If you want immersive journalism education in a residential setting, check out this top summer program at Medill School of Journalism!

A Top Summer Choice for Aspiring Journalists: Medill School of Journalism

Are you interested in a career in journalism?  Are you looking for a full-time, month-long summer break program in immersive news writing? Want a live-on-campus experience?...

If your answers are yes, yes, and yes…and you’re a rising high school junior in grade 11, then this is the course for you.

Read more and explore this exciting journalism workshop opportunity. You'll study journalism with skilled professors and younger mentors, connect with like-minded peers, and experience college life during summer break at the Medill School of Journalism, at Northwestern University.

About the Medill School of Journalism Pre-College Summer Program

The Medill School of Journalism’s ‘Cherub Program’ runs for one month in the summer at North-Western University campus in Evanston, Illinois. 

Learn about different types of news writing

Under the guidance of instructors and mentors, you'll learn about and practice a range of journalistic writing styles:

• News stories
• Features
• Opinion pieces

Learn foundational professional skills

In addition to intensive exposure to various news writing styles and formats, you’re going to benefit from opportunities to build valuable skills essential for a successful journalism career:

• Writing and reporting for different kinds of multimedia platforms — including print and broadcast
• Conducting interviews
• Learning about photo journalism
• Exploring what it means to adhere to a professional code of ethics
• Using investigative techniques
• Practicing leadership skills

The program has many blog posts, often written by program participants, that give you an up-close look at different aspects of the program as experienced by the student participants themselves:

“The introductory classes are helpful to students with no formal journalism experience, but cherubs who have taken journalism classes before also found them valuable. ‘We’re all taught to start from the basics, and I think in that way you really feel like you’re on an equal playing field here…’”

According to the program’s website, students enjoy in-person learning in a college setting:

• Living in campus residence halls with program staff
• Eating in campus dining halls
• Meeting other students with interests in journalism
• Enjoying programmed visits to major sites in Chicago

Want a Snapshot of the Program and Program Requirements?

Check out the Medill Summer Journalism Program page at SummerApply!

Location and costs

Current costs for the program are $5000 USD (financial aid options available).

Costs include tuition, room and board, field trips and any group activities.

This program is open to international students.

Applications for the new round of entry — summer of 2024 — are in November of 2023. 

 The following scholarships may be accepted for this program: 

• Joan Beck Journalism Scholarship 
• Norma Kinsel-Linda Foley Cherub Scholarship 
• Mary Lou Song Cherub Alumni Scholarship 
• Diane Granat Yalowitz Memorial Fund Scholarship
• Jeffrey Zucker Medill Cherub Scholarship 
• Scholarship by an anonymous donor 

Requirements & Applications

You will be a student with both a strong academic record and some evidence of interest in journalism.

You’ll need to submit the following as part of your application to the Medill Summer Program:

• essay
• test scores
• a letter of recommendation
• a grade transcript
• samples of your writing

For more general details of the application process, take a look here. 

To find out more about the Medill School of Journalism “Cherubs” Summer Program, check out the Summer of 2024 Program Brochure

"We immersed ourselves in media for four weeks in the summer of 2023. We studied writing, reporting and editing for print, digital and broadcast. We took pictures, edited videos, and created websites and podcasts. We made lifelong friends."

So, if this sounds like a place you want to be next summer for a chance to experience life as a college journalism student, then apply today to the marvelous Medill School of Journalism!

You can find out more about this summer break pre-college residential journalism program at the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, by visiting SummerApply!.