By Karen Phan, Staff Writer
The California State Summer School for Math & Science (COSMOS) is an academic, four-week residency that provides high school students and incoming freshmen quality education and experience in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Four University of California (UC) campuses host COSMOS: Davis, Irvine, San Diego and Santa Cruz. While each site offers different curricula depending on its resources, their mission remains the same: enrich and engage students in STEM.
COSMOS is geared toward students who have an aptitude or interest in STEM. The program develops students’ skills in STEM through challenging workshops, labs, experiences and other research led by UC faculty.
Participants are admitted into one cluster based on their interests in STEM and remain in that cluster during their residency. These clusters are cover various topics in STEM, like chemical biology or sustainability, and are typically modified each year with new resources and information.
At UCI COSMOS, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are lecture days while Tuesdays and Thursdays are lab or field days. All participants also learn technical writing and communication, which is especially important for their final research project.
Toward the end of the four week residency, participants are required to present a research project about their cluster in order to receive the COSMOS certificate of completion.
Applications for UCI COSMOS open on Jan. 4, 2019 and close on Feb. 1, 2019. Each campus accepts 160 to 200 students.
In order to apply for UCI COSMOS, students must fill out an online application that includes a personal essay question and requires a parent/guardian e-signature(s). Students must also have one teacher recommendation, preferably from a STEM teacher. High school students must mail an official high school transcript(s) postmarked on/before Feb. 1 to UCI COSMOS, and freshmen must additionally mail their 8th grade report card. It costs 30 dollars to apply, and checks or money can be mailed to the UC Regents’ West Sacramento address.
Tuition for UCI COSMOS 2019 costs 3,932 dollars including room and board for California residents. Students can apply for financial aid during and must send their financial aid documents to the UC Statewide office at UC Davis.
COSMOS not only fosters talent and skill, but also gives student a mock college experience and prepares them for future study in STEM.
“Even though it can get a little challenging at times, I’d say it was an amazing opportunity since you get a chance to work with college professors on your own projects. Anyone interested in STEM at all should definitely apply,” said senior and UCSD COSMOS alumna Vivianne Le.
To learn more about UCI COSMOS, visit the official UCI COSMOS page at cosmos.uci.edu.
