Summer Residential Precollege Spotlight: AEM 2400 Marketing with Professor G. Scott Erickson

by Shelley Preston,
SCE News, May 1, 2025

During the summer, Cornell’s School of Continuing Education (SCE) hosts hundreds of on-campus high school students and undergraduates from around the world.

Through Cornell’s Precollege Studies Programs, motivated juniors and seniors work closely with Cornell experts, study rigorous curriculum alongside undergraduates and earn college credit. High schoolers can choose to take courses and live on campus through the Precollege residential program, live off campus with a parent or guardian and attend classes as a commuter or study online.

One popular course open to Precollege students is AEM 2400 Marketing, a three-credit course taught by Professor G. Scott Erickson with the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. This summer, it’s offered both online (June 23–July 11, 2025) and on campus (July 14–August 1, 2025).

The course explores the components of an organization’s strategic marketing program, such as how to price, promote and distribute its goods and services. Dr. Erickson also introduces guest lectures from industry and presents opportunities for students to analyze current marketing applications from various companies.

Joel Eulo, who took the course as a high schooler said, “Cornell offered me a great opportunity to learn about a subject that I may want to pursue as a career. The professor took time to help me, which enhanced my ability to understand and take away from the course content. Cornell offered a great experience to understand what college level classes are like and how to prepare for them.”

SCE asked Dr. Erickson what Precollege students can expect from taking his fast-paced, rigorous course over the summer.

How long have you been teaching AEM 2400 at Cornell?

I've been teaching some form of an introduction to marketing course for 30 years, but specifically for AEM 2400 at Cornell, it's been about 8 years.

What’s it like to teach a course where there are high school students in class?

Students are very engaged, but sometimes a little nervous as they are unused to a college format and how strict the rules might be. Generally, they start to relax and enjoy the course once they get comfortable with the system and structure of the class. For me, it's always interesting to have the literally worldwide range of experiences and perspectives within the course as students really do come from everywhere.

Who’s the ideal student for this course?

Self-motivated, disciplined, curious. The course moves really fast so students have to be self-starters who complete the work on a timely basis. The course is set up to encourage that, but it still works best when the students are independent and want to learn about marketing in an interesting, applied manner.

What are the things that you enjoy teaching about this course to both undergrads and high school students in the same classroom?

The mix of perspectives. The undergraduates are still usually early in their programs, so still somewhat new to the college. But they do know the ropes, as it were, and usually complete the course in a straightforward manner. For high school students, it's often their first college experience and so the enthusiasm is at a different level. Often the curiosity as well. Out of all the options available through SCE, this is the course they chose, so there is usually real interest in learning something about marketing.

What do you hope your students come away with by the end of the course?

What should high school students know about taking a full-credit course in just a couple weeks?

We have 15 days instead of 15 weeks, so we're doing a week's worth of material every day. You don't want to fall behind because it's extremely difficult to catch up. At the same time, we've done this before and numerous students just like them have successfully completed the course, so if they put in the work, we'll get them through it.