Who May Apply
Academically talented high school students, who are residents of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and are current juniors at the time of the application deadline may apply to the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Sciences. Applicants will be expected to demonstrate academic achievement, interest in the sciences and mathematics, and a record of pursuing this interest in activities beyond the classroom. The application postmark deadline is usually in the first week of January.
The Selection Process
Announcements of the program and applications are sent out in the Fall to each high school in the state, both private and public, by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the twenty-nine Intermediate Units. The application consists of four parts. The applicant completes the Personal Data Form, attaching essays. Two teachers, a science teacher and a mathematics teacher, complete reference forms. The applicant's guidance counselor completes a recommendation form and attaches the student's transcript, attendance record, and test scores and class standing, if available.
PGSS usually receives over 500 applications each year from students with excellent academic backgrounds, scientific activity, and standardized test scores. The competition is very intense. A selection panel, comprised of PGSS administration, Carnegie Mellon University faculty, high school science and math teachers and state education officials, convenes each spring to read applications. All parts of the application are taken into account, with emphasis on the student's written expression and ideas conveyed through the essays as well as the transcript. The teacher and counselor forms are read for evidence of the student's daily work habits, attitudes, curiosity, independence, and reliability.
In order to achieve a broad geographical representation, at least one student meeting the selection standards is selected from each Intermediate Unit. The balance of students meeting the entrance standards are selected with the objective to provide a reasonable number of students from major population areas but not denying deserving students from rural areas, maintaining a male/female ratio as close to unity as possible, and including as many minorities students as possible. Nearly all the students selected to attend the PGSS accepted this honor and the scholarship to attend.
The committee selects 90 students from across the state.