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The Clarkson School

The Clarkson School (TCS) is a selective early college program for talented and motivated high school-aged students who enroll as first-year students at Clarkson. Typically, these students have progressed beyond their high school curriculum and are ready for a fresh academic challenge.

Students in TCS:

  • Take the same courses as Clarkson first-year students and enjoy the same unlimited access to athletics and recreation, clubs, and other University departments.
  • Live in a special living and learning community that provides additional support for personal growth, academic achievement and professional development.
  • Choose to either go on to another university after their year in TCS, or stay at Clarkson to complete their bachelor’s degree. 
  • Can also be a part of Clarkson’s Honors Program, performing cutting-edge research under the guidance of a faculty member.

The Clarkson School is a selective early college program. It's for students who skip their senior year of high school typically. So they would leave their high school after their junior year. And they would come here and start a year early. As a freshman, you're treated just as a typical freshman just with a little additional support. But other than that, you can basically do almost everything that a freshman would do. I chose to come to The Clarkson school and skip my senior year of high school, because I thought it was a really great opportunity to kickstart my college education [and] take more rigorous courses, I already knew what I wanted to do as a career path. I'm a psychology major. So being able to take more classes other than just AP Psychology and high school and take more of those rigorous more major focus classes was a really great opportunity here.

There are so many benefits from The Clarkson School, I'd have trouble even listing all of them, but I can list a couple. Definitely the support system that you get at The Clarkson School is a lot larger than you would get as a regular freshman. You have so many people around you that not only are helping you with just academics, but are also helping you with your college transition. You have people who are helping you not only stay at Clarkson if you'd like to stay at Clarkson but if you have dreams to go elsewhere, they will help you with wherever you want to go in life. So whether that be going to an Ivy League, which we sent so many students to or if you want to go directly to a professional field, whatever you want to do. We have staff here to help you with that.