Extracurricular Deadlines in February — Programs to Apply to

February is the single busiest deadline month for competitive summer programs, research placements, and merit scholarships.

Most programs listed here run on annual cycles, so the February deadline pattern repeats every year — check each listing for the exact current date.

205 verified programs match this page; 22 of the featured listings are completely free; 7 can be done online.

Featured programs

Browse 30+ curated programs for high school students:

• Beaver Works Summer Institute — MIT: Elite summer program for high schoolers in Grades 10-11 focused on STEM fields like drones and cybersecurity. Gain hands-on experience and boost colle
• Stanford AI4ALL — Stanford University: Discover a free summer program empowering high school juniors with hands-on AI experience, skill-building for college applications, and diversity-focu
• Harvard Summer School Secondary School Program — Harvard: Transform your summer with a 7-week program at Harvard. Earn college credit, deepen academic skills, and boost your college applications through hands
• Clark Scholars Program — Texas Tech: Elite summer research program for high school juniors and seniors. Gain hands-on STEM experience, earn a $750 stipend, and boost your college applicat
• Davidson Fellows — Davidson Institute: Win $50k, $25k, or $10k scholarships in this elite STEM competition for high-achieving high school students. Boost college applications with hands-on
• Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneur Competition — Blue Ocean Global Network: Join the world’s largest virtual pitch competition for high school students. Build entrepreneurship skills, boost your college applications, and showc
• PROMYS at Boston University — Boston University: Explore number theory in a 6-week immersive summer program for high schoolers. Build research skills, enhance college applications, and dive into hand
• Caltech Signature Award for Innovation — California Institute of Technology: Earn recognition for your groundbreaking ideas in science with this free high school research award. Boost your college applications and showcase your
• Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) — IMSA: Transform your high school journey with a free, residential STEM program in Illinois. Gain hands-on experience, boost college applications, and develo
• St. Gallen Symposium Wings of Excellence Essay Competition — St. Gallen Symposium Foundation: Top 100 essayists invited to prestigious annual symposium with global leaders. Fully funded trip to Switzerland. One of most selective student opportu
• Barry Goldwater Excellence in Education — Goldwater Foundation: Recognition program leading to Goldwater Scholarship eligibility in college.
• Beta Alpha Psi High School Competition — Beta Alpha Psi: Financial literacy and accounting case competition. Regional and national levels.
• Stulberg International String Competition — Stulberg Competition: International string competition for young artists. Significant prizes.
• Economics Olympiad Regional Competitions — Various Universities: Regional rounds of the International Economics Olympiad. Top performers advance to national team selection for global competition.
• Stanford Compression Forum Summer Internship — Stanford University: Data compression research internship at Stanford. Work with researchers on multimedia compression.
• St. Gallen Symposium Wings of Excellence — University of St. Gallen: Top 100 essayists meet global business and political leaders in Switzerland. One of the most selective business/leadership opportunities globally.
• National Spanish Examinations Gold Award — American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese: National Spanish proficiency exam with tiered awards. Gold medal recipients demonstrate exceptional Spanish language mastery.
• Whitehead Institute High School Research Program — Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research: Biomedical research program at MIT-affiliated Whitehead Institute. Hands-on experience in cutting-edge life sciences research.
• Mayo Clinic Summer Research Fellowship — Mayo Clinic: Clinical and biomedical research at world-renowned medical center.
• Yale Science & Engineering Association Award — YSEA: Special award at ISEF and regional fairs for outstanding research.
• MITES Summer — MIT Office of Engineering Outreach Programs: Six-week, residential MIT program for underrepresented rising seniors in STEM.
• Fred Hutch Summer High School Internship Program (SHIP) — Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center: Paid laboratory internships in cancer and biomedical research.
• Haas School of Business Summer Entrepreneurship Program — UC Berkeley Haas: Entrepreneurship program at Berkeley Haas. Develop startup ideas with Silicon Valley-style mentorship.
• Congressional Award Gold Medal — The Congressional Award Foundation: US Congress's highest award for youth. Requires 400+ hours across volunteer service, personal development, physical fitness, and expedition.
• Fred Hutch Cancer Center Summer Research Program — Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center: Cancer and immunology research at leading research center.
• Belgian Science Fair for Students — Jeunesses Scientifiques de Belgique (JSB): A national fair where Belgian secondary students present original science projects and compete for prizes and recognition.
• International Mathematical Modeling Challenge — International Mathematical Modeling Challenge Consortium: A global team-based contest where high school students solve real-world problems using mathematical modeling.
• FAA High School Competition — University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts: Engage in a dynamic arts competition for high schoolers in grades 9-11. Explore architecture, music, and design while boosting college applications. F
• KidWind Challenge — Kid Wind Project: Design and test renewable energy solutions in this hands-on STEM competition for high schoolers. Build engineering skills and boost your college appli
• Silicon Valley Math Tournament — Silicon Valley Math Initiative: Compete in the Silicon Valley Math Tournament to sharpen problem-solving skills, boost your college applications, and connect with like-minded high sc

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