Camp Information

Camp Fees and Registration:

• Fees for the Explore Science, Explore Physical Sciences, and Explore Life Sciences Camps are $1225/camper. Need-based scholarships are available.

Camp fees cover faculty instructional time, equipment, supplies, room and board, resident assistants and program assistants. Scholarships are available; please apply for one in the camp application form. Families are responsible for transportation to/from the Virginia Tech campus. 

Fees are due within two weeks of being accepted into camp. If you must cancel your registration, you will be reimbursed minus a $30 handling fee up until 4 weeks before camp. Unfortunately, we cannot offer refunds if you cancel closer to the start date of camp.

Registration will remain open until June 1 or when a camp fills. In previous years some camps filled by April.

Scholarships:

You may apply for need-based scholarships in the “parent portion” of the camp application. Decisions will be made within two weeks and you will have two weeks after you are notified to accept your position by paying camp fee (minus scholarship amount). *Note: We award many partial scholarships but very few full scholarships.

Camp Communication:

Our main method for communicating with you—parents, guardians and campers—will be through the email you list on the camp application. PLEASE make sure that all email addresses you list in your application are accurate and that you check them regularly. If you miss deadlines, you may miss out on camp.

Housing:

Campers will be housed in double-occupancy residence halls on Virginia Tech campus. Most rooms have bunk beds. We cannot accept roommate requests. When possible, girls and boys will be housed on different floors of the dorm. We have not yet been assigned a residence hall. Campers will be informed of the residence hall 2-3 weeks before camp.

Meals:

All meals (except snacks) will be served in our award-winning dining hall, D2, which offers an array of options suitable to most dietary needs. Visit Dining Services for questions.

Size of camps:

Camps will accept up to 48 campers. These sizes allow us to keep the camper to staff ratio low.

Camp activities and instructors:

All activities will be taught by Virginia Tech faculty, staff and/or senior graduate students. Our instructors are selected for their excellent teaching skills and their passion for sharing their expertise with youth. Many of these instructors have won awards for their amazing teaching and/or contributions to their fields.  Activities may last 45 minutes to several hours depending on the nature of what we are doing.

Camp Counselors:

Our camp counselors are Virginia Tech undergraduate and graduate students chosen for their dedication and ability to work with youth. They are trained prior to camp and go through rigorous background checks. Camp staff will supervise the campers from check-in until check-out and many will live on-site. Most staff are studying some sort of science and will be able to answer your camper’s questions about college majors, career interests, college life, and Virginia Tech. Our staff are here to help if your camper has any issue during camps (with housing, roommates, homesickness, illness, etc…)!

Faculty and Professional Mixers:

High school campers will have the opportunity to network with career professionals at a career night. All campers will have ample opportunities to network with VT faculty and staff and to ask questions about science majors, careers, college (here at VT or elsewhere), and research opportunities.

Expectations for Campers:

We expect all campers to always behave responsibly and respectfully. We expect them to be attentive and polite during activities even if a particular topic is not their favorite. We expect campers to be kind and respectful to their fellow campers and to all camp staff.

Before arriving on campus, campers and their parent/guardian are required to read and sign our “Code of Conduct and Consequences” form, which outlines behavioral standards. Campers who do not comply will be warned once and then sent home if the behavior does not improve.

Campers are not allowed to leave campus during the camp without the permission of their parent/guardian and the director of the College of Science camps.

Parking on campus:

Parking passes are always required on the VT campus and may be purchased through the ParkMobile App. Campers may drive to camp if their parents/guardians allow it but will not be allowed to use their personal vehicle until the end-of-camp departure. They will also need to purchase daily parking passes.

Walking on campus:

The Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg is large (2600 acres!), and our campers will walk a lot. For example, the dining hall and residence hall are across campus from the academic buildings where most of the activities take place. It is common to walk 5 or more miles each day. Please prepare your camper for walking in good weather and bad (e.g., heat, rain). The good news is that they will become familiar with many parts of our beautiful campus.

Public transportation to Virginia Tech campus:

By bus: The Mega Bus and The Virginia Breeze provides transportation to/from various cities in Virginia. The Valley Flyer Route services Blacksburg. They may not accept underage passengers traveling alone.

By train: Amtrak; Northeast Regional Route 

Tickets can be purchased to Roanoke via the Amtrak website. The Roanoke train station is ~45 miles away from campus. The Smartway Bus can pick you up from the train station and take you to campus. The bus costs exactly $4. They only accept cash and do not provide change.  

By air:

Our local airport is Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport (ROA) and is approximately 45 miles away from campus. The Smartway Bus goes from the airport to campus and costs exactly $4. They only accept cash and do not provide change.   

The above options drop passengers off in the Maroon Loop near the campus transportation hub. Transfer to the campus bus (CAS) at Bay 8005 which can take you relatively close to the dorm. However, if you stop at the Orange Loop, which is on the opposite side of the Maroon Loop, transfer to the campus bus (CAS) at Bay 8114 to get close to the dorm. Once we know which dorm we are located in this summer, we will provide more specific information about where to get off the bus.  

You may also contact explorescicamp@vt.edu a week or more ahead of time to see if our camp staff are available to help transport you from Maroon Loop to the dorm.

You may use the Campus Shuttle or use an Uber or Lyft to help get you and your belongings to the dorm. 

Attire & Supplies:

The weather can fluctuate, so please check the weather forecast ahead of time. Closed-toe shoes and long pants are a must for many lab experiments. Classrooms can be chilly or warm, depending on the power of the AC. Please double-check the what-to-bring list before you leave home. Included on the list are: bedding (twin extralong), pillows, towels, and soap, and needed medications. All medications should be in their original packaging and enclosed in a plastic Ziplock bag with the camper’s name on them. Computers are NOT needed.

A complete list of supplies to bring to camp will be emailed 2-3 months before camp starts.

Check-in/Check-out:

Check-in for all camps will be between 3:00 and 4:00 pm on the first day of camp in the lobby of our assigned residence hall. 

Check-out for all camps will be between 3:00 and 4:00 pm on the last day of camp in our assigned residence hall.

Please be on time for both check-in and check-out.

Please DO NOT register your child for camp if they will need to arrive late or leave early, or otherwise miss any part of camp.