High School Program

Oxbridge in New York

DATES
June 29 - July 26

GRADES
9 - 12

Barnard College,
Columbia University

Oxbridge in New York is housed in Barnard College in Columbia University. Originally established as an independent liberal arts college in 1889, Barnard became part of Columbia in 1900. Columbia University is the oldest university in New York, established in 1754 by a Royal Charter. Students live in the same rooms that undergraduates do during the year, and work with leading academics, business practitioners, and creative professionals. They select a Major and a Workshop. Outside the classroom, they take advantage of a full calendar of activities designed to help them discover what the world's most vibrant city has to offer.

Dates and Tuition

Dates

June 29 - July 26
Session length: 27 days

Before Jan. 1

$10,575

After Jan. 1

$11,495

Tuition Information: Fees include accommodation, classroom instruction, workshops, field trips, two daily meals, and all program-organized activities. We also offer a select number of scholarships based on financial need. For full details, see our Tuition page.

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A Day in the Life

Communal breakfast
Major classes on topics ranging from Politics and Human Rights to Engineering meet in classrooms, labs, studios, or out in New York
Students can choose to have lunch at any local restaurants or sandwich shops
Three afternoons a week, Workshops meet in classrooms, workshops, labs, or studios
Students can choose from a full range of optional extracurricular activities like group tours to Broadway and a baseball game
Full group dinner
Evening activities, events, or shows

What’s Included

Transport to and from the airport

Accommodation

Breakfast and supper

All ticked extra-curricular activities

All course supplies

Full Course List

Advertising and Media

In the home of Mad Men and Times Square's billboards, SoHo and NoHo’s cool side, students discover the power of creativity, big ideas, and product placement. Scouting the city for case studies and creative examples, they explore how different types of traditional advertising, social media, viral marketing, pop-ups and experiential events are transforming the game. Using their creative skills, they will design logos and slogans. The program will culminate with the participants creating an experiential pop-up event, ad creative for a zine, and more. Students will meet influencers, editors, designers, and advertising gurus. Different industries will be explored such as beauty, fashion, food, consumer packaged goods, gaming, music, and travel. This class is for the urban nomad that wants NYC to be their classroom via exploring museums, galleries, stores and more.

Materials fee of $50 for the Major.

Business and Finance

Exploiting the resources of the world's financial capital, students discover the instruments and institutions that make up modern finance and are vital to budding entrepreneurs. They address the main business principles of strategic planning, marketing, economics, finance, and accounting. Concepts covered include SWOT analysis, developing a marketing strategy, as well as working through how to create a product centered company and draft a business plan. For their final project, they create a mock company that they present in a "Shark Tank", mirroring the high pressure, quick tempo presentations used at colleges, business schools, and startup incubators around the world.

Creative Writing

Working with a published author, students compose fiction and poetry, exploring their own potential as they experiment with new forms and styles of writing. Students attend specialized workshops run by professional poets and writers to discuss both the creative process and the practicalities of publication. Students develop a portfolio of their best writing and collaborate to design, edit, and publish a literary magazine.

Criminology

Drawing on aspects of criminology, law, psychology, and forensics, students seek to understand what makes a criminal and what society's response to criminal behavior reveals about the community itself. They spend time with NYPD officers, lawyers, visit courthouses, and learn how the authorities are adapting to challenges such as cybercrime and terrorism while examining all aspects of the criminal justice system.

Engineering

By referencing case studies and conducting experiments, students are introduced to some careers in Engineering, notably Mechanical, Electrical, and Civil. Students discover what it means to study these disciplines at university and meet with working professionals to better understand the industry itself. They complete the course by working in a team to design a model engineering project.

Fashion

Students journey from the blank page to the catwalk as they visit and interact with some of the most famous flagship stores and their Garment District suppliers. They analyze brand strategy and consumer experience, and come to grips with the fundamentals of clothes and accessory design. The course culminates in a fashion show in which they display their creations.

Materials fee of $100 for the Major; $50 for the Workshop.

Fine Art

Designed for all levels of expertise, this course explores a variety of media through which students engage creatively with New York. They receive formal instruction in oils, watercolor, pastel, pencil, charcoal, clay, video, photography, and collage, but spend most of their time outside the studio, capturing the visual splendor of New York. Students exhibit their best pieces at the end of the program.

Materials fee of $250 for the Major; $150 for the Workshop.

Global Economics and International Markets

Using New York City, home to the UN and the global center of banking and finance, as their classroom, students analyze the theoretical foundations of international trade economic policy. Students will leave this course able to explore patterns of international trade and production, understand tariffs and impediments to trade, discuss the welfare implications of international trade and trade policies, and the value of foreign exchange markets.

Medical Science

This hands-on course introduces students to key aspects of medical science and modern medical practice. Combining specialist lectures with experiments and class discussions, students learn the principles of human anatomy and physiology, the pathology and significance of certain diseases, the main challenges that medical science faces today, and are introduced to the wide and growing range of possible careers in medicine.

Musical Theater

Students interested in life on, or behind, the stage participate in workshops and masterclasses ranging from improvisation and vocal technique to script analysis and mime. The course takes students from auditions and casting through to rehearsals and the final curtain call. Students also get a chance to see the professionals in action by attending a selection of Broadway and off-Broadway shows. Major students will plan, rehearse, and put on a full show performance by the end of the session.

Production fee of $300 for the Major; $150 for the Workshop.

Photography Workshop Only

An introduction to photography in which students learn to use their camera's manual shutter speed, aperture, and ISO settings to control exposure and effects. They learn the fundamentals of composition and lighting, and experiment with angle, framing, lens choice, and exposure. They present their work and learn how to give and receive criticism. Finally, each student curates a selection of photographs to exhibit in a final show. Students need to bring their own DSLR camera with USB cable, charger, manual, and at least one 16GB memory card.

Materials fee of $75.

Politics and Human Rights

Psychology

Led by cutting-edge researchers in the field of experimental psychology, students address a different topic each class. These topics include introductions to mental processes and problem solving, evolutionary psychology, clinical psychology, behaviorism, and psychoanalysis. In addition to surveying various fields, students learn how research projects are developed and design their own experiments.

Speech and Debate Workshop Only

Sports Business

This course reveals the inner workings of the $65 billion dollar global sports business. Sessions cover a wide range of topics, including marketing and ticket sales, fan loyalty, corporate sponsorships, brand management, ownership, and legal and financial structures. The primary focus is on American sports including the NFL, NBA, and NHL, but the course also examines global models such as the Premiership, the Olympics, and the FIFA World Cup. Students visit world-renowned sports venues such as Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden.

Cultural Enrichment

When not in class, students can take advantage of the Columbia University gym or walk only minutes to Riverside Park’s basketball, tennis, and soccer facilities, or to the wide open spaces of Central Park. Alternatively they can take part in our exciting calendar of daily activities. They might attend an expert guest lecture, jog with their friends along the Hudson River pathway, play speed chess in the open air, taste different cuisines at Smorgasburg, or participate in games and tournaments with fellow students. They might join a member of our team for a tour of any of New York’s world-class museums or universities, a stroll through Greenwich Village, SoHo, Little Italy, Chinatown, Fifth Avenue, or to visit the top of the Empire State Building or Rockefeller Center for truly spectacular views of Manhattan. The Activities team help students take full advantage of the city that never sleeps.

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Residence Info

Accommodations and Rooms

In New York, students live in rooms that are occupied by undergraduates during the year. Students are housed in singles or doubles. The rooms are dorm-style and have shared facilities. All rooms have A/C.

Facilities

Students have access to common areas within the residences as well as a variety of sporting and educational facilities (gyms, basketball courts, tennis courts, pitches). Oxbridge provides every program with computers, so students have daily access to email and social media. The program staff maintains message boards and distributes mail every day.

Meals

Students enjoy breakfast and dinner in their residence's dining halls. Breakfast is primarily continental style with choices such as cereal, yogurt, fruit, toast, coffee, and tea. Several options are available at dinner, including a vegetarian dish and a salad bar. Students are responsible for their own lunch, which can be purchased from a college snack bar or one of the many sandwich shops, small restaurants, patisseries, or bodegas near each residence.

After the Program

Shortly after the program, all students and their parents receive a comprehensive set of grade reports, presenting their course syllabus and highlighting their specific contributions and achievements within their course(s). Most of our alumni later ask for additional copies to include in their college applications.

What People Are Saying About Oxbridge Academic Programs

It was a big decision and undertaking to send our 16-year-old daughter from New Zealand to Oxford, she could not have travelled further! However, the experience that she had far exceeded all of our expectations, both in terms of the exposure she had to learning and the academic staff as well as the experiences and friendships made.

Oxford Tradition Parent

Thanks to the Cambridge Tradition experience, my daughter is much more mature, has a better knowledge of how to live abroad without her family, and she's better prepared for university! Her time at Oxbridge reaffirmed that she wants to study architecture and now she has all the skills to reach her goals.

Ana Maria

Cambridge Tradition Parent

Our daughter had a wonderful experience, and she found the Psychology and Genetics courses engaging and useful. She learned new things, made friends, and had 4 amazing weeks! Many thanks to your entire team for making this possible!

Oxbridge Parent

Our daughter loved the Oxford Experience program. She enjoyed her Major, made nice friends, and really began to feel more independent and confident while exploring beautiful Oxford. A great experience through and through and just what we all were hoping for! In fact, she is already talking about participating in the Cambridge program next year.

Daniel

Oxford Experience Parent

Just wanted to reach out to thank you for helping to make my daughter's summer spectacular! She returned on Saturday and has clearly grown from the summer experience.

Sanjeev

Oxbridge in Paris Parent

Thank you for making my son's experience at Cambridge so memorable! Usually reserved, he talked the whole way home from the airport about what he learned in class, the friends he made, and the museums he visited. My son was initially a bit reluctant to attend a two-week course, but at the end of the second week - he was sad it was ending so quickly!

Cambridge Experience Parent