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Turn audience insight into advertising concepts in this two-week advertising 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
Turn a creative brief into an ad someone would notice. Then make the case for why it works.
In this course you will explore how a brand’s message changes with its audience and the place people see or hear it. Your team will develop advertisements in response to creative briefs, trying ideas across print, magazines, radio, television, social media, direct mail, and out-of-home formats. A line that works on a page may need a different approach on screen. Each challenge gives you a reason to rethink the message.
Familiar campaigns, challenger brands, and celebrity endorsements give you plenty to discuss. You’ll examine how advertising, marketing communications, and public relations can attract attention, shape a reputation, or create risk. Frequent short quizzes check the vocabulary behind your decisions. Presenting your concepts and responding to peer feedback helps you explain the thinking behind an idea, giving you a taste of the creative and strategic sides of communications.
This two-week course for high school students takes place on Georgetown University’s campus in Washington, D.C. The program is developed by Georgetown University and offered in partnership with Summer Discovery. Residential and commuter options are available.
What You Will Do
• Examine how advertising and public relations shape brands
• Interpret a brief’s audience and objective
• Develop print and magazine concepts in teams
• Adapt messages for direct mail and out-of-home formats
• Create radio, television, and social media ideas
• 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 advertising
• Evaluate whether a creative idea serves its intended purpose
• Justify communication choices for different media and audiences
You’ll leave with your team’s cross-channel advertising concepts and a certificate of completion.
Why Advertising Strategy Skills Matter
Advertising brings together audience research, strategy, writing, visual judgment, and business goals. You learn to ask who a message is for, what response it should create, and why a particular medium fits. Those questions help you give a creative idea a clear purpose.
Working through a brief with a team also means comparing options, making decisions, and explaining the result within constraints. That practice can support school presentations, media analysis, and entrepreneurship projects. It also gives you a concrete way to explore whether the creative or strategic side of communications interests you.
Who Should Attend?
For students who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade.
If you notice clever ads, follow brands, or enjoy finding the words and images that make an idea click, this course gives you a chance to try it yourself. You’ll bring ideas to a team and find out how an audience or a brief can change the direction you take.
No prior advertising coursework or specialized design software is required. Expect frequent short quizzes, creative briefs, and presentations of your concepts.
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.
Your Summer at 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