Get a head start on university computer science concepts
Advance your skills in programming and data analysis
The Computer Science Introductory Track provides a unique combination of coding boot camp, and lab touring experiences, as well as UCLA coursework designed for high school students interested in computer science and related majors. Students will learn how to use computers as tools for problem-solving, creativity, and exploration through the design and implementation of computer programs. Key topics are data types including integers, strings, and lists; control structures, including conditionals and loops; and functional decomposition.
No prior computer science knowledge is required to participate.
Computer Science Summer Institute – Introductory Track
Applications are reviewed and admission to the program is granted on a rolling basis starting February 15th. Applying at your earliest convenience, prior to June 13th, is highly recommended.
The program has application requirements for admission. Eligible applicants who successfully submit all requirements will be reviewed and notified via email of an admission decision within 3 weeks.
Applicants are required to provide the following during the online registration process:
- An unofficial transcript from grade 9 to present reflecting a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher
- If your school transcript utilizes a different grading system, please submit your transcript as is. If available, please attach a translation/equivalency guide.
- INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: If you are an international student, a transcript refers to your complete secondary academic record. To learn more about converting your grades into a US-based GPA, please click here.
- If your school has a translation/equivalency guide, please also include it with your transcript. If you do not have a translation/equivalency guide, please still submit your most up-to-date transcript as is for staff to review.
- Value statement: At the time of registration, ALL applicants will be prompted to submit a few short sentences reflecting on their pursuit of participation in a UCLA Precollege Summer Institute. Please note that students are strongly discouraged from relying on ChatGpt/AI tools for their application responses and are encouraged to submit original and authentic answers.
- Short essays answering each of the following prompts:
- Do you have any experience related to computer science?
- What has motivated you to apply to the CSSI Introductory Track?
- What do you expect to learn from the CSSI Introductory Track?
- This is a college-level course and thus very intense and challenging. Our instructor and learning assistants will help you through the whole process. Do you consent to (1) actively participate in classes, discussion sessions, and seminars, (2) communicate timely with our instructor and learning assistants for any questions and difficulties, and (3) befriend and learn from your peers.
The Computer Science Summer Institute – Introductory Track is a commuter program, there is NO on-campus housing available for the commuter program through the institute program or UCLA Summer Sessions. Additionally, please note that only students aged 17 and older as of June 23rd, 2025 are eligible to sign a housing contract, and not all program dates correspond to when contracts are available. Students interested in exploring this option should review information at UCLA Summer Housing.
Participants of the Computer Science Summer Institute – Introductory Track must commute to the UCLA campus each day of the program. Specific location information (e.g. classroom) will be provided to enrolled students closer to the start of the program.
Parking
Summer Sessions parking permits will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Students have the option to purchase a summer term permit or a daily permit.
Please review the Transportation and Parking Services web page and read the “Summer Quarter Parking (All Students)” section for more information on all permit types, including cost.
Coursework
Computer Science 30; 4 units
Grading Basis
Students will receive a letter grade upon completion. See University Credit, Grades and Transcripts for more information about academic credit.
In order to successfully complete the program, students must not have more than 2 excused or unexcused absence.
UCLA Summer Sessions Summer Scholars Support
Qualified students attending grades 9th – 11th in Spring 2025 in the state of California may be eligible for Summer Scholars Support, a need- and merit-based scholarship offered by the UCLA Summer Sessions Office. Students must be 15 years old by the first day of Summer Sessions 2025 on June 23rd in order to participate in a Precollege Summer Institute and/or apply for Summer Scholars Support. A limited number of full and partial scholarships are available to support enrollment in SCIP/eSCIP, one Summer Course, or a Precollege Summer Institute.
Summer 2025 deadline to apply: March 15.
Computer Science Summer Institute (CSSI) Diversity Scholarship
The Computer Science Summer Institute Diversity Scholarship is designed for students who have shown excellent academic performance and significant contributions to promote diversity and inclusion (female, minority, LQBTQ+, disabled, socioeconomic disadvantaged).
To apply, please provide both a letter of recommendation from a teacher or counselor from your high school and a response to each of the three prompts below:
1) Describe specific experiences or circumstances in your life that give you a particular appreciation for issues of diversity and inclusion.
2) Describe what you have done to make your school or your community a better place.
3) Describe why receiving the diversity scholarship is important to you. (We will prioritize students with financial needs.)
Please email your essay responses to UCLA_CSSI@googlegroups.com with the subject line “UCLA CSSI Diversity Scholarship: Applicant Full Name”. You may ask your teacher or counselor to email their letter of recommendation to the same email address with the subject line “Letter for UCLA CSSI Diversity Scholarship: Applicant Full Name”.
Summer 2025 application will open on March 15 and the deadline to apply is May 1st. Students will be notified on May 15th.
Program Dates: June 23, 2025 – July 11, 2025
Program Type: Commuter
Program Eligibility: 9th-12th grade in Spring 2025*
Application deadline: June 13, 2025
Enrollment deadline: June 20, 2025
*All participants must be at least 15 years of age by the first day of Summer Sessions 2025 on June 23rd, no exceptions allowed.
The schedule and syllabus are subject to change. Enrolled students will be given updated materials closer to the program start date.
Fees and Payment Info
The program fee includes the unit fees for the UCLA coursework offered as part of the program and thus varies by UC student status. In addition to the program fee, students are assessed other campus and administrative fees during the summer. This is a summary of fees that commonly apply to the selected student type.
Actual tuition and fees are subject to change by the University of California. Visit the fees, payment, and financial aid section for important disclaimer, as well as more details on fees, payment instructions, and information on delinquency, refunds, and financial aid.
Meet your instructors
Yizhou Sun
Associate ProfessorYizhou Sun is an associate professor at department of computer science of UCLA . She received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2012. Her principal research interest is on mining graphs/networks, and more generally in data mining, machine learning, and network science, with a focus on modeling novel problems and proposing scalable algorithms for large-scale, real-world applications. She is a pioneer researcher in mining heterogeneous information network, with a recent focus on deep learning on graphs/networks.
Yizhou has over 180 publications in books, journals, and major conferences. Tutorials of her research have been given in many premier conferences. She received ACM SIGKDD Best Student Paper Award, ACM SIGKDD Doctoral Dissertation Award, ACM BCB Best Student Paper Award, Yahoo ACE (Academic Career Enhancement) Award, NSF CAREER Award, CS@ILLINOIS Distinguished Educator Award, Amazon Research Awards (twice), Okawa Foundation Research Grant, and VLDB Test of Time Award.
Advisory Board
Todd Millstein
Professor and Department ChairTodd Millstein joined the UCLA faculty in November 2003 and is an Amazon Scholar. During his time at UCLA, Todd has also been a Co-Founder and Chief Scientist of Intentionet (team now at AWS), a Visiting Fellow at Princeton, a Visiting Researcher at Microsoft Research, and an Academic Visitor at Oxford. He received my Ph.D. from the University of Washington Department of Computer Science, where he was a member of the Cecil group led by Craig Chambers. Before that, Todd was an undergraduate at Brown University, where he was advised by Paris Kanellakis and Pascal Van Hentenryck. Todd grew up in suburban Maryland, outside of Washington D.C.
Todd’s honors and awards include an NSF CAREER Award, a Most Influential PLDI Paper Award, an IEEE Micro Top Picks selection, the Northrop Grumman Excellence in Teaching Award from UCLA Engineering, best-paper awards from PLDI, OOPSLA, and SIGCOMM, a Microsoft Research Outstanding Collaborator Award, an Okawa Foundation Research Grant, an IBM Faculty Award, and a Facebook Research Award.
Eli Gafni
ProfessorDr. Gafni was born in Tel-Aviv, Israel. He received his Bs.C from the Technion, Israel in 1972, and M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1979 and 1982, from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and M.I.T, respectively. In 1982 he joined the UCLA computer science faculty. Dr. Gafni was the recipient of a 1983 IBM Faculty Development Award, and a 1984 NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award. His research interests include distributed algorithms, mathematical programming with application to distributed routing and control of data networks, and computer science theory.
Richard Korf
ProfessorRichard Korf is a Professor of computer science at UCLA. He received his B.S. from M.I.T. in 1977, and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1980 and 1983, respectively, all in computer science. From 1983 to 1985, he served as Herbert M. Singer Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University. His research is in the areas of problem-solving, heuristic search, and planning in artificial intelligence. He is the author of “Learning to Solve Problems by Searching for Macro-Operators” (Pitman, 1985).
He serves on the editorial boards of Artificial Intelligence, and the Journal of Applied Intelligence. Dr. Korf is the recipient of a 1985 IBM Faculty Development Award, a 1986 NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award, the first UCLA Computer Science Department Distinguished Teaching Award in 1989, the first UCLA School of Engineering Student’s Choice Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1996, and the Lockheed Martin Excellence in Teaching Award in 2005. He is a Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence.
Computer Science Summer Institute – Introductory Track FAQ
Yes! No prior computer science knowledge is required to participate.
For students with basic programming skills (python), prospective applicants are welcome to consider the Intermediate Track.
Students are required to supply their own laptop and are recommended to bring a laptop charger.
Still have questions? Check out the general Summer Institutes FAQ.
