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Frequently Asked Questions

Pre-College Summer at Eastern Connecticut State University

Program, Application, Courses, & Payment

  • The application for the summer 2026 program being offered to residents of Windham, Norwich, Groton, and New London is Thursday, June 18 at 12pm. However, applications will open on a first-come, first-served basis on Friday, May 22, 2026 at 10:00am.

    • Explore a topic of interest/potential major with full-time faculty members 
    • Get exposure to a college campus and campus life 
    • Meet and spend social time with other students with similar interests 
    • Contribute to a strong college application 

  • The program is open to residents of East Lyme, Groton, Ledyard, Lyme, Montville, New London, North Stonington, Norwich, Old Lyme, Salem, Stonington, Waterford, and Windham and is offered at no cost to residents of those towns thanks to a generous grant funded by the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut.

  • Pre-College Summer Day Program 2026 Application

    To be eligible, participants must be 14 years of age or older and must be entering Grade 10, 11, or 12 in the fall. Most students who participate in our program are between 15-17 years old.Participants must have at least a 2.0 GPA ("C" average). Home schooled students are eligible for participation.

    Participants must be residents of Windham, Norwich, New London, or Groton.

     

  • No, you do not have to commit to Eastern to attend the program. While we'd love it if you eventually pursued your degree at Eastern, this program is open to all students, not just those planning to attend Eastern in the future!

  • Daily program hours are 9:30am–4:30pm, with dismissal varying by bus route.

    Getting to Campus: Transportation & Bus Schedules

    Personal Transportation

    • 9:15am: Arrive at J. Eugene Smith Library
    • 4:15pm: Pick-up at J. Eugene Smith Library

    Norwich Free Academy

    • 8:30am: Students arrive and load bus in front of the Tirrell Building
      • 8:45am: Bus departs for Eastern
    • 5:05pm: Bus arrives back at NFA

    Fitch High School 

    • 8:00am: Students arrive and load bus
      • 8:15am: Bus departs for Eastern
    • 5:30pm: Bus arrives back at Fitch HS

    Windham Bus Route

    • Bus pick-up and drop-off times will be communicated directly to students.

  • Busing will be provided at no cost. Accepted Windham students will be picked up individually at home address so long as they are in town limits. For students from other approved towns, the following bus schedule is set for the entire week.

     

    Dattco Daily Bus Schedule:

     

    Fitch High School - Groton

    08:00 AM - Vehicle Onsite at Robert E. Fitch Senior High School

    08:15 AM - Depart from Robert E. Fitch Senior High School

    09:15 AM - Arrive at Eastern Connecticut State University

     

    04:15 PM - Vehicle Onsite at Eastern Connecticut State University

    04:30 PM - Depart from Eastern Connecticut State University

    05:30 PM - Arrive at Robert E. Fitch Senior High School

     

    Norwich Free Academy – Norwich

    08:30 AM - Vehicle Onsite at Norwich Free Academy

    08:45 AM - Depart from Norwich Free Academy

    09:20 AM - Arrive at Eastern Connecticut State University

     

    04:15 PM - Vehicle Onsite at Eastern Connecticut State University

    04:30 PM - Depart from Eastern Connecticut State University

    05:05 PM - Arrive at Norwich Free Academy

     

  • This program is meant to be a fun introduction to college learning. A for-credit course would be intensive for several weeks with exams, readings, projects, etc.

    Participants will receive a certificate from the university upon successful completion of the program and should still feel free to list this experience on resumes and college applications. 

     

  • Most courses are capped at 15 participants but may be lower due to equipment needs.

  • Workshops will be finalized closer to the start of programming but will be feature hands-on exercises and learning conducted by Eastern's expert staff. 

    Potential workshops include Career Exploration activities, College application prep, and campus tours. 

  • The Pre-College Summer program was designed to give high school students who are curious about one day getting a college education and consider themselves to be academically driven, the chance to experience the many aspects of higher education before they graduate. We offer unique course options in order to be inclusive of everyone's interests.

Other Questions

  • The draft of the weekly schedule can be viewed on each individual program web page.

Meal Planning

  • Yes. If a PCS participant has food restrictions, they will get the opportunity to tell us about it in the Pre-College Summer application process. Then we will be able to correctly prepare for any special dietary needs and/or food restrictions.

  • While taking a part of the Pre-College Summer Program here at Eastern, there are many options for food that we have to offer. Lunch is provided daily free of cost. Here are some of the options that were offered previously:


    Lunch: Sample Lunch Menu

Health Services

  • Yes. Program participants will be required to submit documentation of Health Insurance coverage (ID cards or cover letter) to participate in the program.

Miscellaneous

  • Eastern Connecticut State University is committed to the goal of achieving equal educational opportunity and full participation for persons with disabilities. Thus, no qualified person shall be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination in any program or activity on this campus.

    Eastern Connecticut State University is committed to achieving the full and fair participation of women, people of color, people with disabilities, and all other protected groups found to be underutilized in the work force or adversely affected by University policies or practices. 

  • We encourage PCS participants who have disabilities to disclose this information to us in the application process so that we are able to appropriately provide any reasonable accommodations and resources needed to complete the program. The Pre-College Summer Program works with Eastern's Office of Accessibility Services in order to continue to stretch our awareness of the Program's accessibility and to correctly work with any PCS participants that may have disabilities.

  • All students will be asked to commute via bus transportation which will be provided by Eastern. Pickup and dropoff locations include Norwich Free Academy, Fitch High School, and New London High School.

  • PCS participants are supervised at all times during their stay at Eastern.

    PCS staff, Faculty Members, and more are all a part of the supervision of PCS participants.

    We will have a ratio of 10:1 students to staff members for this program.

  • No. PCS Participants are not permitted to bring their cars to campus, and at no point during the program are participants permitted to go off of Eastern's campus unsupervised.