The application period for the UC Davis Young Scholars Program is January 15 to 11:59 PM on March 15.  Students wishing to apply for the coming summer must create a user account before beginning the application process.

Significant fee reductions are available on a sliding scale based on need, the number of students requesting reductions, and the amount of money available. We cannot give estimates of possible fee reductions prior to the application deadline because there are too many variables.

To be considered for a fee reduction, you must submit your request for consideration at the time of application. These requests are not considered in the selection process and are only reviewed after the selections have been made.
To request a fee reduction, gather your parents’ most recent Federal Income Tax Form and mail it, along with a cover letter describing your family’s financial obligations to the Program Director by March 16th:

    Megan Bettis, Program Director
   UC Davis Young Scholars Program
   School of Education
   One Shields Avenue
   Davis, CA 95616

Application deadline is March 15th at 11:59 PM. The online application must be submitted by the deadline, as well as any requests for fee reduction. Applicants will be notified of the review committee's decisions on or before April 15th.

Your Applicant ID# is the same as your User ID#.  You should be able to find that number in your application submission confirmation email. If you cannot find it there, simply insert your home zip code/postal code number in its place.

Unfortunately, due to the volume of applications we receive, UCD-YSP is not able to confirm application submission beyond the email that is sent upon submission. If you do not receive an email confirmation, please check your Junk mail folder or your SPAM folder. Gmail will automatically send our emails to the Junk Mail folder unless you include jrpomeroy-at-ucdavis.edu in your favorites. If you are mailing additional materials, it is best to use a mail/courier service that provides tracking and delivery confirmations.

No, you don’t have to be a resident of California to apply to and attend the Young Scholars Program. We accept both out of state and international students who will be rising juniors or rising seniors during the summer program. International students should contact the Executive Director for additional information that applies to international students only. 

Yes, all participants must be at least sixteen (16) years of age by the first day of the program. Students must not be eighteen (18) years of age before the end of the program.  

If accepted, you will be notified of your project when you arrive on the first day of the program. The available research projects may vary year-to-year but you can visit our website,  http://ysp.ucdavis.edu/research-projects, to see overviews of projects students have worked on in the past. We anticipate projects that are similar in scope and subject area this year. 

Program participation includes Saturday field trips, including one possible overnight field trip. Students are welcome to go home after returning from the weekend field trips if they are signed out by a parent or guardian and return by building curfew on Sunday evening.

Requests to be absent for Saturday field trips for special occasions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Please use the Contact form to email the Program Director with special requests. 

UC Davis Young Scholars Program has an acceptance rate of about 10-12%. We accept 40 students per year.

Recommendation forms must be filled out by teachers.  At least one of the recommendations must come from a science teacher. Recommendations completed by counselors are not accepted.

Requests for recommendations are emailed to your teachers when you click the “Request Recommendation” button in the application. If you teacher did not receive a recommendation request:

1. Check that you correctly entered your teachers’ email addresses
2. Ask your teacher to check their SPAM or Junk mail folders for email from mmckenzie@ucdavis.edu
3. Have teachers’ add the email address mmckenzie-at-ucdavis.edu as an accepted address (Replace the -at- with an @)
4. Resend the recommendation request
5. If teachers’ have still not received your request, contact the Executive Director at mmckenzie-at-ucdavis.edu (Replace the -at- with an @)

The UC Davis Young Scholars Program is a residential program. Participants are required to live in the dorm and can only be checked out of the dorms for extended periods of time on a temporary basis by a parent or guardian.

Supplemental application materials are not required and will not be reviewed by the application committee.

No, all applications are reviewed at the same time, after the submission deadline.

Yes

No, we do not pre-determine the level of fee reductions any applicant might qualify for. What we can say is that every year the UC Davis Young Scholars Program awards up to $25,000 in fee reductions. These reductions are provided to applicants who request consideration for the fee reduction at the time of application. The amount of the fee reduction is based on the family's income, their specific financial circumstances, the number of students requesting fee reductions and the amount of funding available.