Thank you for visiting the UC Davis Young Scholars Program website. Please take a moment to share your experience by completing a short survey.

Applications for summer 2023 are now closed.

To review decisions for summer 2023: https://ysprogram.ucdavis.edu/application

Applications for summer 2024 will open January 15, 2024

To be eligible to participate, applicants must be 16 years of age by the first day of the program but not 18 years of age before the last day of the program.

No exceptions will be granted. Requests for exceptions will not receive a response.

Application Procedures 

Deadline: March 15th 

An online, nonrefundable application fee of $25 is required. Students wishing to request a waiver of the application fee should contact the Director at ysp@ucdavis.edu prior to submitting the online application.

Online Application Components

The online Young Scholars Program application requires the following:

• Student, parent and referring teacher contact information
• School information, including weighted and un­weighted GPAs
• Two teacher recommendations submitted through the Young Scholars Program teacher recommendation website. The online recommendations will form the primary reference, letters of recommendation are not required and will not be reviewed
  • One recommendation MUST be from a science teacher
  • The other must be from another teacher
  • Recommendations from counselors or mentors from outside of school are discouraged
• Summary of school activities and other interests, activities and research experiences
• Personal essay

Optional: Students requesting a fee reduction should mail a letter from the parents or guardians explaining the family’s financial circumstances.

Requests for fee reductions should be received at the following address by the close of business on March 15th:

Megan Bettis, Program Director
UC Davis Young Scholars Program
School of Education
University of California
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616-8579

mmckenzie@ucdavis.edu