Vanderbilt Summer Academy (VSA)
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At Vanderbilt Summer Academy, highly gifted students can soar—learning at a rapid pace in a true community of peers. Students have the opportunity to flex their intellectual muscles, make lifelong friends, and have lots of fun—all while enjoying the many benefits of a secure setting at a top-ranked national university.
Vanderbilt Summer Academy offers engaging and challenging curricula in math, science, and the humanities. The program integrates resources from the university's many research programs directly into the classroom experience.
Depending on the course, students will learn about medicine, nanotechnology, or other cutting-edge fields—often including instruction from college professors and investigators themselves—and will spend time in laboratories and research centers. Young writers can learn from published authors. In the humanities, Vanderbilt Summer Academy participants can study under faculty and scholars engaged in cutting-edge research or critical theory. Our instructors—Vanderbilt professors, lecturers, and graduate students—are selected for their deep knowledge of their subjects as well as their abilities in the classroom.
Classes have approximately 12 students and are taught by highly qualified Instructor-Teaching Assistant teams. Outside the classroom, a carefully selected residential staff supervises students during meals, free time, and social and recreational activities.
Courses are not equivalent to high school courses. Instead, our courses are designed to exceed high school courses in breadth and depth, enabling students to learn and apply important ideas while acquiring skills that will prepare them for higher learning and for a life of the mind.
