Applications Open! Enroll for Summer 2027 at 2026 Tuition Pricing Until Sept 30
Turn audience insight into advertising concepts in this 2-week program for high school students on Georgetown University’s campus.
Rated 4.6 out of 5 for classroom experience by students who took this course in 2026.
Course Description
Why does one advertisement connect while another gets ignored? Students explore advertising, marketing communications, and public relations across print, magazines, radio, television, social media, direct mail, and out-of-home media. They examine what a brand represents and how channel, message, and audience work together.
Each class pairs concepts with a creative challenge. Teams respond to a brief by developing an advertisement in the medium under study, then explain how their idea fits the audience and objective. Discussions of challenger brands, celebrity endorsements, campaigns, and public relations show how communication choices can build attention, shape perception, or create risk.
Quizzes reinforce vocabulary and strategy from previous sessions, while repeated team work builds speed and confidence. By comparing formats and creating across channels, students learn that an effective campaign requires more than a clever line. It needs a clear purpose, a specific audience, and execution suited to the way people encounter the message.
This two-week course takes place at Georgetown University. The course 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 by Georgetown University and offered in partnership with Summer Discovery.
What Will You Do?
• Define advertising, marketing communications, public relations, and brand strategy
• Interpret a creative brief for a specific audience and objective
• Develop print and magazine advertising concepts in teams
• Adapt messages for direct mail and out-of-home formats
• Create ideas for radio, television, and social media
• Present creative choices and respond to peer feedback
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
• Explain how audience, objective, brand, and medium shape an advertisement
• Develop an advertising concept that responds to a creative brief
• Compare communication formats and justify channel-specific creative choices
Students leave with a set of cross-channel advertising concepts and a stronger foundation in strategic communications.
Why Advertising Strategy Skills Matter
Advertising brings together audience research, strategy, writing, visual judgment, and business goals. Students learn to ask who a message is for, what response it should create, and why a particular medium is appropriate. That discipline turns creativity into communication with a measurable purpose.
Rapid creative challenges also strengthen collaboration. Teams must interpret a brief, generate options, make decisions, and present a coherent idea within constraints. These skills transfer to presentations, media analysis, entrepreneurship, and any project that requires people to understand an audience and communicate persuasively.
Who Should Attend?
This course is for high school students who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade and are interested in advertising, brands, media, storytelling, consumer behavior, or public relations. It suits students who want to pair creative ideas with the strategy behind why a message works.
Participants should be ready to discuss examples, work in teams, respond to briefs, present concepts, and learn through frequent quizzes and creative challenges. No specialized design software or prior advertising coursework is required. Curiosity about media and willingness to explain creative choices are strong indicators of fit.
Recommended by More Than 4 out of 5 Students
Based on students surveyed in 2026 about Summer Discovery High School programs at Georgetown University campus.
Why Georgetown University?
Studying on Georgetown University’s campus gives high-school students the opportunity to explore an academic interest while experiencing campus life in Washington, D.C. Its historic campus and surrounding neighborhood sit near embassies, institutions, and organizations that shape national and international conversations, giving the summer a distinctive sense of place.
Students learn alongside peers with similar interests, navigate a new environment, and gain independence through everyday choices and responsibilities. Time outside class helps students experience the broader rhythm of university life while considering what subjects, communities, and possible directions feel right for them. For families, the program offers a combination of substantive academic exploration, personal growth, and clearer insight into what a student may want to study or pursue next.
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