| Application deadline | Unconfirmed — check official site | April 1, 2027 (2027 cycle) | Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Cost | Unconfirmed — check official site | $600 (2027 cycle) | Catalog terms: $7,465; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Financial aid | Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site | Catalog terms: Verified-need scholarship: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. Scholarships are restricted to applicants whose need can be reliably verified. Award size, documents, budget, and timing vary and are not guaranteed.; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Expenses and aid conditions | Unconfirmed — check official site | Ohio State residence hall, linens, and supervision: $0. Included in the $600 fee.; Program meals: $0. Included in the $600 fee. (2027 cycle) | Catalog terms: Possible laboratory-material fee: $0–$149.3. Only disciplines needing laboratory materials may charge this fee; Pioneer caps it at 2% of $7,465 tuition, or $149.30. Actual applicability and amount depend on placement.; Verified-need scholarship: Amount: Unconfirmed — check official site. Scholarships are restricted to applicants whose need can be reliably verified. Award size, documents, budget, and timing vary and are not guaranteed.; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Stipend or pay | Last year's cycle (2026): 2026 Summer I or Summer II fellowship: $4,000; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site | Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Eligibility | Grades 10–12 when applying; check the provider's rules for graduating seniors | Grades 9–11 when applying; summer rising grade is one higher | Grades 9–12 when applying; check the provider's rules for graduating seniors |
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| Additional eligibility | Residency: Must be able to participate at an available Project SEED site or eligible virtual project; in-person site selection considers a safe daily commute; Requirement: Document household annual income at or below 300% of applicable Federal Poverty Guidelines; Requirement: Provide an accepted tax, free/reduced-lunch, SNAP/WIC, TRIO, or SAT/ACT fee-waiver eligibility document; Requirement: Preferably be a current high-school sophomore, junior, or senior; the 2026 cycle also allowed graduating seniors; Requirement: Have completed at least one high-school chemistry course and demonstrate interest in science or chemistry; Requirement: Obtain parent/guardian permission if under 18; Requirement: Be available for the full project, normally at least eight weeks and about 40 hours weekly for in-person research; Requirement: Meet the local site's commute, safety, lab, onboarding, and schedule requirements; Exclusion: Applicants who cannot document the financial-eligibility requirement; Exclusion: Applicants without completed high-school chemistry; Exclusion: Applicants unable to commit to the selected site's full schedule or safely commute for an in-person placement; Exclusion: Assuming prior lab experience is required or guarantees selection; Exclusion: Assuming application guarantees a placement, preferred lab, virtual option, $4,000 next-cycle amount, conference trip, publication, college credit, recommendation, scholarship, admission advantage, or job | Residency: Ohio resident; Requirement: Be a current high-school freshman, sophomore, or junior; Requirement: Submit a teacher recommendation; Requirement: Show ability to work on a team and willingness to learn new STEM concepts; Requirement: Be available for the full residential session; Exclusion: Students outside Ohio are not eligible; Exclusion: Individualized scholarships are not available | Requirement: Be a high-school student in grade 9-12 under the current admission description; Requirement: Demonstrate academic readiness, intellectual curiosity, independence, integrity, and sustained interest in one or more proposed research areas; Requirement: Be able to read scholarly material, write in academic English, attend live online seminars and professor meetings, and complete intensive independent work; Requirement: Secure counselor support before submission and arrange the official transcript plus counselor or teacher assessment after submission within the published window; Requirement: Complete the video interview and proctored timed writing if the initial application passes screening; Requirement: Commit to the complete seminar, literature-review, topic-development, individual-mentoring, and original-paper process for the assigned term; Exclusion: Applicants are not guaranteed admission, a specific discipline, a particular professor, a scholarship, publication, college admission, or transfer-credit acceptance; Exclusion: Professors do not choose students and are not identified to applicants before admission and matching; Exclusion: Test scores are optional, not a stated admission requirement; Exclusion: A discipline can fill before the final deadline, and an application may receive conditional or waitlist status; Exclusion: The current program costs $7,465 and spans multiple academic divisions |
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| Session dates or duration | Catalog terms: 8–10 weeks; 2027: Unconfirmed — check official site | Starts June 6, 2027; Ends June 17, 2027; 2 weeks (2027 cycle) | Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Format | Hybrid | In person | Online |
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| Housing and supervision | Non-residential. Supervision and housing details: Unconfirmed — check official site | Residential. Supervision and housing details: Unconfirmed — check official site | Non-residential. Supervision and housing details: Unconfirmed — check official site |
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| Location | Participating university, government, and industry research sites; virtual projects may also be offered | Columbus, Ohio, Ohio Supercomputer Center and The Ohio State University campus | Online and available to high-school students worldwide |
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| Selection and application | Selection: Local coordinators select among financially and academically eligible applicants based on performance, science interest, full-summer availability, site capacity/budget, safe commute, and mentor/project fit. ACS publishes no single current acceptance rate. | Selection: Competitive and space-limited; applications are evaluated for teamwork and willingness to learn, but capacity and acceptance rate are not published. Application materials: One teacher recommendation | Selection: Pioneer uses holistic review of academic history, essays, interests, school materials, a video interview, and proctored timed writing. Decisions generally take six to eight weeks and may be admit, conditional, waitlist, or deny. The official pages publish no acceptance rate or automatic GPA/test threshold, and placement capacity varies by discipline. Application materials: Required short-answer responses and longer essay; Video interview after initial screening |
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| Official sources | Source 1 · checked 2026-08-20Source 2 · checked 2026-08-20Source 3 · checked 2026-08-20 | Source 1 · checked 2026-10-09Source 2 · checked 2026-10-09Source 3 · checked 2026-08-22 | Source 1 · checked 2026-08-20Source 2 · checked 2026-08-20Source 3 · checked 2026-08-20Source 4 · checked 2026-08-20 |
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