Admissions

2026 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

March 25, 2026

Admissions Notification

Mid-May 2026
When your admissions decision is ready, you will receive an email notification.

Application Process

1. Review Data Security and Privacy

In order to evaluate an application, we must collect personal information about the student and their parents and legal guardians. Parents and legal guardians are required to submit the application with their minor student. Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies defines a minor as a student that has not reached the age of 18 years old.

Before families start the student’s application, they should review the Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies Applicant Privacy Notice that explains how we collect, use, disclose and process their information. By starting the application, parents and legal guardians are consenting to the collection of their student’s data and the parent or legal guardian’s data described in our privacy notice.

Applicant Privacy Notice

2. Start an Application

Create a Stanford Middle School Scholars Program (SMSSP) application account. The application account should be made with the student applicant's legal name, though a parent and legal guardian email address may be used to receive application communications.

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3. 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 2023 through Fall 2025. 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.

4. 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.

SMSSP was a place where I was able to explore many interesting topics. It was fun, exciting, and helped me learn a lot.

Evelyn

Stanford Middle School Scholar

Stanford University and Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies Non-discrimination Policy

Stanford University admits qualified students of any race, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, or marital status to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the University. Consistent with its obligations under the law, in the administration of the University's programs and activities, Stanford prohibits unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, marital status or any other characteristic protected by applicable law; Stanford also prohibits unlawful harassment including sexual harassment and sexual violence. This policy applies to Stanford programs and activities both on and off-campus, including overseas programs.

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