2025 Juniper Institute for Young Writers

Juniper seeks creative students who are dedicated to exploring experimental writing processes in poetry and fiction and developing their skills in a collaborative environment. We encourage writers from diverse backgrounds, life experiences, and writing styles to apply.

The Juniper Institute for Young Writers (JIYW) provides an immersion in the writer’s life, a pre-college experience on the UMass campus, and an unforgettable two weeks for rising 10, 11 and 12th graders, and the class of 2025. Our two-week residential creative writing program is designed for young writers who who are passionate about creative writing and ready to take their writing practice to the next level with the 1-1 guidance of a Creative Writing Instructor. Please visit our website to learn more.

We will run two sessions of our 2-week residential program on the following dates: 

Sunday, July 13–Saturday, July 26  

Sunday, July 27–Saturday, August 9, 2025. 

The cost of tuition, room, board, and all weekday & weekend activities is $5100. There are limited spaces for commuter students (students who live locally and would attend the program 9am-4pm on weekdays) during the first session, with a cost of $2200.

The Juniper Institute for Young Writers is now a two-week residential program for all of our students; we will not be offering a one-week residential program this summer.

You may indicate on your application if you're interested in attending our online program, Juniper Young Writers Online, if we are not able to offer you a spot in our residential program this summer. You may learn more about our one-week online summer program here. If you are only interested in attending our online program, that application will launch soon. Please sign up for an email notification to learn when that application launches!

Admissions and Notification

Admission to the Juniper Institute for Young Writers is competitive, and we have a limited number of available spots. Admission and scholarship awards are based on the strength and promise of the writing sample and the writer's statement; please review our application materials instructions below.

If a student is offered admission, enrollment in a Juniper Young Writers program is contingent on responding to email communications from Juniper and Pre-College @ UMass Amherst. Please add these email addresses to your contacts and check your junk/spam folders: notifications@submittable.com; juniper@umass.edu; juniperyoungwriters@hfa.umass.edu; summerprograms@umass.edu; precollege@umass.edu.

Admissions and scholarship award decisions will begin to be sent out in late March 2025. Your admissions offer will come to the email address provided on your application as a Submittable message. If you are offered admission to Juniper, you must email us within one week of notification to confirm your attendance. After one week, we will accept our next wave of applicants, and our program may fill to capacity quickly.

After Juniper collects pre-registration information, you will receive enrollment instructions from Summer Pre-College @ UMass Amherst sometime in May 2025. Families must pay a non-refundable $500 deposit within two weeks of enrollment to secure the student's space at Juniper. Full-scholarship awardees do not have to pay a deposit. The full balance of tuition is due by June 30. Please visit this website for more information on the payment and cancellation policy, and please contact Pre-College with any questions about enrollment and payment.

Scholarship consideration

Scholarship support is intended for those participants who cannot afford the full cost of the program. BIPOC and writers of marginalized groups are especially encouraged to apply for the available funding. Our scholarships are awarded based on the strength and promise of the application. We do not request financial information as part of our scholarship selection process. We plan to offer several full Juniper scholarships this summer.

To apply for scholarship consideration, under the "Scholarship consideration or self-pay?" question, select "Please consider me for a scholarship."

If you're a resident of Hampden County, Massachusetts, please check the "Hampden County Resident" box to be considered for a full scholarship in partnership with the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts.

Select schools and after-school programs in NYC and Boston are a part of the Hayden Foundation Coalition. Your school or program must be part of this network in order for you to be considered a "Hayden Scholar nominee". If you are a Hayden Scholar nominee, you must select "Please consider me for a scholarship" under the "Scholarship consideration or self-pay?" question and also check the "Hayden Scholar nominee" box.

Application Materials and Instructions

1. Writing Sample: 3 to 5 pages of fiction (double-spaced; short stories and/or excerpts from longer pieces of writing are OK) or poetry (one poem per page, or longer poems spanning up to 5 total pages of poetry). Creative poetry or prose only; no academic essays or playwriting, please. The writing sample should be saved in one document (doc, docx, pdf, rtf, or txt). Please include your name & email address as a header or footer.
2. Writer's Statement: 300 to 500 words describing your current writing projects and goals, any identities that inform your work, and what being a member of a writing community means to you. Tell us what you write and why you write it!
3. Recommendation Letter: The application will ask you to enter the email address and name of a teacher, educational consultant, professional tutor, guidance counselor, or after-school leader who has agreed to provide a confidential letter of recommendation on your behalf. Once you click the "Send Request Now" button in the Reference section of this application, the reference will receive an email with instructions for how to attach the letter to your application (you will not be able to view the contents of the letter). Please let them know that their letter must be received for your application to be complete. It's OK for you to submit your application before your recommendation letter is received.***

We do not accept extra materials such as test scores, financial disclosures, or multiple recommendation letters.

If you have questions about the Juniper Institute for Young Writers program or this application, please review our website, particularly our FAQ. You can reach out to us at juniper@umass.edu.

There is a "save draft" button at the end of the application; your progress will be saved on your Submittable account. You will receive a confirmation email if your application was successfully submitted.

The deadline for all applications and scholarship consideration is March 7, 2025.

*** If your application is complete other than your recommendation letter, please make sure to click "Submit" before the deadline! Your reference has until 7 days after you click Submit to submit your application to send their recommendation letter, and no later than March 21st. We cannot verify if your recommendation letter has been received until your application has been submitted.