“Ivy Scholars” was a small pre-collegiate summer program that was started by professors in 2001. In 2012, the program changed its name to Yale Young Global Scholars (YYGS).  “Yale Young Global Scholars (YYGS)” is an excellent educational program for exceptional high school students worldwide. Every summer, participants from more than 150 countries, including all 50 states of the US, take part in a two-week interdisciplinary session at Yale University’s historic campus. The program offers four academic tracks focusing on STEM, social science, interdisciplinary, and humanities subjects, respectively. This year the students were selected from an outstanding applicant pool of over 8,000 high school sophomores and juniors. As a part of the program, you get the opportunity to enhance your academic skills. This experience allows you to become fully engaged in a worldwide learning community at Yale.

You will be able to explore Yale and experience the benefits of a diverse and inclusive community. The program will help develop your collaborative skills with enriching discussions. You will not get any course credit or grades for this program and you will set your own limits. The students receive an electronic certificate at the end of the program.

Curriculum

Being the foundation of the academic program the curriculum of YYGS allows many interactive sessions.

Breakdown Discussions: During discussions, the students explore the lecture material further by exchanging knowledge and raising inquiries about practical applications with a few peers.
Capstone Project: The students analyze a collaborative project under the mentorship of YYGS staff.
Family Time: The students take part in fun social activities and make memorable bonds.
Lectures: You will get a chance to attain real-world knowledge from Yale faculty members and leading practitioners.
Seminars: You can pursue your passion by attending one of the seminars.
Symposium: This is a great way to experience hands-on activities for your niche area.

Yale Young Global Scholars (YYGS) offers four interdisciplinary sessions in June and July:

Innovations in Science & Technology

Innovations in Science and Technology is a STEM program for students who wish to broaden their knowledge in various scientific disciplines and apply their understanding to practical real-world situations. Students are introduced to diverse fields such as physics, chemistry, neuroscience, and astronomy, as well as interdisciplinary applications that span from the minute scale of nanotechnology to the immense scale of astrophysics.

Sample Lectures Offered:

• Listening is Not Hearing – A Review of the Honan/Duffy Musical Intervention to Improve Stethoscope Auscultation Skills: Tom Duffy
• Robots that Teach: Brian Scassellati
•  Dwarf Galaxies, Dark Matter, and the Milky Way: Marla Geha

Sample Seminar Offerings:

• Design Thinking for Innovation: Creating Solutions That Make a Difference
• Quantum Mechanics: What on Earth Does it Actually Mean?
• Can I Edit My Own Genes?
• Can We Regenerate the Brain?
• Artificial Intelligence May Be Too Intelligent
• Diets of the Future: Sustaining Ourselves and a Dying Earth

Literature, Philosophy, & Culture (LPC)

Literature, Philosophy, & Culture session (LPC) is for students interested in expressing and interpreting creativity and culturally significant texts. Participants study fiction, philosophy, poetry, theater, film, music, visual arts, dance, and other creative arts.

Sample Lecture Offerings:

• Killing and Letting Die: The Trolley Problem: Shelly Kagan
• LGBTQ+ Autonomy and the Language of Freedom: Roderick Ferguson
• Nation Building and Public Architecture: Kishwar Rizvi

Sample Seminar Offerings:

• Do You Exist? Existentialism, Freedom, and the Meaning (Absurdity) of Life
• What Happens after Death?
• How to be a Bad Person: Ethical Dilemmas and Moral Injury
• Storytelling 101: Why Stories Matter, and How to Tell Them
• Our Brains on Stereotypes: The Psychology of Prejudice, Stereotyping, and Discrimination
• Truth: A Philosophical and Literary Exploration

Politics, Law, & Economics (PLE)

Politics, Law, & Economics (PLE) is for students who want to build their critical thinking and analytical skills with an interest in understanding diverse economic theories, the values and practices of government, and legal frameworks from historical and comparative perspectives. Students learn key ideas in topics such as public policy, human rights, market regulation, governance structures, international policy, and conflict and cooperation across borders.

Sample Lecture Offerings:

• The Good Life After the Age of Growth: Daniel Markovits
• Inequitable by Design: The Law, Politics and Economics Behind COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access: Ximena Benavides Reverditto
• Where Do Human Rights Come From? Samuel Moyn

Sample Seminar Offerings:

• Rethinking Free Trade, Economic Multilateralism, and International Finance in a Calamitous Decade of Global Affairs
• Chat GPTerminator: Mass Hysteria or the Doom of Mankind?
• Every Word We Say Is Political: Politics and Language, Democracy and Tyranny
• Locked Up in the Land of the Free
• Statelessness and Nationalism in the Middle East

Solving Global Challenges (SGC)

Solving Global Challenges (SGC) focuses on solving the greatest challenges facing the global community in the 21st century. The students come up with innovative and cross-disciplinary approaches to develop solutions to issues with a global impact. These wide-ranging topics include global health, gender equality, poverty alleviation, art in protest, environmental sustainability, and green technologies.

Sample Lecture Offerings:

• New Technologies for a Greener Planet: Dan Prober
• Granting Refuge: The Role of State Institutions in Refugee Asylum Outcomes: Angela McClean
• The Climate Crisis in Perspective: Doug Kysar

Sample Seminar Offerings:

• Visions of AI, the wonderful and terrible dream
• Will Machines Learn Better than Humans?: Decoding the Transformation of Education in the AI Era
• Trapped by Poverty: Graphing the Cycle of Global Inequality
• So You Want To Become a Dictator: A Practical Roadmap for Aspiring Authoritarians and Those Who Want to Stop Them
• Is it all just in your head? Global domination, racism and the story of how psychology became a tool for torture
• The Social Media Age and Activism Fatigue

Admissions

Current high school sophomore or junior students are eligible to apply for YYGS. The applicants can apply for Early Action or Regular Decision. The applications are read on a rolling basis. You are not eligible to apply if you had participated earlier in the program.

Components of the Application:

Activities list
One 400-word essay and one 200-word response
Two “fast take” responses (280 characters each)
Official school transcript
One Recommender (who will complete the YYGS Recommendation Form)
Application fee** ($60 for Early Action and $75 for Regular Decision)
OPTIONAL: English fluency test scores (TOEFL or DuoLingo)

Cost of Attendance

The full program tuition for one, 2-week session for YYGS Residential students is $6,500. The tuition covers housing, meals, and curriculum materials.

In conclusion, the Yale Young Global Scholars program provides intellectually curious high school students with a unique opportunity to challenge themselves and expand their knowledge in a supportive and stimulating environment. YYGS equips students with the tools and perspectives they need to become effective global citizens and positively impact their communities. YYGS offers an unforgettable summer experience that will inspire and motivate you to pursue your academic and personal goals.

We can help you with your YYGS application process. Working with study abroad consultants, overseas education consultants, or, as more commonly known, college counselors, can help you plan ahead and make those high school years count. Ivy Central offers exceptional focus to help you prepare for college admissions throughout the high school years. Start today!