10 Winter Camps for High School Students

Oct 23

If you are a high school student looking for a productive way to spend your winter break, a camp can be a great option to explore. Camps are opportunities to explore new interests and connect with peers. Unlike semester-long programs, camps are shorter, more affordable experiences offering opportunities to build practical skills and learn from experts. With options spanning various disciplines, camps typically offer projects, collaborative challenges, and opportunities to practice leadership or creative problem-solving.

Winter camps can help you spend your break exploring fields like STEM, arts, leadership, or writing. You can choose from a range of in-person and virtual camps. To help you get started, we have come up with a list of 10 winter camps for high school students.

1. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory DNA Learning Center Camps

Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open to all
Location: Online
Cost: $420/camp
Dates: Camps are available on demand all year round
Application deadline: None
Eligibility: Middle and high school students; specific grade level requirements vary by camp

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s DNA Learning Center offers year-round, on-demand virtual camps to middle and high school students. Each camp covers topics in genetics and biology. With each on-demand camp, you get access to pre-recorded video sessions and a lab kit (mailed to you) containing lab materials and workbooks. Depending on the camp you choose, you will engage in activities such as using bioinformatics tools to analyze DNA sequences and identify species, isolating your own DNA to explore genetic polymorphisms, or performing a mock blood spatter analysis. These camps can offer you insight into biotechnology, cell biology, genetics, and molecular biology. You will also participate in video calls with instructors to discuss your assignments and class topics.

2. New York Film Academy’s 2-Day Holiday Filmmaking Camp for Teens

Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment; small group sizes
Location: Virtual or in person at NYFA campuses in New York, NY, or Los Angeles, CA
Cost: $325 (virtual camp) | $450 (in-person camp)
Dates: December 29 – 30
Application deadline: Rolling enrollment
Eligibility: High school students, ages 14 – 17

This short camp introduces you to the fundamentals of filmmaking over an intensive two-day holiday session. You will learn about camera operation, storyboarding, and basic editing through hands-on exercises. You will work in a team to produce short films within the camp’s limited timeframe. At the end of the camp, you will submit and present a completed short film project created in collaboration with your peers. The program is designed to be an accessible first step into media and film production.

3. New York Film Academy’s 2-Day Holiday Acting for Film Camp for Teens

This NYFA camp offers an introduction to acting for the screen in a short virtual or on-campus format. You will participate in acting exercises, scene work, and camera performance training. The curriculum is designed to offer you on-set experience as you work on getting comfortable in front of the camera. By the end of the camp, you will perform and record scenes that you can add to your portfolio. The experience can help you practice acting in a professional environment.

4. Rosetta Institute’s Winter Biomedical Camps

Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective; small cohort sizes
Location: Rosetta Institute of Biomedical Research, Alameda, CA
Cost: $1,890
Dates: December 26 – 31
Application deadline: Rolling enrollment
Eligibility: Students, ages 11 – 18

Rosetta Institute offers winter workshop-based camps in biomedical science, including tracks in cancer biology and medical chemistry. The program combines live lectures with small-group discussions and lab-style simulations. Classes are led by Ph.D.-level instructors. During the program, you will also work on assignments that mimic real biomedical research. The camp culminates in a group presentation where you will share your findings with peers and instructors.

5. Robolabs Winter Robotics & Engineering Camps

Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment
Location: Robolab sites across California
Cost: $395 for half-day camps | $695 for full-day camps
Dates: December 22 – 26 | December 29 – January 2 | January 5 – 9
Application deadline: Rolling until full
Eligibility: Students in grades 1 – 12

Robolabs’ winter break camps let you dive into robotics and engineering through hands-on builds, programming exercises, and electronics projects. You will work on designing and controlling robots, experiment with sensors and circuits, and tackle engineering challenges in small, mentored groups. You will learn how to use platforms like VEX IQ, FLL, and VRC and explore concepts like mechanical design, programming, gear ratios, friction, and simple machines in the process. Each session ends with a showcase where you will get to present what you have built, helping you build presentation skills.

6. Create & Learn Winter Coding Camps

Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment; limited spots per track
Location: Virtual
Cost/Stipend: Varies by camp
Dates: Varies by camp
Application deadline: Varies by camp
Eligibility: High school students

Create & Learn offers winter coding camps with options covering beginner to advanced concepts in Python, web development, and artificial intelligence. The camps offer access to live classes with real-time feedback from instructors. Projects are built into the curriculum, so you will find opportunities to build something and refine technical skills. For instance, in camp tracks covering website design, you will work on coming up with three websites to practice what you learn at camp. Some tracks include collaborative coding sessions where you get to solve challenges as part of a team.

7. Shooting Stars Foundation Bioinformatics Winter Camp

Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment; 37 participants in the past
Location: Online
Cost: $299 (if applying before December 15) | $349 after December 15; financial aid available
Dates: December 30 – January 3 (no session on January 1)
Application deadline: Rolling enrollment
Eligibility: High school students

Shooting Stars Foundation offers a virtual camp experience for students interested in the combination of research and programming. The camp covers the basics of drug development and programming while allowing you to work on a data science project and present it at the end of camp. You will learn from and connect with professionals in the biotechnology industry at camp. As a participant, you will also have access to guidance on building a college portfolio.

8. Random Math Winter Math Camps

Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective; placement test qualification required
Location: Virtual and in-person at Random Math, Cupertino, CA
Cost: TBA; typically, up to $1,200
Dates: December 23 – January 4
Application deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: High school students with a competitive math background

Random Math offers specialized winter camps for students preparing for math competitions such as AMC, AIME, and USAMO. The camp covers advanced problem-solving strategies and timed practice. Sessions typically include lectures, guided problem sets, and solution discussions. Instruction is led by experienced coaches with backgrounds in math Olympiads. You can choose between one and two weeks of instruction, based on your preferences.

9. Writopia Lab’s Winter Retreat for Teen Writers

Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment; limited retreat capacity
Location: Camp Mariah in Fishkill, NY
Cost/: $985; limited financial aid available
Dates: February 14 – 17
Application deadline: Typically, the application window remains open in the fall
Eligibility: Students, ages 12 – 18

This creative writing retreat is a winter camp that offers you the space to work on your storytelling skills during your school break. You will attend workshops that cover fiction, poetry, and playwriting, and find time to engage in independent writing and seek peer feedback. The program offers three tracks—creative writing, filmmaking, and role-playing games—to cater to different goals. The camp will end with a final showcase, where all participants share their work with each other. You will finish camp with polished drafts and feedback from professional writing instructors.

10. MSA Circus Arts Camp

Acceptance rate/cohort size: Open enrollment
Location: MSA, Chicago, IL
Cost: $360
Dates: December 22 – 26 | December 29 – January 2
Application deadline: Rolling; closes when filled
Eligibility: Anyone who is 6 – 15 years old

MSA’s Circus Arts camps, designed by professional circus artists and trainers, can help you build skills in acrobatics, dance, theater, and gymnastics. You will find opportunities to practice aerial silks and lyra, flexibility and contortion, juggling, trampoline, and handstands. The sessions typically consist of games, activities, and classes. Each camp ends with a performance open to the public, where you and your peers will engage in a 30-minute choreographed show to showcase what you learned.

One other option for you—Ladder Internships

If you are looking for an immersive internship experience, check out Ladder Internships—a selective, virtual internship program where students work with startups and nonprofits from around the world! The startups span a variety of industries. As part of the internship, you will work on a real project that addresses a genuine need of the startup they are working with, and present your work at the end of your internship. In addition to working closely with a manager from the startup, you will also work with a Ladder Coach throughout your internship. Apply now!

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Dhruva Bhat

Dhruva Bhat is one of the co-founders of Ladder, and a Harvard College graduate. Dhruva founded Ladder Internships as a DPhil candidate and Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, with a vision to bridge the gap between ambitious students and real-world startup experiences.