The Early Bird application for the 2025 Best Week Ever (BWE) — the most popular, well-attended, and highly ranked high school summer program of its kind — is now open through December 1, giving current high school juniors the opportunity to save $200 and secure a limited spot in this life-changing program.
Summer 2025 will mark the 27th year of this wildly popular program, which boasts more than 4,500 alumni since 1999. Each year, hundreds of high school students spend a week on campus and describe the week as one of the best weeks of their lives, ranking it on average 4.74 out of 5 on an exit survey.
During each one-week session, participants take classes from Christendom’s faculty, attend daily Mass and adoration, and participate in a variety of recreational activities, including canoeing and hiking in the Shenandoah Valley, performing in a talent show, playing dodgeball, participating in a parliamentary-style debate, and learning to contra and swing dance–all while forming friendships with like-minded Catholics along the way.
There will be five one-week sessions available to high school juniors. While the normal all-inclusive cost for the program — which includes classes, activities, lodging, airport shuttles, meals, a program t-shirt, and more — is only $600, all Early Bird applicants accepted to the summer program will automatically save $200.
The week is a life-changing experience for so many participants, including 2024 summer program participant Agustin Mora.
“The week was quite truly the best week ever, it is no misnomer,” says Mora. “I was able to see the culture of Christendom and gained so much from the experience. I had a blast at all the activities that we had throughout the week, and I really experienced what Catholic culture is like in the day-to-day. The classes were phenomenal and very fulfilling. The week reminded me that it is truly possible to ‘be great’ and to ‘restore all things in Christ’ in the real world. The week was, honestly, life-changing.”
Sessions fill up very quickly and each year the college has to implement a waiting list, so interested students are encouraged to apply anytime from November 1 through December 1 to take advantage of this opportunity to secure a spot at a discounted rate. The summer program committee will review all Early Bird applications following the close of the application on December 1, and applicants will hear back by Christmas as to whether they have been accepted.