Applications Open! Enroll for Summer 2027 at 2026 Tuition Pricing Until Sept 30
Test a venture idea and pitch a prototype in this two-week Dartmouth academy for high school students.
Students in Summer Discovery’s 2026 Dartmouth program rated their overall experience 4.3 out of 5.
Course Description
Students begin as problem finders. A campus Problem Safari and customer interviews help venture teams observe needs, identify meaningful opportunities, and frame a challenge before jumping to a business idea.
Innovation sprints move teams through design thinking, customer discovery, rapid prototyping, testing, and venture modeling. Students gather evidence from potential users, revise assumptions, and consider customers, value creation, delivery, costs, sustainability, ethics, equity, accessibility, and intended impact.
The course culminates in a Venture Showcase. Teams present a polished pitch and tested prototype, then assemble a Venture Kit containing their research, prototype, testing evidence, venture model, impact strategy, and presentation.
Each venture decision must connect back to evidence from people affected by the problem. Teams use that evidence to narrow the opportunity, strengthen the prototype, and explain how their model could create value while remaining responsible, realistic, and open to future iteration.
This two-week full-day academy is part of Dartmouth Precollege Summer Scholars. Students spend the full program focused on one intensive academy. The academy is available to residential and commuter students. Beyond class, students connect focused academic work with campus life, growing independence, and clearer direction about what students may want to study or pursue next. The program is developed and academically led by Dartmouth.
What Will You Do?
• Explore campus during a Problem Safari to identify meaningful needs
• Interview potential users and conduct customer discovery
• Frame a problem through observation and empathy
• Build and test rapid prototypes
• Develop a foundational venture model
• Consider ethics, equity, accessibility, sustainability, and impact
• Pitch a tested prototype at the Venture Showcase
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Identify and frame a real problem through observation and customer discovery
• Build, test, and refine a prototype and foundational venture model
• Present a persuasive venture pitch grounded in evidence and responsible impact
Students leave with a Venture Kit, tested prototype, and showcase pitch, plus stronger entrepreneurial judgment and clearer direction about business, design, engineering, or social innovation.
Why Entrepreneurship Skills Matter
Entrepreneurship asks students to notice a real need before proposing a solution. Observation, interviews, and customer discovery help teams replace assumptions with evidence. Prototyping then allows them to test whether an idea creates value for the people it is meant to serve.
Venture modeling and impact questions add strategic and ethical judgment. Students consider costs, delivery, sustainability, equity, and accessibility alongside the pitch. These habits matter in business, engineering, design, technology, community leadership, and social innovation wherever people turn ideas into responsible action.
Who Should Attend?
This academy is for high school students who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade and are interested in entrepreneurship, business, engineering, design, technology, sustainability, or social impact. It suits students who enjoy spotting problems, talking with people, making prototypes, and turning feedback into action.
Participants should be ready to work in a venture team, conduct interviews, test assumptions, revise a prototype, and pitch a solution. Initiative, curiosity, and a willingness to learn when an early idea is wrong are especially valuable.
Recommended by 9 out of 10 Students
Based on students surveyed in the Dartmouth Precollege Summer Scholars program (2026)
Why Dartmouth?
Dartmouth Precollege Summer Scholars gives high school students a concentrated introduction to college-level learning in Hanover, New Hampshire. The program is developed and academically led by Dartmouth. Students explore current ideas through discussion, projects, and sustained work that helps them test an academic interest in depth.
Residential students live in Dartmouth residence halls, eat at 53 Commons, and can join workshops and counselor-supported evening and weekend activities. Time in Hanover and the Upper Valley adds a distinctive New England setting, while the broader experience helps students build independence and clarify what they may want to study next.
Entrepreneurship in Action
Entrepreneurs and innovation teams identify opportunities, research users, build prototypes, test assumptions, and develop models for delivering value. Social innovators also measure whether a solution creates the intended benefit without introducing avoidable harm.
Students practice that process through a Problem Safari, interviews, innovation sprints, rapid prototypes, and a Venture Showcase. Their Venture Kit records the research, testing, model, impact strategy, and pitch, providing a tangible foundation for future projects, competitions, or continued study.
Summer Discovery Certificate of Completion
After successfully finishing this course, you will be awarded a certification completion for your accomplishment.
*This is a preview, not what you will receive