UChicago Lab High School Students

Time commitment to SISRM will vary student by student. The following guidelines provide a rough estimate of what each participant can expect:

• 100–150 hours for coursework
  Courses are condensed 10-week courses and meet all requirements for a standard 100 unit class. As such, students participating in SISRM coursework should expect to dedicate 6–10 hours per week to class time. In addition, we recommend allocating 2–4 hours per day to homework/study time. This time commitment will vary student by student.

• 55 hours for workshops and excursions
  Workshops meet for the first 5 weeks of Summer Quarter for 75–90 minutes during the lunch hour (lunch is provided). Field trips typically take 2–4 hours and occur on Fridays.

Students in the RA program should expect to commit 315–365 hours for the 10-week summer program:

• 160 hours for the RAship
  RAships require a 160 hour commitment and can be divided up throughout the Summer according to the project’s needs and the RA’s schedule.

Please select “UChicago Lab” from the application menu to apply

You must provide:

• A CV or Resume
• A Transcript from your home institution. Please note: We will accept an unofficial transcript. Additionally, we will also accept a progress report from a student portal that demonstrates the coursework and grades that the student has received thus far
• The contact information for one recommender

In addition, you will be asked to:

• Answer a series of short answer questions (100-300 words)
• Select 3 courses you are interested in taking during the summer

The following courses are available to SISRM Lab students in Summer 2024:

• GISC 28702 Introduction to GIS and Spatial Analysis (in-person)
• HIST 29806 Archival Methods and Historical Thinking (in-person)
• SOSC 20112 Introductory Statistical Methods and Applications for the Social Sciences (virtual)
• SOSC 20224 Virtual Ethnographic Research Methods (in-person)
• SOSC 26035 Approaches to Social Science Research Design (in-person)

All applicants must answer the following questions in 100-300 words:

Your resume or CV should detail honors, awards, research, leadership/service, and other co- and extra-curricular activities you have pursued. If you possess proficiency in a language other than English, please make note of it

Need inspiration? Check out UChicago Career Advancement’s tips for resume writing.

Recommendations

Please be prepared to provide the name and email address of someone who can provide you with a recommendation for participation in this program. Once you enter their email address into the application portal, your recommender will receive an email with further instructions.

Possible recommenders may include: a guidance counselor; a work supervisor; a teacher; a principal or dean of students. The College Center for Research and Fellowships has a helpful and in-depth guide available to help you as you choose a recommender.

Recommenders will be asked to answer the following questions:

1. Please explain how you know and interact with the applicant;
2. What makes this applicant a good candidate for our program?
3. A successful fellow is a strong, thoughtful communicator.  Please describe the applicant’s communication strengths and/or weaknesses;
4. A successful fellow is able to meet deadlines in a timely manner, both in their coursework and with their RA position. Please describe your experience(s) with this applicant’s strengths and/or weaknesses in managing deadlines;
5. Is there anything else—positive or negative—that we should know about the applicant?

• Students accepted to the SISRM program will receive guidelines about how to register for classes
• All courses carry at least 100 units of credit. Credits earned as a Summer College student will not count towards graduation requirements if you matriculate as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago.
• If you are planning to take a SISRM course and require accommodations, please contact Disability Services (disabilities@uchicago.edu) to coordinate the support you need

• Lab student tuition is set by the College; complete information about Pre-College tuition amounts can be found on the Summer Session website
• All high school students admitted to Summer Session/SISRM are eligible for a number of scholarships and aid
• Students who are dependents of University full-time, benefits-eligible faculty, other academic appointees, and staff are eligible for a tuition benefit