youth programs does not decide admission to Penn.
Does a summer program replace USACO?
No. USACO is free and open. New students start in Bronze and promote through Silver, Gold, and Platinum. A contest shows how a student performs. A summer program shows a lab, a mentor, or a course. Do the contest even if no summer admission comes through.
What should a 9th or 10th grader do?
Do not apply to RSI, SAMS, or MITES. Those programs take 11th graders. A sophomore living in the United States outside Greater Boston can apply to PRIMES-USA if the problem set is in reach. COSMOS takes applications as early as eighth grade. USACO is open now.
Sources
- Apply to RSI, the Research Science Institute, the October 6, 2026 release, and the RSI application FAQ, Center for Excellence in Education. Cost, dates, eligibility, recommended scores, and the acceptance rate.
- Summer Academy for Math and Science, Carnegie Mellon University. Funding, dates, age, and who the program encourages.
- Beaver Works application page, MIT. The 2027 fee line, housing, the online course, and who may attend in July.
- MITES Semester and Summer FAQ, MIT. Costs, eligibility, and the 2026 dates still printed while 2027 is unset.
- PRIMES-USA and how to apply, MIT Mathematics. Deadline, eligibility, and the problem-set bar.
- Wharton Global Youth costs and application information, University of Pennsylvania. The 2027 fee, dates, graduation years, and the statement that youth admission does not decide Penn admission.
- COSMOS legislative report, University of California. The 2025 in-state maximum, the about-16-percent description, the summer 2021 count, campuses, and grade range.
- USACO and the contest details. Free entry, divisions, and the 2025-26 contest structure.
Where to go next
- Computer science colleges, with published admit rates
- Engineering summer programs
- Free summer programs
- AP Computer Science A
- Building a research portfolio
Related topics