Our Career Accelerator gives students a chance to experience life on a college campus, to live in a residential hall, to check out a specific school and to learn some of the independence that will be required while attending college. You'll become more independent by living on a university campus with your classmates, and learn how to balance academic responsibility with your social life. After class, you can participate in fun social activities as you make new friends!
Discover your passion and explore career-specific subjects not offered in high school including tech and coding; medicine; and engineering. Hone your leadership potential: learn leadership qualities including G.R.I.T; initiative and goal setting; collaboration; adaptability and change.
Experience cutting-edge curriculum developed by subject matter experts, learn from renowned industry professionals, and work side-by-side with career practitioners. Immerse yourself in a variety of stimulating action-based class experiences with experiential learning, discussions, and a project-based capstone. At the end of the program, you'll receive an evaluation from your instructor and a Certificate of Completion.
Engage directly with career role models that inspire your professional goals. Learn about multiple academic and professional pathways through career panels with undergraduate and graduate students and industry professionals.
Put your 21st century skills into practice through a collaborative team-based capstone project. Future leaders will live in a world of complex problems needing solutions. These real-world problems will not be solved by "individuals" but by collaborating effectively across time zones, continents, and very different cultures while making compromises to accomplish a common goal. Students will work in teams to practice information literacy through scholarly research, think critically about that research to solve a problem or address a challenge, and utilize technology to collaboratively produce and present their final product.
Experience the city as the classroom: visit and learn about the real-world locations where your career aspirations unfold.
Reflecting the workday, students are typically in class from 9:30 to 5:00 pm (4pm on2 week programs) with breaks for lunch and between academic experiences. Students may find themselves engaging with guest speakers in the morning, then diving into a hands-on activity, attending an academic off-site visit in the afternoon, and end the day with a fun social activity. Each day is different and varies by the course and campus location.
Students who complete the Career Accelerator experience have the option to continue their exploration into leadership through an asynchronous online course. Designed to supplement your summer experience, the course will be completed after students attend the Career Accelerator program. This course is an optional add-on and students will receive one college credit through Marist College.
By electing to take the college credit add-on, students will be exposed to college-level curriculum. Students will develop a deeper understanding of how leadership studies can be applied in their own individual, academic, and professional experiences.