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What Is PACT?
PACT is an intense five-week program where you study the mathematical foundations of computer science. The material is taken from Penn’s CIS 1600 course and is not toned down for high school students, so the content is genuinely challenging and deeply rewarding. If you enjoy STEM or simply love learning, PACT is an amazing opportunity. I participated in PACT during the summer of 2025.
Why I Chose PACT
The year before I did PACT, I took a theoretical computer science class at my school. I decided that I wanted to continue my learning in the field, so when considering which pre-college programs to do over the summer, I specifically searched for one in theoretical computer science. I found a few in the area, but after considering all of the options, PACT seemed like the most rigorous and had the highest praise from its alumni. These factors led me to participate in the program, and as a PACT alumnus myself, I can say that the praise is totally deserved.
What You'll Learn
The curriculum is unlike anything taught in high school. Even if you have taken a class in theoretical computer science like I did, you will still get a lot out of it. For me, it only took two days for us to venture into material that I didn’t know. The curriculum is incredibly rigorous, featuring combinatorics, probability, and proof methods such as induction. However, if you dedicate yourself for 5 weeks, you will emerge with a college-level understanding of these topics.
The Learning Experience
The material is tough, but Rajiv’s lectures are exceptional. At the beginning of most lectures, I had no familiarity with the topics, but by the end, I had a solid grasp of them. Rajiv’s teaching method is amazing. The TAs were very helpful when a topic didn’t make sense from the lecture. They were all college students who had taken CIS 1600 at Penn, and they left helpful comments on homework and were always there to explain concepts. Though the TAs would leave comments, nothing was ever graded in PACT. This choice placed the sole focus of the class on learning and not on grades or scores.
In Person, Online, or Commuter?
You can take PACT in three ways: online, commuting from nearby, or living in the dorms. Personally, I lived in the dorms, which I would highly recommend to anyone. Even if you live outside of the US, do not be discouraged from taking the program residentially. Living in the dorms, I met people from India, China, Turkey, and Kazakhstan. Also, when you are in person, it is much easier to focus on the lecture and the homework. Overall, doing the residential or commuter program gives you an excellent in-person learning experience.
Dorm Life and Activities
Living in the dorms is a great idea if you want to get a taste of the college experience. If you aren’t from the US, the PACT residential program is a great opportunity to see the US as a whole. BOLD Summers, the company that manages the dorms for PACT, organizes incredible weekend trips to places like New York City, Hersheypark, and Washington, D.C. Doing PACT in person also helped me build friendships with others who shared my passion for learning. I’m still in touch with many of them.
Beyond Academics
For me, PACT did more than just teach me new material—it changed how I view the process of learning. Through PACT, I found that learning without pressure from grades is far more fun. It is also easier to focus without the distractions of scores. At PACT, it doesn’t matter if you couldn’t solve a question on the homework. It is just a problem to keep in the back of your head and keep thinking about. Rajiv’s way of teaching is incredibly effective and unforgettable. I have never seen a teacher able to focus even a third of the students that he does, especially when more than half of PACT students are on Zoom. His final talk is inspirational, and he, more than any professor at any other pre-college program that I have ever heard about, is invested in your success.
What's Ahead?
Students who finish the summer program can register for the PACT year-long program (I have already). During the year-long program students use the skills that they acquired over the summer to study algorithm design.