Camp Overview

About This U & Maps

Staff Ratio Guarantee

Safety & Peace of Mind

Sample Week

In the News

Testimonials

FAQ

Computer Camps Held at UC San Diego

iD Tech Camps, Ages 7-17

WEEKLONG | CO-ED | DAY CAMPS | OVERNIGHT CAMPS
COURSE TOPICS: VIDEO GAME DESIGN, PROGRAMMING, WEB DESIGN & MORE

Ignite your internalDrive and do something BIG this summer! iD Tech Camps is a family company – and our company is a unique place. Some call it magical. We’re the World’s #1 Tech Camp – consistently ranked a Top Workplace. One of our big secrets? Ridiculously small ratios. Small ratios mean personalized instruction – just 8 students per instructor or fewer – or you get a free week of camp, guaranteed! Our adult-only staff are tech-savvy undergraduates, graduate students and professionals, passionate about teaching game design, film, computer science and more.

This is our 13th season hosting summer camps at UC San Diego in La Jolla, CA. We strike the right balance between off-computer activities (creative games, sports, life skills, etc.) and essential technology education to foster STEM skill development (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Our popular UC San Diego summer day camps and overnight camps are among a handful of elite Southern California summer camps accredited by the American Camp Association.

We offer a variety of cutting-edge summer camp courses for beginner through advanced learners. Kids and teens learn one course topic per week, specializing in video game design, iPhone® app development, Flash® animation, programming, video editing and more – using the best brand name products from Adobe®, Apple®, Autodesk®, Google, Microsoft® and beyond. Come explore the college campus and gain skills that will last long after summer camp ends. Continue to Step 2 for Course Availability, Tuition & Dates.

About UC San Diego

NOTE: Looking for our exact location on campus? You must first be enrolled; you can then access that information through My Account. Not yet enrolled? Go to Step 2 to enroll. The maps included here are for general information only.

Many students use their summer camp experience with iD Tech Camps to explore colleges that they’re interested in attending in the future. Learn on campus, eat in the dining halls and ages 10+ can even stay overnight (at most campuses).

We chose UCSD to host our summer computer camps because La Jolla, California has been called “The Best Place to Live in America.” At UCSD, sculptures and famous modern architecture can be seen throughout the campus, and students can enjoy beautiful Southern California weather between their tech classes. UCSD is conveniently located only minutes from downtown San Diego and a short 25 minute drive from San Diego International Airport, making it the perfect day camp or overnight camp location. Come check out our summer camps in San Diego!

UC San Diego

U.S. News and World Report ranks UCSD as the 7th best public university in the nation. UCSD is a powerful magnet for those seeking a fresh, next-generation approach to education and research. UCSD boasts 5 Nobel Laureates on its faculty, and has one of the nation’s highest percentages of faculty elected to prestigious national academies.

UC San Diego Facts

Mascot: UC San Diego Tritons (King Triton)
Founded: 1959
UC San Diego Academics: As a large, mainly residential research university, UCSD is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and as of 2008, has granted 5,337 bachelor’s degrees, 894 master’s degrees, 488 doctorate degrees, and 125 medical degrees. They host a doctoral program that coexists with their undergraduate degree, along with professional business, medicine, and pharmacy programs. Additionally, UC San Diego offers 52 master’s programs, along with 51 doctoral programs, and 4 professional programs.
Student Population: UC San Diego has approximately 22,706 undergraduate and 1,057 graduate students. The school is organized into six undergraduate colleges and six graduate divisions.
Rankings: According to the 2009 U.S. News & World Report, UC San Diego was ranked 7th among public universities. UCSD was also selected as the “Hottest” science school by Newsweek in 2006 and in its 2008 report on best values in public colleges, Kiplinger ranked UCSD in the top 20 for both in-state value and out-of-state value (11th for in-state and 17th for out-of-state).
Athletics: UC San Diego is considered a DII school, meaning it participates at the NCAA’s division II level. UCSD’s sports include basketball, soccer, golf, baseball, tennis, swimming, water polo, volleyball, crew, track and field, fencing, cross country, and softball. UCSD experienced its best athletic season in 2006-2007, where 19 of 23 athletic programs qualified for competition in the post-season. Even better, 17 of these teams went to the NCAA Championships.
Distinguished Alumni and Personnel: UCSD’s notable alumni include Nobel Prize winner Susumu Tonegawa for his work in immunology. There are also a number of science fiction authors including Kim Stanley Robinson who earned their PhDs at UCSD. Cartoon animation producer and director Mike Judge also attended UC San Diego.

Meals

All meals are included with our overnight and extended day programs. Day campers have the option of purchasing the lunch plan or bringing a sack lunch. The lunch plan is recommended, but not mandatory. If the lunch plan is purchased, lunch is provided Monday-Friday. Many university dining facilities do not permit outside food to be brought into the dining hall; students bringing bag lunches may eat outside of the dining hall with their classmates and instructors.

Maps/Carpool

See maps and driving directions in My Account for detailed directions on how to get to our exact location on campus. Want to Carpool? Go green and save some green when you carpool to camp! Sign up for our Carpool app in My Account to see the other families in your area that are interested in carpooling.

Staff Ratio Guarantee

iD Guarantee

Students learn in small classes for a personalized experience. How small? Classes typically have 5, 6, 7, or 8 students – but never more than 8 per instructor. That's the iD Guarantee - if we ever go over an 8:1 ratio, you get a free week of camp!

Adult-Only Instructors

iD Tech Camps recruits energetic, experienced instructors to teach our technology courses and supervise our students. Our summer staff is adult-only, with no Counselors-in-Training.

Personalized Instruction

Courses are personalized to students' abilities, and therefore suitable for beginner to advanced levels in most cases. Because of the ridiculously small ratios (max 8:1 or a free week with the iD Guarantee), instructors have time to consistently work with students 1-on-1 and adjust curriculum to their interests and experience level.

Project-Based Curriculum

We encourage a hands-on approach to technology; students learn by doing. Each student is provided with a computer and learns to work with the same products that professionals use in their fields. Students complete a project showing off their new technology skills by the end of each weeklong session they attend. By focusing on practical applications of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) skills, iD prepares students to take their new tech knowledge back into the real world.

Staff at this Location

Meet some of the amazing instructors that have taught at UC San Diego over the years.

• “J-Lo”: J-Lo has extensive experience teaching and working with youth, having spent 4 years leading Forecast Productions, a family and youth-based touring drama troupe. He works with kids of all ages, and loves sharing his love for technology with students.
• “Lotus”: Lotus grew up in Colorado and loves digital art and web design. She started a web design business during a break from college, then moved to Southern California to finish up her bachelor’s degree and intends to pursue a master’s so she can teach at the university level. She has taught web and video game design at iD Tech Camps for multiple years, and teaching here is always the highlight of her year.
• “Flash”: Flash is a San Diego native who has been programming for 6 years. He is currently going into his second year at UCLA as an Applied Math major. He loves working with students and is excited to teach all of his gifted students as well as have a blast doing other activities!
• “Psylocke”: Psylocke is from Canada but has lived in San Diego for most of her life. She worked in the video game industry on EverQuest and EverQuest II as a Quality Assurance Analyst for two years, followed by two years as a Game Designer. She is now a junior at UCSD, pursuing a major in Computer Science. She enjoys a lot of different video games like Mass Effect and StarCraft but also enjoys outdoor activities, reading, writing, travel and programming.

Safety & Peace of Mind

Risk Management

Adult staff and instructors supervise all activities. iD has a policy of never using Counselors-in-Training (CITs).

American Camp Association^® Accreditation

iD Tech Camps is accredited by the ACA at multiple locations, meaning we have met over 300 health and safety requirements. All camps follow ACA guidelines.

Background Checks

We conduct criminal background checks, sexual offender background checks, multiple reference checks and identification checks on all summer staff.

CPR & First Aid

All camps have Directors and Staff that are CPR and First Aid Certified.

Sample Week

A typical day varies depending on session and location, but it might look something like this:

	SUNDAY	MONDAY - THURSDAY	FRIDAY
7:30 am		Extended Day Campers – Check In Overnight & Extended Day Campers - Breakfast
8:30 am		Day Campers - Drop Off & Arrival Activities
9 am		Welcome & Opening Activity	Finesse Projects to Gold Version
9:30 am		Instruction – Jump on the computers!
10 am
11 am			Friday Activity
12 pm		Lunch – Overnight and Extended Day Campers eat in the campus dining hall.  Day Campers can choose to bring a bag lunch or purchase the meal plan.	Picnic Lunch
			Raffle
1 pm		Instruction – Back to the labs, woo hoo!	Showcase Prep
2 pm			Family Showcase
2:30 pm		Techtivities – Ultimate Frisbee?  Apples to Apples anyone?  Gaming tournaments?  We’ve got it all!
			All campers - Check Out
3:30 pm		Instruction – Back to the labs!	Ultimate Gaming Weekends – Option available at select locations.
5 pm		Day Campers - Pick Up & Closing Activities Overnight & Extended Day Campers – Open Lab/Free Time
5:30 pm	Overnight Campers - Check In
6 pm	Welcome	Dinner
6:30 pm	Dinner	Evening Activity - Movie Nights, Local Outings, Gaming Tournaments & more!
7 pm		Extended Day Campers – Pick Up
7:30 pm	Evening Activity	Evening Activity – cont’d.
8 pm
8:30 pm	Drills
9 pm	Chillax
10 pm	PreTeen Lights Out
11 pm	Lights Out!

Off-Computer Camp Activities

Students typically spend 5-6 hours on the computer each day. iD Tech Camps is careful to balance technology and fun - giving students Tech-Reation time. When they're not on the computer, students participate in fun summer activities like talent shows, play board games, compete in sports, take part in gaming tournaments and more.

Family Showcase

Every Friday afternoon, we invite parents and friends to come and experience iD Tech Camps. See the labs where students learn, explore campus, meet our staff, applaud students' course projects and attend the personalized diploma ceremony.

Hours/ Camp Options

Day Camp - Day Camp runs Monday through Friday, with drop off between 8:30 - 9 am and pick up between 5 - 5:30 pm (3:30 pm on Fridays).
Extended Day - Extended Day Camp runs Monday through Friday, with drop off at 7:30 am and pick up at 7 pm (3:30 pm on Fridays).
Overnight Options - Overnight camps are available at most locations for students ages 10 and up. Overnight camp runs Sunday through Friday, with drop off at 6 pm on Sunday and pick up at 3:30 pm on Friday.
Ultimate Gaming Weekends - Stay the weekend and game with us. UGW is fully supervised and includes housing, meals and supervision. It is available at the end of an Overnight Camp week or as a bridge between two consecutive weeks of Overnight Camp. Not available at all locations.

Attention Southern California Teens!

Our summer camps in SoCal at UC San Diego just got even cooler for our teen students. We have specialized teen activities including free time to hang out, movie nights, extra project time, and as always, plenty of gaming. Check out our other cool teen-only programs like the iD Gaming Academy, iD Programming Academy, iD Visual Arts Academy and Ultimate Gaming Weekends (offered at select locations).

iD in the News

UC San Diego News

Watch iD Tech Camps on NBC's Today Show with Kathie Lee and Hoda!

Apr 12th, 2012

As appeared in the Santa Barbara Independent - UCSB Computer Camp Challenges Kids

Aug 2nd, 2011

As appeared in the Santa Barbara Independent - article about our UCSB summer camps

Aug 2nd, 2011

As appeared in the San Diego Union Tribune - article about our CA camps held at UCSD

Jul 21st, 2011

As appeared in the San Diego Union Tribune - Kids develop video games, apps at "Tech Camp"

Jul 21st, 2011

Testimonials From UC San Diego

What Parents Are Saying

“When we came to pick up our daughter, I was very glad to see her so happy and social. The game she created was excellent and the staff is very cool and hip – which is what teens need to stay positively engaged in this ever changing world. I would definitely recommend this camp to any parent whose child has an interest in art and computers! Rosalyn M., parent, UC San Diego

“My son has enjoyed his experience with iD Tech Camps so much that he keeps going back every year. He has gotten his sister so excited about it that she is attending camp next week. Thank you for making this such a positive influence and a fun way to spend his summer. Manjulika W., parent, UC San Diego

“The money spent on this camp was well worth it!!! My son was challenged and had an amazing experience. I love that you included outdoor activities. He is already planning on coming back next year. Josie G., parent, UC San Diego

“This was a great camp and a wonderful experience. Our son was completely enthralled with the experience and has been motivated to continue his work on web design. David C., parent, UC San Diego

“Very pleased to see my child get such hands-on, exclusive instruction. He is really enjoying the camp, this is the direction he wants to go for college. Jerome R., parent, UC San Diego

What Campers Are Saying

“I had a great time learning how to build and program robots! I think there was a good amount of both free time and working time – the mix was perfect. Tommy S., student, UC San Diego

“This is a truly special camp. The fact that all of the students have their own computers is awesome! I had a fabulous time at this camp! Nick M., student, UC San Diego

“I made some great friends! My instructor was so friendly and truly helpful. He was the best instructor ever! The rest of the staff was amazing and the camp director was like a best friend to every camper. Jakob T., student, UC San Diego

“Like always, iD Tech Camps has proven to be an amazing and thrilling camp that pleases and entertains me each and every year. Austin Q., student, UC San Diego

“This camp teaches you in such an interactive way that you can’t help but have fun while learning. This camp is going to be a great memory forever. Daniel N., student, UC San Diego

Frequently Asked Questions

What courses are offered at this location?
Go to Step 2.

When does camp start?
See Step 2 for the dates of our weeklong university summer computer camps.

How much does camp cost?
The cost of tuition varies depending on the course, location and camp option that you choose. Basic Day Camp ranges from $749 to $1,049 per weeklong course. There are additional costs for program add-ons.

How can I save on tuition?
There are many ways for you to save!

• Register early to take advantage of our seasonal promotions.
• Refer-a-Friend and you and your friend both save $50.
• Sign up for multiple weeks to save $50 off each additional week.
• Register multiple siblings and save $50 for each sibling.

Do you offer financial aid?
iD Tech Camps is proud to offer tuition assistance for families who qualify. Application deadlines are announced each year in the Spring.

What is your cancellation policy?
Balance payments, less the non-refundable deposit, are refundable up until 3 weeks prior to the start of the confirmed camp week/session. No refunds will be issued for cancellations or withdrawals within 3 weeks of the start of confirmed camp weeks/sessions. All cancellations must be made online in My Account or submitted in writing to the internalDrive Inc. office no later than 3 weeks prior to the start of camp. For more details, please see our Terms & Conditions.

Does my child need to have a high computer IQ?
No, our courses are for beginner to advanced students. Because of our small ratios, instructors can work with students 1-on-1 and personalize the curriculum for each student's level.

Should my child bring a personal laptop to camp?
No, students do not need to bring laptops to camp. We provide a computer for each student to use for the week. All materials necessary for the course will be provided.

Do you have any teen programs?
iD Tech Camps has a Teen Scene that provides older students with a more independent experience on campus. Teens enjoy extra privileges appropriate for their environment and maturity levels, and although we maintain standard supervision ratios, teens will feel a sense of freedom. Special Teen Scene activities include computer gaming tournaments and Gamingpalooza.

iD also offers specialized iD Teen Academies in Gaming, Programming and Visual Arts at select locations across the country. These teen camps are intensive, two-week courses with tours of nearby industry hot spots and bi-weekly portfolio building workshops. See our iD Teen Academies page for more information.

How do I register? How do I contact you?
To register, find availability at the location you desire, and you'll be guided through the process. Registering online is the fastest way to get into camp. Or, you can phone us at 1-888-709-TECH (8324) or 1-408-871-2227. You can also email us at info@internalDrive.com. And, if you'd like a brochure sent to you, please click the brochure link.

Course Tuition (Program options are found on the next step)