High school students looking for a sneak peek at college life can catch a glimpse at different summer camps offered by universities across the nation.

TCU offers many different summer programs for high schoolers in subjects such as journalism, band and business.

Ann Nordin, a sophomore at SMU, attended TCU’s Schieffer Summer Journalism Camp  prior to her senior year in high school.

 Nordin, who is a pre-business major, recommends every high school student should attend a summer camp.

“It helped me realize what I wanted to do in college, but it also gives you the college experience,” said Nordin.

Dr. Barbara Wood, a finance professor, leads the Neeley School of Business High School Investor Challenge. High school students spend a week living on campus taking finance classes and managing a $100,000 virtual portfolio.

Wood’s goal is to teach students to “learn how to make stock investments, evaluate the economy and evaluate a company’s performance.”

Wood added that she also wants students to “experience TCU, and the Neeley school… so that this [TCU] becomes a college choice for them.”

But attending a camp isn’t an automatic entry into college.

Admissions will often look to see if there’s evidence of growth from the camp, said Beatriz Gutiérrez, an assistant director of Admissions at TCU. For example, Gutiérrez said, she wants a student involved in organizations, like yearbook or newspaper, to show the student was “truly engaged and wanted to do something more.”