The campus program bring students from around the US and world to the campus of top universities that allow us to offer resources and culture to support our young entrepreneurs. Students live in the dorms and go to sessions in university classrooms, embracing the innovative culture and surroundings as they start real companies for four weeks on campus.
Your startup: You develop a real startup!
Course materials: You follow the LaunchX methodology that includes daily interactive classroom sessions, sprinkled with simulations, activities, and speakers.
Mentorship: You are supported throughout by peer discussion groups, a team of mentors, and your instructors and interns.
Ann Arbor, MA
Jun 18 - Jul 15
North Carolina
Jun 25 - Jul 22
Application Deadline
Feb 15
Regular Round Application Deadline
Feb 15
The application materials :Fee $75
Students in current grades 9-12 (freshman through senior, or international equivalent) may apply. This means that you must be in grades 9-12 when you submit your application. This equates to going into grade 10-12 or graduating during the summer of the program. Exceptions will NOT be made for advanced middle school students taking high school level classes, nor for graduated students in a gap year. There are no age requirements outside of the grade requirement.
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Recommendations from an Expert
Launch is designed to provide students an immersive entrepreneurial education. Think of it as a entrepreneurship bootcamp. I remember getting assigned to a team of four and coming up with a business idea. Eventually we settled on an idea and began coding it. At the end of the program, we had 250 people signed on and a prototype. We pitched in the MIT auditorium to conclude the event. In between company building, we had a bunch of lectures on business strategy and marketing tactics. This included guest speakers from BCG, HBS, and local startups, just to name a few places. I had a blast at Launch and made many brilliant friends, many of whom I'm still close with. I actually just met up with a Launch buddy yesterday!
We actually stayed at a university called Lesley University. There was no AC - which sucked because the East Coast summer weather was considerably warmer than I expected (and I was used to Californian heat ...) A lot of students ended up purchasing their own box fans for around $30, which isn't so bad. Think of it like paying $1 a day to have mild AC...We had classes in a building in MIT, which was cool, since it replicated a real college learning experience for most of us. We had a lot of guest speakers, in all sorts of interesting fields and with a lot of background in business school, entrepreneurship, etc. We were able to network with some of them, too. Overall, I was happy with what we learned.
One very important message that MIT Launch itself offers its potential applicants is that applicants should not, under any circumstances, try to game their answers. What that means is that MIT Launch does not want any applicant to answer a certain question the way that they think the admissions officers at MIT Launch want it to be answered. There are no wrong or right ways to answer these questions and there are tons of different kinds of successful entrepreneurs. The most important thing when it comes to your answers is honesty and thoughtfulness. Show that you are self-aware, open-minded, and willing to learn new and exciting lessons about entrepreneurship.