Best Extracurriculars for High School Juniors
Junior year is critical for demonstrating leadership, achieving recognition, and preparing for college applications.
What Juniors Should Focus On
- Apply to prestigious summer research programs (RSI, MOSTEC, SSP)
- Pursue leadership roles and create impact
- Compete at regional and national levels
- Start independent projects
- Build a compelling application narrative
Programs open to juniors right now
1548 matching programs are listed in the directory right now. The most recently added:
- Khan Academy High School Volunteer Translation Program — Khan Academy: Translate educational content to make free learning accessible worldwide.
- Free Rice High School Volunteer Program for Hunger Relief (World Fo — World Food Programme: Answer trivia questions to donate rice through the World Food Programme.
- Missing Maps — Missing Maps / Red Cross: Map vulnerable areas to help humanitarian organizations respond to crises.
- DoSomething.org High School Leadership and Community Service Program — DoSomething.org: Lead youth-driven social impact campaigns on issues you care about.
- 7 Cups High School Emotional Support Volunteer Program — 7 Cups: Provide free emotional support through anonymous online chat conversations.
- Be My Eyes Video Volunteer — Be My Eyes: Help blind and low-vision people with everyday tasks through video calls.
- Presidential AI Challenge — White House Office of Science and Technology Policy: National K-12 AI competition where students build real-world AI solutions for community challenges, with finals at the White House.
- Stanford Medical Youth Science Program (SMYSP) — Stanford University: Explore medicine, public health, and research in this free, equity-focused summer program for high school juniors. Build skills and strengthen college
- National Japan Bowl — Japan-America Society of Washington DC: Compete in the National Japan Bowl to showcase your Japanese language and cultural knowledge. Build key skills, earn scholarships, and enhance your co
- PennApps Hackathon — University of Pennsylvania: Compete in the nation’s largest student-run hackathon for high schoolers. Build coding skills, innovate in tech, and boost your college applications.
- Kaggle Data Science Competitions — Kaggle/Google: Join exciting online data science competitions for high school students! Build Python coding skills, explore AI, and strengthen your college applicati
- 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
- 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
- EAA Ray Aviation Scholarship — Experimental Aircraft Association: Earn up to $12,000 for flight training toward a Private Pilot Certificate. Perfect for high school students seeking hands-on STEM experience and colle
- MIT Global AI Hackathon — MIT RAISE & App Inventor Foundation: Join a free virtual AI hackathon for high schoolers to develop apps tackling global challenges. Gain hands-on STEM experience and boost your college a
- Microsoft AI for Good Challenge — Microsoft: Empower global impact by joining this free AI competition for high schoolers. Develop machine learning skills, boost college applications, and tackle
- NASA International Space Apps Challenge — NASA: Solve real-world space and climate challenges in NASA’s global hackathon. This free competition lets high schoolers build coding, data science, and te
- International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI) — IOAI Foundation: Compete in the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence to enhance AI and machine learning skills, boost college applications, and gain hands
- Quantum Computing Summer School Programs — Various Universities & Google: Discover advanced quantum computing in hybrid summer programs for grades 11-12. Gain hands-on STEM experience, boost college applications, and explore
- Aviation Career Education (ACE) Academy — Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association: Explore the free ACE Academy summer program for high schoolers in grades 9-12. Gain hands-on aviation experience, build skills, and boost your college
- World Artificial Intelligence Competition for Youth (WAICY) — Ready AI: Join a global AI competition for grades 6-12 to solve real-world problems using artificial intelligence. Build STEM skills, boost college applications
- Scripps Research High School Internship Program — Scripps Research: Gain hands-on biomedical research experience in this free high school internship for grades 11-12. Build STEM skills and boost college applications th
- Northwestern University Medill-Northwestern Journalism Institute — Northwestern University: Elevate your writing skills in this prestigious summer journalism program for high schoolers. Gain hands-on media experience and boost your college ap
- National Youth Orchestra of the USA (NYO-USA) — Carnegie Hall: Join a prestigious summer orchestra program for high school musicians in grades 10-12. Develop advanced music skills, perform at Carnegie Hall, and bo