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Frequently Asked Questions

Pre-College Summer at Eastern Connecticut State University
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Program, Application, Courses, & Payment

  • Eastern Pre-College Summer will be on pause for summer 2025. Please stay tuned for more information on a 2026 program later this year!

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

  • The program cost is $1,600. This includes housing, all meals, class tuition, and program activities.

    A $300 commitment deposit is due upon program acceptance, with the remaining balance billed upon registration. 

    Payments can be made in installments, but the cost must be paid in full before the specified deadline or participation in the program will be canceled, and the $300 deposit will not be refunded.

    Since we are accepting applications on a case by case basis, you may have received acceptance after the initial deposit and tuition deadlines. Our office will be in contact with you regarding payment. 

  • After applying to the Pre-College Summer program and receiving an acceptance email, you will be prompted to accept your admission into the program. After accepting, you will get your Eastern credentials via email in order to pay the $300 deposit to secure your spot in the program of your choosing. We will then bill tuition directly to your account. 

     

    Instructions on how to activate your Eastern account, make your deposit, and pay your remaining balance are found here. 

  • 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.

    Please note, Eastern Pre-College Summer will be on pause for summer 2025. Stay tuned for more information about the 2026 program later this year.

    Certain programs may have different grade level requirements. Please see the page for your individual program of interest for more detail.

  • 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!

  • 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. 

    Completed programs will be reflected on a Non-Credit Eastern transcript. 

     

  • Most courses are capped at 16 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 eight unique course options in order to be inclusive of everyone's interests.

Residential & Schedule

  • The draft of the weekly schedule can be viewed here.

  • The Pre-College Summer programs aims to create an experience as close to the traditional 'college life' as possible so that participants are able to get exposure to higher education as a whole, including the residential aspect of living on campus!

  • PCS participants will be staying in Constitution Hall in the heart of Eastern's campus. Constitution Hall is located in the center of campus and during the academic year houses students enrolled in the honors program. Each suite includes two double bedrooms, a bathroom, a vanity area with two sinks, and central heat/air conditioning. Each room has a twin, extra-long bed, desk, chair and a closet/dresser unit for each resident.

  • There will be plenty of fun options for students to participate in each night in the quad and around Constitution Hall. Some possibilities include:

    • Video-game tournaments 
    • Board Game Night 
    • Movie Nights 
    • Fun crafts 
    • Minute to win it competitions 
    • S’mores fire and music 
    • Temporary tattoo station 
    • 90’s party night 
    • Pancake socials 
    • Bingo and prizes 
    • Yoga and meditation before bed 

  • Participants should bring their own linens, shower items, and personal items.

    A full packing list can be found here.

  • You will be asked to submit a roommate authorization agreement through one of our steps in your acceptance email. If you have a specific request to room with another participant, please let us know that when you fill out your application. If not, we will pair you with other participants in your area of interest and your roommate preference listed on the agreement, if at all possible.

  • Yes. PCS participants will be given a temporary student ID and room fob during their program and it is their responsibility to keep track of these items. If either their student ID or room fob is lost, then the program participant will be responsible for the replacement costs.

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. Here are some of the options that were offered previously:

    Breakfast: Sample Breakfast Menu

    Lunch: Sample Lunch Menu

    Dinner: Sample Dinner 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.

  • Student's who take prescription medication must submit a copy of their prescription from the appropriate doctor during the application process. The Pre-College Summer staff will work with Eastern's Health Services to coordinate collection and distribution of medication to the participant.

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 Pre-College Counselors are current undergraduate students with thorough experience as Summer Orientation counselors. They will also participate in in-depth training in the following areas:

    • CPR/First Aid 
    • QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) Suicide Prevention Training
    • Mental Health First Aid
    • DCF Mandatory Reporting

  • There will not be a commuter option as all programs will be residential.

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

    PCS Counselors, Hall Directors, Faculty Members, The Office of Global Learning Staff, 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.