Students who love math and science and excel in these subjects have a chance to spend four weeks in residence at a University of California campus this summer learning about astronomy, marine mammal biology, robotics, earthquake engineering, advanced mathematics, and much more.
The California State Summer School for Mathematics & Science (COSMOS) is a residential program for talented and motivated students who are completing grades 8-12. The application deadline is March 16. (Note: Applicants who will be completing the eighth grade must have taken science and math courses well beyond their grade level to be considered for admission to the program.)
The COSMOS mission is to motivate the most creative minds of the new generation of prospective scientists, engineers and mathematicians in California and the nation, and to create a statewide community of scholars.
COSMOS programs are offered at UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz, and at UC San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering, and will run from July 9 through Aug. 5. Each site will accept 150 top students, while the newest program at San Diego will enroll 120 students in its inagural summer.
Applications are screened by faculty who teach the COSMOS course clusters, and admission is competitive.
COSMOS students run laboratory experiments, conduct fieldwork and attend college-level lectures given by UC faculty and master high school teachers. Class sizes are small, between 20-23 students, offering each participant a rich intellectual experience.
But the COSMOS experience goes beyond the classroom.
For example, George Quiñonez of Los Angeles, who attended the program at UC Irvine, wrote that "the knowledge I gained at COSMOS is something I can use every day. The regular conversations I had with experienced professors and mentors have influenced me and my future choices immensely. I am so excited about going to a four-year university after this experience because I see how fulfilling it can be to do research in a field of your interest."
On a typical day, COSMOS students attend lectures, take courses or participate in labs or course-related field trips. Recreation and study groups are built into the evening and weekend schedules. Special activities and supervised field trips are planned for the weekends.
At UC Irvine, excursions may include the Palomar Observatory, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Catalina Island, San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh, and Laguna tide pools. At UC Santa Cruz, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, kayaking in Elkhorn Slough, the Joseph M. Long Marine Laboratory, and the Lick Observatory enrich course content. At UC Davis, students may visit Genentech Inc., the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Aerojet, or the Center for Geotechnical Modeling. And at UC Dan Diego, field trips may include the Scripps Institution of Oceanography collections, the Birch Aquarium, the Scripps Research Pier, earthquake engineering laboratories, and more.
The application and financial aid forms are available now at: www.ucop.edu/cosmos, with links to the four program sites. Academically advanced students are invited to apply to one of the four campuses and select three possible course cluster options by the March 16 deadline, after reviewing the offerings and prerequisites at each of the campus sites. A non-refundable $20 application fee is required, and the application is returned online, with additional mailings that must be postmarked by March 16.
Selection is competitive. Admission is based upon standardized test scores, grade point average, achievement in science projects and/or competitions, teacher recommendations, motivation, and community service.
More than 2,400 students have attended COSMOS since its inception in 2000, coming from 46 of California's 58 counties. They comprise a culturally and ethnically diverse group, with girls accounting for about half of the participants.
Tuition is $2,000 for California residents, which covers room and meals in a university residence hall, field trips and all academic activities. One third of California residents receive full or partial financial aid, based on documented financial need. Non-California residents pay the full tuition cost of $6,200.
Strong interest in the program from corporations, private donors and foundations in California and beyond allows COSMOS to provide financial aid for students with documented need, fellowships for 29 participating master high school teachers each summer, and a range of program enhancements such as laptop computers in labs and guest lectures by nationally renowned science researchers and Nobel Prize laureates.
The California State Summer School for Mathematics & Science (COSMOS) is a residential program for talented and motivated students who are completing grades 8-12. The application deadline is March 16. (Note: Applicants who will be completing the eighth grade must have taken science and math courses well beyond their grade level to be considered for admission to the program.)
The COSMOS mission is to motivate the most creative minds of the new generation of prospective scientists, engineers and mathematicians in California and the nation, and to create a statewide community of scholars.
COSMOS programs are offered at UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz, and at UC San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering, and will run from July 9 through Aug. 5. Each site will accept 150 top students, while the newest program at San Diego will enroll 120 students in its inagural summer.
Applications are screened by faculty who teach the COSMOS course clusters, and admission is competitive.
COSMOS students run laboratory experiments, conduct fieldwork and attend college-level lectures given by UC faculty and master high school teachers. Class sizes are small, between 20-23 students, offering each participant a rich intellectual experience.
But the COSMOS experience goes beyond the classroom.
For example, George Quiñonez of Los Angeles, who attended the program at UC Irvine, wrote that "the knowledge I gained at COSMOS is something I can use every day. The regular conversations I had with experienced professors and mentors have influenced me and my future choices immensely. I am so excited about going to a four-year university after this experience because I see how fulfilling it can be to do research in a field of your interest."
On a typical day, COSMOS students attend lectures, take courses or participate in labs or course-related field trips. Recreation and study groups are built into the evening and weekend schedules. Special activities and supervised field trips are planned for the weekends.
At UC Irvine, excursions may include the Palomar Observatory, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Catalina Island, San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh, and Laguna tide pools. At UC Santa Cruz, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, kayaking in Elkhorn Slough, the Joseph M. Long Marine Laboratory, and the Lick Observatory enrich course content. At UC Davis, students may visit Genentech Inc., the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Aerojet, or the Center for Geotechnical Modeling. And at UC Dan Diego, field trips may include the Scripps Institution of Oceanography collections, the Birch Aquarium, the Scripps Research Pier, earthquake engineering laboratories, and more.
The application and financial aid forms are available now at: www.ucop.edu/cosmos, with links to the four program sites. Academically advanced students are invited to apply to one of the four campuses and select three possible course cluster options by the March 16 deadline, after reviewing the offerings and prerequisites at each of the campus sites. A non-refundable $20 application fee is required, and the application is returned online, with additional mailings that must be postmarked by March 16.
Selection is competitive. Admission is based upon standardized test scores, grade point average, achievement in science projects and/or competitions, teacher recommendations, motivation, and community service.
More than 2,400 students have attended COSMOS since its inception in 2000, coming from 46 of California's 58 counties. They comprise a culturally and ethnically diverse group, with girls accounting for about half of the participants.
Tuition is $2,000 for California residents, which covers room and meals in a university residence hall, field trips and all academic activities. One third of California residents receive full or partial financial aid, based on documented financial need. Non-California residents pay the full tuition cost of $6,200.
Strong interest in the program from corporations, private donors and foundations in California and beyond allows COSMOS to provide financial aid for students with documented need, fellowships for 29 participating master high school teachers each summer, and a range of program enhancements such as laptop computers in labs and guest lectures by nationally renowned science researchers and Nobel Prize laureates.
# # #
For more information please visit:
www.ucop.edu/cosmos