Academic Connections International (ACI)
Who should take this course?
Academic Connections International is a summer 3-week UC San Diego academic and residential immersion program for secondary school students who are 16 - 18 years of age and have advanced English proficiency. This program is for students with strong academic records and advanced English proficiency who would like to have an insightful American pre-university preparation experience along with American teenage students. Prospective students must provide a completed recommendation form from their secondary school English instructor, attesting to proficiency equivalent to the paper-based TOEFL 550 or a Pass on the Advanced Cambridge level.
2010 Dates (click here for complete list of program dates):
Length of Program:
- 3 weeks
- Schedule varies depending on classes chosen
What this program includes:
- On-campus housing with American students for 3-weeks
- Breakfast, lunch, and dinner at campus cafeteria
- Approximately 25 hours of UC San Diego academic instruction per week
- An opportunity to take various chaperoned field trips to local sites
- Access to laboratory equipment as part of classwork
- Guest speakers
- Project supplies
- Transportation to and from scheduled field trips during the program
- Constant adult supervision
The following courses were offered during Academic Connections 2008:
- A Hands-on Introduction to Marine Invertebrates
- Astronomy: Galileo's Reasoning
- Behind the Scenes - Theatre
- Beneath the Surface: Concepts in Biological Oceanography
- Big Business Versus Health: The Impact of Corporations on Human Behavior
- Cognitive Science: Language Development
- Computational Science: The Computer as a Tool
- Critical Approach to Social Issues
- Critical Approachs to Nonfiction Media Production
- Economics for Public Policy
- Gray Matters: Brain Function & Neural Plasticity
- Intro to Programming with ALICE
- Introduction to Anthropology
- Performing Identity: How "What" We do Informs "Who" We Are
- Philosophical Approach to the "Good Life"
- Photography and Ethnography: Weaving Story from Real Life
- Psychology of Sport: The Mind-Body Connection in Action
- Statistics: Running the Numbers
- The Human Body: Inside and Out
- The Way We Live: Humans and the Environment
- Writing and Reporting the News: A Journalism Practicum
For a complete list of the courses that will be offered during Academic Connections 2010, please click here.
Cost (In U.S. Dollars):
Application fee: $200 (non-refundable)
Tuition 2010: $4,850 (this price includes all tuition and fees, activities, mandatory medical insurance, on-campus housing and meals in dormitories with American students and chaperones on all field trips and in residence with the students at all times)
San Diego airport pick-up fee: $75*
Transportation to San Diego airport for departure: $75*
(*available only to ACI students, as needed)