AIM: How to Apply
Admissions
If you are entering your junior or senior year of high school in fall 2026, we invite you to apply. Admission decisions take into consideration your high school grades, personal statement, and one letter of recommendation from a teacher.
The application must be submitted by the prospective student, not by a parent, guardian, counselor, agent, or other party. Please use the information below to prepare your application. Applications will be saved automatically and can be revisited and edited before being submitted.
Application instructions
Submit the online application. The following items are required to submit the online application.
- High school transcript: Your full high school transcript must begin in 9th grade and include your fall 2025 grades (a minimum of your quarter 1 grade report, trimester 1 grade report, or semester 1 progress report is required). Transcripts do not need to be official; we will accept screenshots of an academic portal as long as the student’s name is visible.
- Personal statement: You will be required to submit a personal statement of 500–750 words describing why you want to attend the Academic Immersion (AIM) program.
- Writing sample: Creative Writing applicants will need to submit a short (max 500 words) sample of their original creative writing.
- One recommendation: You will also be required to enter the email address for a teacher who will submit a recommendation on your behalf. Experimental Psychology and Medicine applicants should request a recommendation from a science teacher, while Creative Writing and Business applicants should request a recommendation from a humanities teacher. We cannot accept recommendations from tutors, coaches, or course prep facilitators.
- Once you create login credentials and can access the application form, you will submit your recommendation request on the Recommendations page. We strongly recommend you submit the recommendation request as soon as you have identified your recommender(s) – do not wait until you are ready to submit the entire application to request the recommendation. Teachers appreciate having as much time as possible to respond.
- Once you have submitted your recommendation request, you will be able to track the status of the request on the Applicant Portal, and will be notified when a recommendation is received by Summer Term on your behalf. You may add or change a recommender through your Applicant Portal after you submit your application, in the event a recommender does not respond. Please note that the emailed recommendation form must be used, and outside letters cannot be accepted. The recommendation consists of a series of multiple-choice questions and one open field response.
- International documents: International students must upload a copy of your current valid passport with the application. We also require proof of English language proficiency, such as scores from the TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo, if English is not your native language. For English proficiency test score requirements please see Information for International Students.
- Application fee: A $75 nonrefundable application fee, paid by credit card, is required at the time of submission of the online application.
Applications are only reviewed for admissions after all of the materials listed above are received and verified by our office.
You can check the status of your application at any time through your Applicant Portal. After submitting the application, you can currently make the following changes in your Applicant Portal:
- Upload additional materials – Be sure to email us at buaim@bu.edu when you provide new materials after you submit. Doing so alerts our team to verify your new materials and minimizes delays in receiving your decision.
- Update your permanent or mailing address
- Change your email address
- Change your password
- Update or change your recommender
If you need to request a major change, please contact us at buaim@bu.edu.
Note: Email is the primary form of communication during the admissions process. Please be aware that parents or guardians are copied on all correspondence from our office. Therefore, you should ensure that both parent or guardian and student email addresses are entered correctly on the application, and inform our office immediately if there is a change in either email address.
Email: buaim@bu.edu
Fax: 617-358-0646
Mailing Address:
Boston University Summer Term
Academic Immersion Program
200 Riverway, Suite 214
Boston, MA 02215
Application deadline
There is no application deadline for the 2026 Academic Immersion (AIM) program. However, we encourage you to submit the application as early as possible, as there are a limited number of places in each course, and we will close the application when the program is filled.
Admission decisions are made on a rolling basis. Once our office verifies that your application is complete, it will be reviewed for admissions. We will contact you if any additional or corrected materials are needed to complete your application.
We begin reviewing applications at the beginning of January. Within one month of your application being verified as complete by our office, you will be notified of an admission decision.
Contact us
If you have any additional questions or comments, please contact us.
