Admissions
2025 Admissions
Stanford Middle School Scholars Program is open to students from low-income backgrounds currently in grades 6 or 7 who reside in and attend school in the United States. Applicants should be interested in or planning to apply to an academically rigorous high school or summer enrichment program. Scholars are required to attend both the summer and fall semester components of the program. Admitted students’ families typically have household incomes under $90,000. The average household income of enrolled Scholars’ families has been $55,000.
Note for current Scholars or reapplicants: Students may only participate in the Stanford Middle School Scholars Program for one year. If a student is not admitted on their first application, they may reapply the next summer, if they are still eligible.
Application Deadline
Admissions Notification
When your admissions decision is ready, you will receive an email notification.
Application Process
2. Review Application Checklist
In addition to the online application form, a complete application includes:
Academic Records
We require unofficial transcripts for each school or academic program from which you earned grades (such as letter or numerical grades) from Fall 2022 through Fall 2024. If you have multiple grade reports from one school, rather than one transcript from that school, combine that into a single file for upload. Homeschooled applicants should submit a document similar to a transcript with their coursework from the years listed above. Homeschooled students should also submit transcripts from any graded courses they took with a school or program during this period.
Teacher Recommendation
We require one (1) online recommendation form to be included with your application. This recommendation should come from a history, social science, English/language arts, science, math, engineering, or computer science teacher. You may submit an optional second recommendation form from a counselor, principal, or mentor (which can be another teacher). Be sure to ask your recommenders if they are willing to submit this form for you and then add the teacher(s) to your application early, as this step will email them the online form.
No application fee is required.
3. Check Your Application Status
After completing your application, return to the Application Status and Materials Checklist page to make sure all of your application materials have been submitted. When your admissions decision is ready, you will receive an email notification that prompts you to log in to this page for the decision.
A Note About Email
Each applicant will receive a confirmation email from us after their application is received and processed. If SMSSP has any questions about your application, or if there is something missing, an email will be sent asking that the applicant contact us to resolve the situation. Be sure to check your email regularly and respond to us when needed.
If you have any questions about the application or program, reach out to us here.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies (SPCS) is committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive and accessible community. We honor students’ authentic identities, varied perspectives, thoughts and experiences in all of our programs.
I chose to enroll in the Stanford Middle School Scholars Program because I am constantly looking for ways to challenge myself, and I wanted to be a part of a program with high standards. SMSSP enables me to ask questions, receive answers, and develop my ideas.