10 Python Bootcamps for High School Students
If you are a high school student who is looking to get into Python or programming, a great start is looking at introductory Python courses and bootcamps. With these bootcamps, you will learn the foundations of Python from professionals and industry experts, and you can even engage in other activities to solidify your understanding.
An added bonus of opting for a bootcamp is the guided experience that you will get, which will prove to be useful when you need to clarify concepts. In this blog, we list 10 such Python bootcamps for high school students. Some are self-paced and completely virtual, while others are in-person, so there are options for everyone!
1. Veritas AI
Location: Virtual
Cost:
$2,290 for the 10-week AI Scholars program
$5,400 for the 15-week AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase
$6,900 for both
Need-based financial aid is available for AI Scholars. You can apply here.
Application deadline: On a rolling basis. Winter cohort deadline - December 1, 2024
Program dates: Various according to the cohort
Eligibility: Ambitious high school students located anywhere in the world. AI Fellowship applicants should either have completed the AI Scholars program or exhibit experience with AI concepts or Python.
Application Requirements: Online application form, answers to a few questions about the student's background & coding experience, math courses, and areas of interest.
Veritas AI, founded and run by Harvard graduate students, offers programs tailored for high school students who are passionate about artificial intelligence. Students who are looking to get started with AI, ML, and data science would benefit from the AI Scholars program. Through this 10-session boot camp, students are introduced to the fundamentals of AI & data science and get a chance to work on real-world projects.
Another option for more advanced students is the AI Fellowship with Publication & Showcase. Through this program, students get a chance to work 1:1 with mentors from top universities on a unique, individual project. A bonus of this program is that students have access to the in-house publication team to help them secure publications in high school research journals. The fellowship encourages students to explore interdisciplinary approaches, enabling them to merge AI with various fields such as finance, medicine, sports, environmental science, and more! You can also check out some examples of past projects here.
2. Harvard Summer School - Introduction to Data Science
Location: Harvard Campus, Cambridge, MA
Cost: $75 as an application fee and $5,800 for the program.
Application deadline: Application opens on December 2, 2024
Early Application/Priority Financial Aid: January 8, 2025
Regular Application/ Financial Aid: February 12, 2025
Late Application: April 9, 2025 (this could be preponed depending on course availability, so we recommend applying before)
Program dates: 3 sessions offered in 2025:
Session 1: June 22 - July 3, 2025
Session 2: July 6 - July 18, 2025
Session 3: July 20 - August 1. 2025
Eligibility:
Open to rising juniors and seniors, i.e., you must enter college in 2026 or 2027.
You are at least 16 years old by June 21, 2025, and will not turn 19 before the end of July.
Harvard Summer School offers 2 options for high school students - the Pre-College and Secondary School programs. The Pre-College program is a fully in-person program that offers 2-week, non-credit summer courses. The Secondary School program is either 4 or 7-week credit courses, with the options of on-campus, commuting, or online.
If you are interested in Python, you can opt for the Pre-College course ‘Introduction to Data Science with a Focus on Visualization’ by Professor Robert Roesslet. In the first part of the course, you will learn how to utilize Python to compile clean data sets from the internet, after which you will use this data through visualizations on the Python library Matplotlib. You will also have a guided mini-project where you will create visualizations using real-world data.
The second half of the course focuses more on visualizations and their potential in communications, and you will explore creating more detailed and complex visualizations using JavaScript!
If you are interested in learning more about tech programs at Harvard, you can look at our blog over here.
3. MIT Beaverworks Summer Institure’s Autonomous Cog*Works
Location: Virtual (just for this program)
Cost: Free for the online course; however, if your family income exceeds $150,000, the fee will be $1,750.
Application deadline: You must register for the online course first (processed on a rolling basis). The deadline for the summer program is March 31, 2025.
Program dates: Dates for this course are tentatively between July 11 to August 7, 2025 (based on the previous year’s dates)
Eligibility: Open to high school seniors. Admission to the summer program is contingent on you completing the online course.
MIT’s Beaverworks Summer Institute is a four-week summer camp for seniors that teaches core STEM concepts through hands-on projects and practical applications. For students interested in Python, we recommend the Autonomous Cognitive Assistance (also known as Cog*Works) program, as it explores the foundations of how artificial intelligence builds cognitive assistants.
The preliminary online course will cover the foundations of Python alongside natural language processing, machine learning, and even Git! You will be able to apply your newly found knowledge in the summer program, where you will implement and formulate algorithms in machine cognition. Your learning will culminate in building your own cognitive assistants, and they will even compete with your peers!
4. Stanford Pre-Collegiate Summer Institute - Introduction to Machine Learning
Location: Virtual
Cost: $3,050 (Note. There may be the need to purchase supplementary materials. This cost will not exceed $100)
Application deadline: March 29, 2024 (tentatively, based on previous year’s dates)
Program dates: Dates are tentative and based on 2024’s program dates:
Session 1: June 17, 2025 - June 28, 2025
Session 2: July 8, 2025 - July 19, 2025
Eligibility:
For Machine Learning Course - you must be either a sophomore or junior at the time of application.
Stanford’s Pre-Collegiate Summer Institute is a virtual summer school where you will participate in one non-credit course over the duration of two weeks. For Python enthusiasts, the Introduction to Machine Learning course will give you the opportunity to learn how to use Python to visualize data, train machine learning models, and evaluate the efficacy of algorithms.
Apart from course instruction, you will also participate in hands-on activities, group work, and even select a model to evaluate for a presentation! If you are interested in learning the real-world applications of machine learning, we recommend opting for this program.
5. Columbia University Pre-College Program - Introduction to Programming with Python
Location: Both virtual and in-person options are available. In-person programs will be held at the Columbia Campus, NY.
Cost: Prices range from $2,700 for the 1-week online program to $12,154 for the 3-week residential summer. You can find specific program costs here.
Application deadline: The 2025 deadlines are TBA; however, expect it to be from January to April (depending on the session you apply for).
Program dates: Multiple sessions are offered from May to August. You can look here for the specific program dates.
Eligibility: Open to high school students.
The Introduction to Programming with Python program at Columbia is an introductory course in coding with Python. In the program, you will learn foundational concepts such as data representations, data structures, functions, and scripts, and even learn the best programming practices.
Apart from course instruction, you will have the opportunity to engage in group work and even participate in individual programming challenges! An added bonus of this program is that there are summer and fall options, with both virtual and in-person formats, so you can opt for a course that suits you.
6. Carnegie Mellon - CS Scholars
Location: Carnegie Mellon Campus, Pittsburgh, PA
Cost: No cost
Application deadline: March 1, 2025
Program dates: June 21, 2025 - July 19, 2025
Eligibility:
Open to sophomores (at the time of submitting your application)
You must turn 16 before June 21, 2025.
Be a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident. If you are registered with the DACA, you are eligible.
CS Scholars is a 4-week residential program at Carnegie Mellon where you will participate in university-level courses, along with college prep and seminars that cover key elements of applying to college, such as the admission process, financial aid, and more.
The course itself deals with foundational concepts in Python, where you will delve into topics such as variables, conditionals, loops, data structures, and problem-solving techniques such as debugging or top-down design. The program will culminate with you working on a group project that you will present to the class and instructor at the end of the program.
Location: Virtual
Cost: No cost
Application deadline: Rolling admissions
Program dates: Self-paced (must commit to 8 hours per week)
Eligibility: Open to anyone.
The Intro to Python course is an 8-hour beginner-level program designed to introduce learners to the fundamentals of Python 3. Throughout the course, you will start with exploring fundamental Python concepts, including variables, data types, and basic operations.
You will then progress to control structures and loops, where you will learn how to utilize conditional statements and more. Lastly, the program covers functions and modules to ensure cleaner and reusable code. An added benefit of this program is its emphasis on real-world applications where you’ll have practical exercises such as using APIs and web scraping!
8. DataCamp - Introduction to Python
Location: Virtual
Cost: $13/month for an individual subscription to DataCamp
Application deadline: Rolling admissions
Program dates: Self-paced (must commit to 8 hours per week)
Eligibility: Open to anyone.
DataCamp’s Introduction to Python course is a deep dive into Python for individuals with little to no experience with coding. The first part of the course will cover key foundational concepts and their applications, such as variables, types, and building lists. In this phase, you will also participate in basic exercises such as using Python as a calculator!
The course then progresses into exploring functions, methods, and packages to make use of Python’s existing library, which you can use to solve your problems. One package that you will cover in depth is NumPy, where the course will delve into the key tools and techniques to use them.
9. Udemy - Python for Absolute Beginners
Location: Virtual
Cost: $16.99 for the individual course (Note. This is a discounted price; the original price is $199.99).
Application deadline: Rolling admissions
Program dates: Self-paced (must commit to 8 hours per week)
Eligibility: Open to anyone.
The Python for Absolute Beginners course on Udemy is a self-paced course that covers the key aspects of Python, including conditionals, functions and modules, object-oriented programming, debugging tools, and utilizing packages and virtual environments (among others).
The 10 sections in this course cover a vast range of topics within Python, and you will additionally get access to articles and even coding exercises that will allow you to apply your concepts to practical problems. At the end of the course, you will receive a certificate of completion that you can add to your resume to signal your dedication to exploring Python as a subject.
10. Coursera: Python for Everybody Specialization
Location: Virtual
Cost: No cost (with no certificate)
Application deadline: Rolling admissions
Program dates: Self-paced (ideal pace is 10 hours per week for 2 months)
Eligibility: Open to anyone.
The Python for Everybody course, led by Charles Russell Severance from the University of Michigan, is the first part in a 5-course series that delves into the key concepts within Python. As an introductory course, you will cover concepts such as using variables, functions, data structures, and extraction (among others).
The program also contains real-world exercises where you’ll work with XML data, use the Google Maps API to visualize data, and even work on a final capstone project that will allow you to apply all the knowledge you’ve learned to a tangible project!
Do note that with the free option, you will only be able to read and view the course content. If affording the course poses a difficulty, there are financial aid options available.
If you’re looking to build a project/research paper in the field of AI & ML, consider applying to Veritas AI!
Veritas AI is founded by Harvard graduate students. Through the programs, you get a chance to work 1:1 with mentors from universities like Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and more to create unique, personalized projects. In the past year, we had over 1000 students learn AI & ML with us. You can apply here!
Tyler Moulton is Head of Academics and Veritas AI Partnerships with 6 years of experience in education consulting, teaching, and astronomy research at Harvard and the University of Cambridge, where they developed a passion for machine learning and artificial intelligence. Tyler is passionate about connecting high-achieving students to advanced AI techniques and helping them build independent, real-world projects in the field of AI!
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