University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh (abbreviated as Edin. in post-nominals), founded in 1582,is the sixth oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's ancient universities. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city of Edinburgh, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university

The University of Edinburgh was ranked 19th in the world by the 2016–17 QS rankings.It is now ranked 23rd in the world according to 2018 QS Rankings. It is ranked as the 6th best university in Europe by the U.S. News' Best Global Universities Ranking, and 7th best in Europe by the Times Higher Education Ranking. The Research Excellence Framework, a research ranking used by the UK government to determine future research funding, ranked Edinburgh 4th in the UK for research power, and 11th overall. It is ranked the 78th most employable university in the world by the 2017 Global Employability University Ranking.It is a member of both the Russell Group, and the League of European Research Universities, a consortium of 21 research universities in Europe. It has the third largest endowment of any university in the United Kingdom, after the universities of Cambridge and Oxford.

The university played an important role in leading Edinburgh to its reputation as a chief intellectual centre during the Age of Enlightenment, and helped give the city the nickname of the Athens of the North. Alumni of the university include some of the major figures of modern history, including physicist James Clerk Maxwell, naturalist Charles Darwin, philosopher David Hume, mathematician Thomas Bayes, surgeon Joseph Lister, signatories of the American declaration of independence James Wilson, John Witherspoon and Benjamin Rush, inventor Alexander Graham Bell, first president of Tanzania Julius Nyerere, and a host of famous authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, J.M. Barrie and Sir Walter Scott. Associated people include 23 Nobel Prize winners, 2 Turing Award winners, 1 Abel Prize winner, 1 Fields Medal winner, 2 Pulitzer Prize winners, 3 Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, 2 currently-sitting UK Supreme Court Justices, and several Olympic gold medallists. It continues to have links to the British Royal Family, having had the Duke of Edinburgh as its Chancellor from 1953 to 2010 and Princess Anne since 2011.

Edinburgh receives approximately 50,000 applications every year, making it the fourth most popular university in the UK by volume of applicants. After St Andrews, it is the most difficult university to gain admission into in Scotland, and 9th overall in the UK.

History

Founded by the Edinburgh Town Council, the university began life as a college of law using part of a legacy left by a graduate of the University of St Andrews, Bishop Robert Reid of St Magnus Cathedral, Orkney. Through efforts by the Town Council and Ministers of the City the institution broadened in scope and became formally established as a college by a Royal Charter, granted by King James VI of Scotland on 14 April 1582 after the petitioning of the Council. This was an unusual move at the time, as most universities were established through Papal bulls. Established as the "Tounis College", it opened its doors to students in October 1583. Instruction began under the charge of another St Andrews graduate Robert Rollock.It was the fourth Scottish university in a period when the much more populous and richer England had only two. It was renamed King James's College in 1617. By the 18th century, the university was a leading centre of the Scottish Enlightenment.

Development

Before the building of Old College to plans by Robert Adam implemented after the Napoleonic Wars by the architect William Henry Playfair, the University of Edinburgh did not have a custom-built campus and existed in a hotchpotch of buildings from its establishment until the early 19th century. The university's first custom-built building was the Old College, now Edinburgh Law School, situated on South Bridge. Its first forte in teaching was anatomy and the developing science of surgery, from which it expanded into many other subjects. From the basement of a nearby house ran the anatomy tunnel corridor. It went under what was then North College Street (now Chambers Street), and under the university buildings until it reached the university's anatomy lecture theatre, delivering bodies for dissection. It was from this tunnel the body of William Burke was taken after he had been hanged.

Towards the end of the 19th century, Old College was becoming overcrowded and Robert Rowand Anderson was commissioned to design new Medical School premises in 1875. The medical school was more or less built to his design and was completed by the addition of the McEwan Hall in the 1880s.

The university's New College building

The building now known as New College was originally built as a Free Church college in the 1840s and has been the home of divinity at the university since the 1920s.

The university is responsible for a number of historic and modern buildings across the city, including the Scotland's oldest purpose-built concert hall, and the second oldest in use in the British Isles, St Cecilia's Concert Hall; Teviot Row House, which is the oldest purpose built student union building in the world; and the restored 17th-century Mylne's Court student residence which stands at the head of Edinburgh's Royal Mile. By the end of the 1950s, there were around 7,000 students matriculating annually.

The building that houses the university's Institute of Geography, was once part of the Royal Infirmary

The two oldest schools – law and divinity – are both well-esteemed, with law being based in Old College and divinity in New College on the Mound. Students at the university are represented by Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA), which consists of the Students' Representative Council (SRC), founded in 1884 by Robert Fitzroy Bell, the Edinburgh University Union (EUU) which was founded in 1889. They are also represented by the Edinburgh University Sports Union (EUSU) which was founded in 1866.

The medical school is renowned throughout the world. It was widely considered the best medical school in the English-speaking world throughout the 18th century and first half of the 19th century. (The first medical school in the United States was founded at the University of Pennsylvania in 1765 by Edinburgh alumni John Morgan and William Shippen). It is ranked 1st in the UK's most recent RAE. The Edinburgh Seven, the first group of matriculated undergraduate female students at any British university, began studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1869. Although they were unsuccessful in their struggle to graduate and qualify as doctors, their campaign gained national attention and won them many supporters including Charles Darwin. It put the rights of women to a University education on the national political agenda which eventually resulted in legislation to ensure women could study at University in 1877. In 2015 the Edinburgh Seven were commemorated with a plaque at the University of Edinburgh, as part of the Historic Scotland Commemorative Plaques Scheme.

The University's McEwan Hall building

On 1 August 2011, the Edinburgh College of Art (founded in 1760) merged with the University of Edinburgh. As a result, Edinburgh College of Art has combined with the university's School of Arts, Culture and Environment to form a new (enlarged) Edinburgh College of Art within the university.

All teaching is now done over two semesters (rather than 3 terms) – bringing the timetables of different Schools into line with one another, and coming into line with many other large universities (in the US, and to an increasing degree in the UK as well).

Organisation

In 2002, the university was reorganized from its nine faculties into three "colleges". While technically not a collegiate university, it now comprises the Colleges of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), Science & Engineering (SCE) and Medicine & Vet Medicine (MVM). Within these colleges are "schools" – roughly equivalent to the departments they succeeded; individual schools have a good degree of autonomy regarding their finances and internal organisation. This has brought a certain degree of uniformity (in terms of administration at least) across the university.

Central Area

The Central Area includes George Square (which itself includes the University's George Square Lecture Theatre), the Informatics Forum, The Dugald Stewart Building, Old College, New College, McEwan Hall, St Cecilia's Hall, Teviot Row House, the old Medical School buildings in Teviot Place, and surrounding streets in Edinburgh's Southside. It is the oldest region, occupied primarily by the College of Humanities and Social Science, and the Schools of Computing & Informatics and the School of Law, as well as the main university library. The Appleton Tower is also used for teaching first year undergraduates in science and engineering. Meanwhile, Teviot Place continues to house pre-clinical medical courses and biomedical sciences despite relocation of the Medical School to Little France. Nearby are the main EUSA buildings of Potterrow, Teviot and Pleasance. Former residents of George Square include Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Some of these buildings are used to host events during the Edinburgh International Festival every summer. The main library (Edinburgh University Library) is also located at George Square. New College, overlooks Princes Street and only a short walk from Waverley Rail Station and other Edinburgh landmarks. The building is on the Mound, which houses the School of Divinity – parts of which are also used by the Church of Scotland.

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Yale University

A hands-on lesson in separating the wheat from the chaff

Leo Tolstoy, his long  beard white, stood beside a horse in a photograph on a screen under the Yale Farm’s Lazarus Pavilion. A second image showed an aerial photograph of the author’s estate, Yasnaya Polyana. A bungee cord tied to a cinderblock anchored the screen against gusty wind. Rain pattered against leaves.

It was not the nicest day for a wheat-threshing lesson, but 19th-century Russian peasants never got to take a rain check. Fifteen students were seated on wooden benches around two large tables. One of the tables bore four bunches of wheat and a skep hive of coiled straw.

The class, “Ecology and Russian Culture,” is co-led by Molly Brunson, associate professor of Slavic languages and literatures, and Isabel Lane, a doctoral candidate and teaching fellow in the same department. The course covers Russian literature, art, and film from the 19th century onward. Several class sessions are held at the farm and involve hands-on activities led by Jeremy Oldfield, manager of field academics for the Yale Sustainable Food Program (YSFP). In this session, based on the theme “The Estate and the Landowner,” the students threshed and winnowed wheat.

 

A student tosses the contents of a bowl to separate wheat from chaff.

Winnowing produced clouds of chaff fluttering through the air.

Lane began by describing what inspired her to utilize the farm, which occupies an acre on Edwards Street. She was a teaching fellow for “Masterpieces of Russian Literature 1,” and the class was reading Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina,” which contains detailed sections on Russian agriculture, particularly on agricultural reform and applying technology to wheat production.

“People don’t generally like these sections of the book,” Lane said, adding that the sections’ main character, Konstantin Levin, has been cut from film adaptations of the novel.

She wanted to reinvigorate the novel’s agricultural sections and, more broadly, make literary works touching on ecology and agriculture more comprehensible and interesting to her students. She enlisted support from YSFP, which routinely collaborates with Yale faculty and graduate students to incorporate food and agriculture into courses of study. Each semester, classes from across disciplines utilize the Yale Farm for “hands-on” learning in the same way they would the university’s museum galleries and libraries.

For this course, the farm provides Lane and Brunson a setting for offering their students a fresh perspective on the works of Tolstoy, Chekhov, and other Russian writers and artists. Lane urged the students to think of the peasants and serfs depicted in short stories by Tolstoy and Nikolai Gogol — the day’s assigned reading — as they participated in the day’s activity.

The 10,000-year history of wheat

Oldfield provided a concise summation of the 10,000-year history of wheat. He presented four examples of wheat — all grown on the farm — beginning with einkorn wheat, which was one of the first grains humans cultivated domestically. Einkorn represented the moment when people began to breed agricultural grasses and base a substantial portion of their nutrition, trade, and power on grain, Oldfield said, though that specific variety produced a low yield.

Oldfield, who manages the farm, explained that people began to breed desirable traits into wheat. He presented a variety popular in Eastern Europe in the 1800s that produced larger berries than einkorn and seed heads that come apart more easily. He noted that the variety grew on tall stalks and that its non-edible structures were used to thatch roofs or craft useful things, like the skep hive — a dome-shaped basket that attracts honeybees and other pollinators — built by a Yale Farm intern from straw grown onsite.

He concluded the talk with examples of two modern “dwarf” varieties, which were bred to grow to a lower and uniform height to facilitate harvesting with a combine. Then it was time for the students to work like 19th-century Russian peasants.

Oldfield directed the class to two metal washtubs set on a table piled with bunches of wheat — a variety called “Red Russian,” developed in the mid-19th century by European immigrants in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

“As we go, you’ll see why threshing became a figure of speech for expending a lot of energy to produce very little,” Oldfield said.

He instructed the students to “thwack” the wheat bunches against the sides of the tubs to knock loose a slurry of wheat berries and chaff.

“Get a little bit crazy with it,” Oldfield said.

The students assaulted the wheat with a will, thwacking it against the tubs, producing a cacophony but yielding few wheat berries. Some students, frustrated, started plucking the berries loose with their fingers.

“It would probably take us until 9:30 tonight to finish this,” Oldfield said before moving on to winnowing, the process of separating the berries from the chaff.

Each student had a turn tossing the slurry in a wicker basket before a small fan — a slight modern touch. Chaff started swirling in clouds like dandelion spores.

“This hands-on element is revelatory,” Brunson said. “To know how much labor goes into this process is important. It opens up an argument that the artists and writers we’re studying aren’t necessarily depicting reality. They’re providing an interpretation, perhaps a wistful interpretation, of reality.”

The class discussed “The Threshing Barn,” a painting by 19th-century artist Grigory Soroka. 

The class discussed “The Threshing Barn,” a painting by 19th-century artist Grigory Soroka.

Following the activity, students — some with bits of chaff in their hair — returned to the benches and engaged in a discussion with Brunson and Lane.

They discussed “The Threshing Floor,” a painting by 19th-century artist Alexei Venetsianov that depicts serfs in a barn containing a heaping pile of wheat berries.

“This is the work you’ve just done,” Brunson said. “So what do you think of Venetsianov’s representation?”

The students pointed out that the barn is strangely clean given the amount of work it would have taken to produce the large mound of grain and that the serfs lack personality and appear listless.

The discussion eventually moved to the short stories, “The Old-World Landowners” by Gogol, and “Master and Man” by Tolstoy, which portray life on Russian estates in the 1830s and 1890s, respectively. They discussed the roles of food and ecology in the stories and the relationship of the serfs and peasants to the nobles.

At the end of class, Brunson reminded the students that they would meet the next week in a traditional classroom, provoking a collective plea of “No!”

“The students have been on board since day one,” Brunson said. “I think they recognize the experimental nature of the course and they are excited to be the part of it. It’s wonderful to have that.”

Enhancing understanding of class material

Lane and Brunson have worked closely with Oldfield to provide the students meaningful experiences that enhance their understanding of the class material. A workshop on identifying tree species supplemented readings on hiking through the forest. A discussion of artificial interventions that trigger tomato blight complemented a story of a little girl who creates unnatural physical environments. A talk in the farm’s orchard augmented a discussion of Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard.”

They also had a session at the Landscape on Yale’s West Campus in which Justin Freiberg, the farm manager, led a foraging session, showing the students how to identify edible plants. Later this semester, the class will visit the Peabody Museum of Natural History where exhibition preparator Michael Anderson will discuss his work creating lifelike bird models with a 3-D printer.

“Honestly, this is one of my favorite classes,” said first-year student Chayton Pabich.  “Every week we’re doing something new; every week it’s something more exciting. I had never considered threshing wheat before. Doing that for hours and hours every day would explain why the serfs were unhappy.”

Pabich said the hands-on component provides him a deeper understanding of the material being covered.

“The class discussions always involve some new interpretation of whatever we’re reading,” he said. “Most people probably don’t read Tolstoy and ask about the trees. It’s interesting and I love it.”

Residential Colleges

The Residential College housing system is at the heart of the Yale experience. Before arriving as a freshman each student is randomly assigned to one of fourteen residential colleges, giving Yalies a built-in community from the moment they arrive. Most Yale students quickly become convinced that their residential college is the best. Each close-knit community, housed in stunning buildings centered on a green courtyard, serves as a microcosm of Yale’s diverse student population, while preserving the intimacy of a smaller college experience.

Students pass under a brick archway into the sunlit Pierson College courtyard.A student sits on a wall to read while another lounges in a hammock on a Residential College lawn.Students enjoying spring weather in the Timothy Dwight College courtyard.A wall adorned with several Residential College shields.Students eat a meal in the Berkeley College dining hall at sunset.A flowering tree brightens The Branford College courtyard in Spring.A Diverse group of Calhoun College students and staff at a cookout.A student waving a Jonathan Edwards College flag at an outdoor event.Columns and arches line an avenue connecting the Saybrook and Branford Residential Colleges.A group of students enjoying a meal in the Pierson College dining hall.Students pass under a brick archway into the sunlit Pierson College courtyard.A student sits on a wall to read while another lounges in a hammock on a Residential College lawn.

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Residential Colleges Defined

Far more than dormitories, Yale’s residential colleges serve as a home away from home for students. Each college has its own distinctive architecture, courtyard, dining hall, library, and activity spaces such as a movie theater, music room, recording studio, dance studio, and gym. 

The term “college” can be misleading. Yale’s residential colleges have nothing to do with majors or academic interests. Before arriving as a freshman each student is randomly assigned to a college, where they will spend all four years. Each college creates a microcosm of the undergraduate student body as a whole, allowing students to have the cohesiveness and intimacy of a small school while still enjoying the vibrancy and resources of a world-class university. The residential colleges are among the most diverse communities at Yale; they also the most significant in the everyday lives of Yale students.

The colleges provide an exceptional opportunity to meet and learn from students with different interests – people students might not otherwise encounter in their courses or extracurricular activities. While many students form their closest and most enduring friendships through their college, students can choose to engage in residential college life as much as they like.

The colleges also bring together faculty and students to form an integrated support system. Each College hosts guest speakers, fellowships, and cultural events. With programs of formal advising, seminars, and activities that encourage students’ extracurricular interests, the colleges create a dynamic bridge between academic and social life.

Now more than 75 years old, Yale’s residential college system is perhaps the most distinctive feature of undergraduate life at Yale.

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Princeton University

Princeton scientists share Breakthrough Prize for mapping the early universe

Seventeen current or former Princeton University researchers have been awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for their “detailed maps of the early universe that greatly improved our knowledge of the evolution of the cosmos and the fluctuations that seeded galaxies

Norman Jarosik, Lyman Page Jr. and David Spergel were publicly honored on Dec. 3 for their pioneering work on the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, the NASA satellite known as WMAP. They share the $3 million prize with Charles Bennett of Johns Hopkins University, Gary Hinshaw of the University of British Columbia, and the other 22 members of the WMAP team. It includes Jo Dunkley, a Princeton professor of physics and astrophysical sciences, and 13 former Princeton postdoctoral researchers and students.

“Somehow, we seem to have done it,” Spergel said in a video presented during the awards program. “We think we understand the physics that happened in the universe’s first moments.”

Jarosik is a senior research physicist and lecturer in physics, Page is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Physics, and Spergel is the Charles A. Young Professor of Astronomy on the Class of 1897 Foundation.

The new Breakthrough laureates received their honors at NASA Ames Research Center in Palo Alto, California, at a televised awards ceremony Sunday evening.

"Norman Jarosik, Lyman Page Jr. and David Spergel are brilliant physicists whose research has transformed our understanding of the age, shape, and evolution of the universe,” said Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber, who attended the event with the three physicists.

“Their pioneering work has illuminated some of the most challenging topics in astrophysics, yielding dazzling insights that continue to shape the field today,” he said. “I am grateful for their contributions to the Princeton community, and I am thrilled that they have been recognized with this well-deserved honor."

The physics award was presented by Sam Altman, the president of the startup company seed funder Y Combinator, and Mayim Bialik, a neuroscientist and star of TV’s “Big Bang Theory.”

The experiment to measure the cosmic microwave background radiation — the signature of the Big Bang — began at Princeton more than a decade ago and involved a team of University contributors, including cosmologist David Wilkinson and the late physicist Robert Dicke. Originally known as MAP, the satellite was renamed WMAP to honor Wilkinson, who died in 2002.

NASA launched the WMAP satellite in 2001 toward the second Lagrange point of the Earth-Sun system, one of the two spots where Earth and the sun exert equal gravitational pulls on an object, located about a million miles from Earth. From there, the satellite scanned the universe, mapping out tiny temperature fluctuations across the sky.

“To my surprise, we saw what we expected to see. With WMAP, the tools we had were good enough to explain what the universe looked like 13.8 billion years ago, really for the first time, with high precision,” Spergel said in the video.

WMAP’s “baby picture of the universe” revealed the hot, young universe at only 375,000 years old. Among many other discoveries, scientists interpreting WMAP’s nine years of data have determined that the universe is 13.77 billion years old and is composed primarily of dark energy, representing more than 70 percent of all matter.

In addition to Jarosik, Page, Spergel '82, Wilkinson and Dunkley, nine other members of the WMAP team participated in the research while graduate students or postdoctoral researchers at Princeton: Chris Barnes *98, Rachel Bean, Olivier Dore, Eiichiro Komatsu, Michele Limon, Mike Nolta *02, Hiranya Peiris *03, Kendrick Smith and Licia Verde. In addition, team members Stephan Meyer *80, Al Kogut '83, Greg Tucker *91 and Edward Wollack *94 all studied at Princeton.

The Breakthrough Prizes, first awarded in 2013, recognize scientists in the fields of Life Sciences (up to five per year), Fundamental Physics (up to one per year) and Mathematics (up to one per year) with $3 million prizes for each award. This year, seven Breakthrough Prizes were given, with the Princeton scientists sharing the sole prize in the Fundamental Physics category. In addition, up to three $100,000 New Horizons in Physics and up to three New Horizons in Mathematics Prizes are given out to early-career researchers each year.

Princeton biologist David Botstein and physicist Andrei Bernevig received Breakthrough Prizes in 2013 and 2015, respectively.

The Breakthrough Prizes were founded by Sergey Brin, Yuri and Julia Milner, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, and Anne Wojcicki. Selection committees composed of previous Breakthrough Prize laureates choose the winners.

Connecting Learning & Service

The value of service is central to the mission of Princeton as a liberal arts university. It infuses the passions and pursuits of our students, faculty, staff and alumni, and is essential to how Princetonians serve the public good.

The University has reinforced its commitment to helping students and alumni use their educations to not only benefit themselves but also society more broadly. We push students, faculty and alumni to think about how their research, education and lives will benefit the nation, the world and humanity, and give them the support and resources to make it happen.

Sonia Sotomayor addressing audience in Richardson Auditorium

Leading Lives of Purpose

Princetonians pursue service in many ways, such as through a profession, vocation or role.

With innovation and purpose, our students work with each other to propose and pursue civic engagement projects throughout their time at Princeton. Ideas for engagement arise through classes and research, student organizations and campus activities, and many have a home in the Pace Center for Civic Engagement. 

Our alumni engage in service across the world, participating in civic society and leading meaningful lives connected to a larger purpose and impact. Every year, more than 15,000 alumni volunteer to serve Princeton and University-sponsored projects. Alumni can serve with their class, regional associations, affiliated groups, the Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni and more. Annually at Alumni Day, top honors go to an undergraduate alumnus and a graduate alumnus for their service to society.

How to Apply

For each class, we bring together a varied mix of high-achieving, intellectually gifted students from diverse backgrounds to create an exceptional learning community. 

We care about what students have accomplished in and out of the classroom. The process is highly selective. In recent years, we've offered admission to less than 10 percent of applicants.

As you prepare your application, help us to appreciate your talents, academic accomplishments and personal achievements. We'll ask for your transcript and recommendations, and we will want to know more than just the statistics in your file. Tell us your story. Show us what’s special about you. Tell us how you would seize the academic and nonacademic opportunities at Princeton and contribute to the Princeton community. Above all, please write in a style that reflects your own voice.

Princeton accepts the Coalition Application, Common Application, and the Universal College Application. Princeton treats them all equally. To apply, you will need to submit online either the Common Application, the Coalition Application or the Universal College application, plus the Princeton Supplement.

Application Checklist

Submit

The Coalition Application, Common Application or the Universal College Application

Princeton Supplement

Request

Transcript

School Report

Guidance Counselor Letter

Two (2) Teacher Recommendations

Report

SAT with Essay or ACT with Writing

Two (2) SAT Subject Tests (recommended, but not required)

TOEFL, IELTS Academic or PTE Academic (nonnative speakers of English without 3 years of high school in English)

FULL DETAILS

When to Apply

You have two choices for applying to Princeton for first-year admission — single-choice early action or regular decision. Before you begin preparing your application, we strongly encourage you to review our standardized testing policy, which includes detailed information regarding our standardized testing requirements.

Single-choice Early Action, also known as restrictive early action

(If you have thoroughly researched your college options and have decided that Princeton is your first choice) Learn more about single-choice early action.

Nov. 1 

Application Due

Princeton Financial Aid Application Due

If you submit your admission application on or before Nov. 1, there is a grace period until Nov. 10 to allow additional time for you to submit your financial aid forms.

Regular Decision

Jan. 1

Application Due

Feb. 1 

Princeton Financial Aid Application Due

MORE APPLICATION DATES & DEADLINES

Who Can Apply

First-year fall applicants*

Transfer students through the transfer admission process

* If a student has submitted an application on three separate occasions, the Office of Admission generally will not review subsequent applications. In these instances, if an application fee was submitted, it will be returned.

Fee Waiver

We want to make sure that Princeton is accessible to all candidates, regardless of their individual family’s financial situation. If you are from a low-income background, or if the application fee is a hardship for your family, and you are applying for financial aid, Princeton will waive your application fee. Additionally, we will waive the application fee for all candidates who are serving or have served in the U.S. military. You may submit a fee waiver one of two ways:

Select the fee waiver option on the Common Application, Coalition Application or the Universal College Application. Your college or guidance counselor must approve your fee waiver request online or submit your fee waiver form by mail or fax.

Select one of the following fee waiver options on the Princeton Supplement: Princeton-specific, ACT, College Board, NACAC or Realize Your College Potential. All low-income students are eligible for the Princeton-specific fee waiver. In addition, all applicants who are serving or have served in the U.S. military are eligible for the Princeton-specific fee waiver. If you use the Princeton-specific fee waiver, you do not need to get approval from your college counselor. Students named QuestBridge Finalists should select the QuestBridge fee waiver.

Upon submission of your Common Application, Coalition Application or Universal College Application with the Princeton Supplement, the checklist in your Princeton Applicant Portal will reflect that your fee waiver has been granted. Please note that applying for a fee waiver will not disadvantage your application in any way.

Undocumented or DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) Students

Princeton’s admission and financial aid policies are the same for undocumented or DACA students as they are for all other students applying to the University for admission or financial aid.

The University’s generous need-based financial aid program applies equally to all applicants. If admitted, undocumented students can be confident that their full financial need, as determined by the financial aid office, will be met.

We encourage undocumented students to consult with the Office of Admission and the Office of Financial Aid if they have any questions about our process.

Veterans' Benefits

Princeton University especially welcomes applications from veterans and dependents who are eligible for education benefits offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, which include the Yellow Ribbon Program, and complies with the principles outlined in Executive Order 13607.

Princeton participates fully in the Yellow Ribbon Program without limitation on the number of students who are eligible. The executive order addresses key areas relating to federal military and veterans' educational benefits programs. Please visit our U.S. Military Veterans section to learn more. 

Disability Services

The Office of Disability Services offers a range of services to ensure that students with disabilities have equal access to Princeton's academic and extracurricular opportunities.

The Disability Services staff is available to meet with prospective students who are visiting the campus. Also, for more information you may visit the office's website.

The University's admission process involves a holistic review of each applicant's entire file. No particular factor is assigned a fixed weight; rather, the process involves a highly individualized assessment of the applicant's talents, achievements and his or her potential to contribute to learning at Princeton. Please see the Joint Statement on Common Ivy Group Admission Procedures for more information about admission policies.

 

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University of Pennsylvania

Academics

Grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and enriched by the integrated resources of four undergraduate and 12 graduate schools, Penn offers students an unparalleled education informed by inclusivity, intellectual rigor, research, and the impetus to create new knowledge to the benefit of individuals and communities around the world.

Explore Across Disciplines

Penn students develop the intellectual connections they need to thrive in an ever-changing and complex world. Working with faculty across a flexible curriculum spanning 4 undergraduate and 12 graduate schools, students develop adaptable, well-rounded minds. The physical proximity of the university’s resources make thinking and learning between departments and disciplines a part of everyday life at Penn. From innovative dual degree programs that defy traditional academic boundaries to rigorous grounding in the liberal arts and sciences, Penn is fueled by an open and endless exchange of ideas.

Innovate and Apply Knowledge

Penn students do more than just wrestle with big ideas—they bring them to life by putting them to use, embracing a practical approach to education that dates to Penn’s founder, Benjamin Franklin. Encouraged by professors and supported by the university, students test their knowledge through practical application—in our labs and classrooms, throughout Philadelphia, and around the world. By connecting their studies to actual problems, Penn students develop the skills, experiences, and inclination to thrive in a world that needs innovative 

Belong to a Diverse Community

Join a community where you can be who you are and do what you love. At Penn, you will live and learn among inspiring and talented people, encountering a remarkable range of backgrounds, interests, and beliefs. Supportive and stimulating, Penn offers everything our students need to feel at home—from dynamic College Houses to opportunities for cultural exploration to the unmatchable spirit of Ivy League athletics.

Live in a Vibrant City

To Penn students, Philadelphia is more than the nation’s fifth-largest city and cheesesteak capital. The City of Brotherly Love is a second home and a vital part of their education. A short walk from campus, this extended classroom offers great museums, research opportunities, corporate internships, iron chef restaurants, the nation’s largest city park system, ethnic neighborhoods, professional sports, live music—and countless opportunities to play a role in making the city even better.

Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships

The Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF) is a unique resource that links students with research opportunities throughout the entire University. CURF links students with research opportunities throughout the University.

CURF advisors assist undergraduates interested in research with finding faculty mentors and opportunities for involvement. In addition, CURF helps those interested in post-graduate fellowships to develop competitive applications and proposals and provides information and assistance for undergraduates applying for funding for research and research-related activities.

Undergraduate Publishing

The value of research is increased when the results can be shared. Both in collaboration with professors and independently, Penn students regularly publish their research results and present their findings at professional conferences throughout the country and world. Penn’s 11 undergraduate research journals offer opportunities for Penn students to share their findings. Here are a few of the most common.

Penn in Your Town

Admissions Officers travel throughout the world hosting various programs for current high school students and their parents. Dates, times, and locations are subject to change, so be sure to confirm the details of the session you are interested in attending as the event approaches.

Additionally, Penn Admissions travels across the country with representatives from Duke University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, and Stanford University as part of our Exploring College Options (ECO) recruitment program. To see more information on Exploring College Options.

Undergraduate Research and Scholars Programs

Invitations to join or apply to specific programs are made at the time students are admitted.  Students can also apply directly to designated programs at the end of their freshman year.  Please check individual websites for information.

Benjamin Franklin Scholars

Benjamin Franklin Scholars are selected based on their deep engagement in the liberal arts and sciences, both as a broad foundation of knowledge and as engines of change in the world.

University Scholars

The University Scholars program provides an unusual academic environment for intellectually dynamic students who have already demonstrated their commitment and dedication to research.

Integrated Studies Program

Students accepted into Benjamin Franklin Scholars (BFS) who are also enrolled in the College engage in a unique liberal arts and sciences education. It begins with a special freshman-year curriculum, Integrated Studies, which surveys the broad territory of the arts and sciences and continues into the sophomore, junior, and senior years with an open invitation to participate in a wide array of BFS seminars. Scholars choose among these advanced-topic seminars according to their interests, with minimal prerequisites, and from a wide variety of fields.

The Joseph Wharton Scholars Program

Founded in 1988 as part of the Benjamin Franklin Scholars program, the Joseph Wharton Scholars Program was designed to emphasize the importance of breadth in the liberal arts and sciences within thframework of a business education.

Nursing Undergraduate Honors Programe 

Students enrolled in the School of Nursing who are selected for the Nursing Undergraduate Honors Program (NUHP) are simultaneously designated Benjamin Franklin Scholars. NUHP develops the next generation of nurse achievers—scholars, leaders, and researchers—by promoting intellectual rigor, academic excellence, and outstanding achievement. NUHP looks for highly motivated, inquisitive students who thrive on challenge, want to take more intellectually stimulating courses, and wish to contribute to knowledge and practice via scholarship and research. NUHP Scholars meet with the Associate Director of Undergraduate Academic Affairs to create an individualized plan of study and are required to take at least three BFS seminars while at Penn (see above).

Clark Scholars within Penn Engineering 

Clark Scholars Program, funded through a gift from the A. James and Alice B. Clark Foundation, provides financial support for engineering students who have achieved academic excellence and demonstrated financial need. Students enrolled in the cohort-based program will pursue a rigorous engineering curriculum, take at least 1-2 business courses, participate in community service and leadership seminars, engage in research internships and seminars, and interact with faculty leaders in the field. By combining engineering, leadership, business skills and service learning, the Clark Scholars Program aims to foster engineer-leaders dedicated to civic engagement and the public good. Penn will aim to enroll the first cohort of ten students in the fall of 2018. 

Rachleff Scholars Program within Penn Engineering

The Rachleff Scholars Program offers Penn Engineering undergraduates the opportunity to gain valuable research experience with standing faculty and to join a community of peers who share an interest in research and scholarly inquiry.

Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Molecular Sciences

Students in the Vagelos Scholars Program in Molecular Life Sciences are interested in the molecular view of life and plan to pursue research careers in science, pure and applied, including medicine. 

We encourage students and candidates to contact program participants.  Current students (peer advisors) in the Vagelos Molecular program who can provide insight and one-on-one interactions can be contacted at vspeers@sas.upenn.edu. 

Civic Scholars

Penn Civic Scholars commit to four years of civic service and scholarship with close faculty mentorship and receive recognition at graduation. Through a sustained and connected approach, Penn Civic Scholars engage in community service or social advocacy work, special pro-seminars, summer internships, selected courses, and capstone research projects aimed at public policy recommendations.

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Toronto University

Purpose of the University

The University of Toronto is dedicated to fostering an academic community in which the learning and scholarship of every member may flourish, with vigilant protection for individual human rights, and a resolute commitment to the principles of equal opportunity, equity and justice.

Within the unique university context, the most crucial of all human rights are the rights of freedom of speech, academic freedom, and freedom of research. And we affirm that these rights are meaningless unless they entail the right to raise deeply disturbing questions and provocative challenges to the cherished beliefs of society at large and of the university itself.

It is this human right to radical, critical teaching and research with which the University has a duty above all to be concerned; for there is no one else, no other institution and no other office, in our modern liberal democracy, which is the custodian of this most precious and vulnerable right of the liberated human spirit.

Objectives of the University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is determined to build on its past achievements and so enhance its research and teaching. The University anticipates that it will remain a large university. It will continue to exploit the advantages of size by encouraging scholarship in a wide range of disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, sciences and the professions. It will continue to value its inheritance of colleges and federated universities that give many students an institutional home within the large University. It will strive to make its campuses attractive settings for scholarly activity.

Research

The University will continue to promote high quality research. The University is committed to:
Providing an environment conducive to research;
Emphasizing research, publication and related professional contributions in defining the career expectations of professorial staff;
Ensuring that faculties and schools engaged in undergraduate teaching also engage in graduate teaching and research;
Maintaining a capacity to respond selectively to new fields of research as they emerge;
Requiring national and international peer assessment of the quality of its programs;
Collaborating with other universities, industry, business, the professions, public sector institutions and governments, where appropriate to research objectives;
Providing information, library and research services of the highest international standards.
Teaching
The University will strive to ensure that its graduates are educated in the broadest sense of the term, with the ability to think clearly, judge objectively, and contribute constructively to society.

The University wishes to increase its ability to attract students from elsewhere in Canada and abroad, in the belief that while these students gain an education their presence will enrich the experience of students from the local community. In all its teaching programs, the University is committed to:

Achieving the highest academic standards

Attracting students whose abilities and aspirations match the programs available;
Responding to the needs of a diverse student population;
Providing the best possible facilities, libraries and teaching aids;
Insisting on the importance of teaching in the career expectations of the professorial staff, recognizing excellence in teaching and providing opportunities to improve teaching;
Ensuring that professorial staff normally teach both graduate and undergraduate students;
Continuing to attract students from other provinces of Canada and from abroad;
Enriching the experience of students by cooperating with and assisting them in the realization of their educational goals especially as these involve their life-long learning and career development, their physical and emotional growth and well-being, their needs, including special or temporary ones, and their cultural and recreational activities.

Undergraduate Education

Undergraduates are taught in the Faculty of Arts and Science and in a number of professional faculties. Students in Arts and Science are registered in a college. They can take classes in their college and use college libraries; some students live in their college; for many their college is the locus of social and sporting activities. For many years there were four colleges on the St. George campus; University College and those of the federated universities, Victoria, St. Michael's and Trinity. In the 1960s, the University reaffirmed its commitment to the college system on the St. George campus by founding Innis, New and Woodsworth colleges to accommodate the increased number of students. At the same time, it founded Scarborough and Erindale colleges. The University continues to regard college life as an important part of undergraduate education.

College life is experienced most fully when students live in residence. The University would like to make it possible for more undergraduates, in Arts and Science, and from the professional faculties, to live in residence.

The University is committed to

Ensuring that the teaching and counselling of undergraduates is a normal obligation of every member of the faculty;
Ensuring that professorial staff draw on their research to enrich their teaching;
Continuing to welcome, and serve the needs of, qualified students, both full- and part-time, from Metropolitan Toronto and the Province of Ontario and elsewhere;
Providing for breadth and depth in all undergraduate programs.
Graduate Education
The quality of graduate education and the quality of research are closely linked in this as in any university. The University of Toronto's determination to remain a major research institution is therefore in itself a commitment to high quality graduate teaching.

Additionally, the University is committed to

Ensuring the provision of a broad range of graduate programs;
Ensuring that high standards of scholarship are maintained in all graduate programs by submitting them regularly to international peer review, and strengthening or discontinuing any found wanting;
Increasing its ability to provide adequate financial support for graduate students.
Life-long Learning
The University wishes to encourage learning as a life-long activity, and is committed to:
Providing to persons in professional practice and to members of the community at large opportunities to study and to use its facilities;
Helping other institutions, professional organizations and learned societies through the provision of facilities and expertise.

The University Community

The University of Toronto believes that it best serves Canada and the wider world by pursuing to the limit of its abilities its fundamental mandates of research and teaching in the spirit of academic freedom. In seeking to achieve the above objectives, the University of Toronto is committed to four principles:
Respect for intellectual integrity, freedom of enquiry and rational discussion;
Promotion of equity and justice within the University and recognition of the diversity of the University community.
A collegiality form of governance;
Fiscal responsibility and accountability.
The University values its graduates as life-long members of the University community who make significant contributions to its on-going life and reputation.
The University recognizes that in the foreseeable future the majority of its funding will come from public sources, and thanks the people of Ontario and of Canada for this support. The University also recognizes that the fulfillment of its mission requires an increase in the level of funding, public and private, and will work to bring this about.

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University of Chicago

About

The University of Chicago is an urban research university that has driven new ways of thinking since 1890. Our commitment to free and open inquiry draws inspired scholars to our global campuses, where ideas are born that challenge and change the world.

We empower individuals to challenge conventional thinking in pursuit of original ideas. Students in the College develop critical, analytic, and writing skills in our rigorous, interdisciplinary core curriculum. Through graduate programs, students test their ideas with UChicago scholars, and become the next generation of leaders in academia, industry, nonprofits, and government.

UChicago research has led to such breakthroughs as discovering the link between cancer and genetics, establishing revolutionary theories of economics, and developing tools to produce reliably excellent urban schooling. We generate new insights for the benefit of present and future generations with our national and affiliated laboratories: Argonne National Laboratory, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

The University of Chicago is enriched by the city we call home. In partnership with our neighbors, we invest in Chicago's mid-South Side across such areas as health, education, economic growth, and the arts. Together with our medical center, we are the largest private employer on the South Side.

In all we do, we are driven to dig deeper, push further, and ask bigger questions—and to leverage our knowledge to enrich all human life. Our diverse and creative students and alumni drive innovation, lead international conversations, and make masterpieces. Alumni and faculty, lecturers and postdocs go on to become Nobel laureates, CEOs, university presidents, attorneys general, literary giants, and astronauts. 

American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy's elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business and public affairs. The following are current UChicago faculty members and trustees that have been elected to the Academy:

Breakthroughs

Since 1890, the University of Chicago’s singular focus on inquiry has made it a model for modern institutions of higher education and research.

Across numerous departments and disciplines, as well as over 150 institutes and centers, the UChicago community advances ideas and innovations that enrich human life. The University’s culture of inquiry thrives on intellectual rigor, diverse perspectives, extensive civic and research partnerships, and ever-broadening global reach.

UChicago breakthroughs transform the way we live and the way we think. Members of our community have pioneered sociology scholarship, introduced hormonal cancer treatment, proposed the existence of black holes, discovered new dinosaur species, changed the face of economics, improved graduation rates in American cities, and the list goes on. Tracing such breakthroughs from decade to decade, the timeline above provides a sampling of how UChicago scholars have made a lasting impact on our world.

Admissions & Aid

Since its inception in 1890, UChicago has remained committed to educating extraordinary people regardless of race, gender, religion, or financial ability. More than $100 million in financial assistance and scholarships are awarded annually, and we are one of the few highly selective institutions to award both need-based and merit-based aid.

Non-degree

One of the first U.S. universities with continuing education, UChicago offers non-degree programs spanning business, public policy, and a wide range of professional and liberal arts.

Summer

The Graham School offers a rich array of summer learning opportunities for UChicago and visiting college students, accomplished high school students, teachers, and many others.

Online Learning

Online learning is in many ways an extension of the University of Chicago’s longstanding commitment to free and open inquiry

Graduate and professional

In more than 100 programs across our graduate divisions and professional schools, students discover firsthand the power of ideas to make a difference in the world.

Research

With a commitment to free and open inquiry, our scholars take an interdisciplinary approach to research that spans arts to engineering, medicine to education. Their work transforms the way we understand the world, advancing fields of study, and often creating new ones. Generating new knowledge for the benefit of present and future generations, UChicago research has had an impact around the globe, leading to such breakthroughs as discovering the link between cancer and genetics, establishing revolutionary theories of economics, and developing tools to produce reliably excellent urban schooling.

Research News

Octopus skin inspires engineers to develop programmable ‘camouflaging’ material

OCTOBER 19, 2017—This week, engineers report on their invention of stretchable surfaces with programmable 3-D texture morphing, a synthetic “camouflaging skin” inspired by studying and modeling the real thing in octopus and cuttlefish.

Exascale and the city

OCTOBER 17, 2017—The Argonne-led Multiscale Coupled Urban Systems project aims to help city planners better examine complex systems, understand the relationships between them and predict how changes will affect them. The ultimate goal is to help officials identify the best solutions to benefit urban communities.

Research by Sociologist Forrest Stuart Explains How to Talk to Gang Members

OCTOBER 16, 2017—Forrest Stuart’s current project—working title “Hashtags and Handguns”—focuses on poverty, violence, social media, and hip-hop on Chicago’s South Side. During a year of intense fieldwork, Stuart discovered that music and social media play a significant part in the city’s “balkanized gang violence.”

Modeling an Asymptomatic Epidemic

OCTOBER 16, 2017—An innovative new partnership between the Computation Institute/Argonne National Laboratory, Loyola University Medical Center (LUMC), and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) will combine rich epidemiological and biological data with agent-based modeling to test hepatitis C prevention and treatment strategies in silico, simulating the activity of 32,000 people who inject drugs in the Chicagoland area.

Globus Expands Data Services to Accelerate Secure Cancer Research

OCTOBER 13, 2017—With a $4.7 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, the University of Chicago’s Globus and leading cancer researchers at University of Chicago Medicine will build new protected cancer research networks that enable collaborations while keeping sensitive health data secure and private.

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University College of London

Programme structure

The UCL Summer School is divided into two Sessions, each spanning three weeks (dates can be found below). You can choose to attend Session One, Session Two or both. All students study one module per Session.

Each module offers 45 contact hours (15 hours per week), and students are expected to spend an additional 100 hours on assignments and independent study. Classes are student-centred with an emphasis on participation and interaction.

All UCL Summer School modules are worth 0.5 course units in the UCL system.  A 0.5 course unit is equivalent to 4 credits in the US system, 7.5 ECTS in the European system and 15 credits in the UK system.

The way in which modules are assessed depends on subject area and normal practice in that particular discipline. Please refer to the individual module pages for specific details.

At the end of the programme, all students will receive a UCL transcript and certification of attendance. Upon completion of the programme, students will also be granted the status of UCL Associate Alumni.
With a wide range of modules on offer from many of our renowned academic departments, you can choose the subject best suited to your academic or personal interests.

2018 addmission

In the QS World University Subject Rankings for 2017, UCL features in the global top-ten universities in ten subject areas and the global top-twenty in seven more. UCL is world-leading and many of the module tutors on the programme are leading academics in their fields.

Most modules are taught on the Bloomsbury campus and, where possible, modules also make use of London as a learning space and include excursions and field trips to areas in and around the city.

Outside of the classroom, we offer dedicated accommodation in central London and a varied programme of social events to help you make the most of your time in the capital.

Join us for three or six weeks and discover how UCL can help you realise your potential!

Entry requirements

You will have completed one year of undergraduate study at the time of joining the UCL Summer School and normally be able to demonstrate an average grade, or equivalent academic experience, of:

3.3/4.0 GPA (US scale)
2:1 (UK scale)
International equivalencies

International equivalencies can be found here.

English language requirement

If English is not your first language, you will need to demonstrate proficiency by providing us with a recognised qualification (please see the English language requirements page for a full list):

The majority of modules normally require a level of IELTS 7.0 (with a minimum of 6.5 in each subskill) or equivalent
The following modules require a level of IELTS 6.5 (with a minimum of 6.0 in each subskill) or equivalent: Astronomy & Cosmology; Computational Systems Biology; Quantitative Finance: Maths in Investment Banking; Statistics with R and RStudio; Climate and Energy; Anatomy and Developmental Biology; Science, Method & Rationality; Statistical Thinking & Data Analysis; and Data Science and Big Data Analytics

ENGLISH LANGUAGE SKILLS FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES

Students with an IELTS score of 6.5 (with a minimum of 6.0 in each subskill) or equivalent may take any module in Session Two on completion of the English Language Skills for Academic Purposes module in Session One (both modules must be selected at the time of application).

Students with an IELTS score of 6.0 (with a minimum of 5.5 in each subskill) or equivalent may take the following modules in Session Two on completion of the English Language Skills for Academic Purposes module in Session One (both modules must be selected at the time of application): Anatomy and Developmental Biology; Data Science and Big Data Analytics; or Science Method and Rationality.

Fees

Tuition fees for the 2018 Summer School are listed below.

Tuition Fees

One Session
£1,950
Both Sessions
£3,450
Current UCL students receive a 10% discount on the fees quoted above.

Tuition Fees and Accommodation combined

One Session with Standard Accommodation
£2,950
One Session with Premium Accommodation (including breakfast)
£3,400
One Session with Premium Accommodation (including breakfast and dinner)
£3,600
Both Sessions with Standard Accommodation
£5,450
Both Sessions with Premium Accommodation (including breakfast)
£6,350
Both Sessions with Premium Accommodation (including breakfast and dinner)
£6,750
To secure your place on the Summer School, and your accommodation if applicable, you will need to pay your fees in full.

Details of how to pay your fees will be provided as part of the application process.

Application Fee

Please note that applications received before Thursday, 1 March 2018 are exempt from the £60 application fee.

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Additional Costs and Module Excursions

Entry costs for all excursions are included in the tuition fees, unless otherwise stated on the module page.

However, travel costs on excursions are not included in the fees. The average cost of travel on a module is £10-£20.

Accommodation

Get to know others on the programme by booking your accommodation in one of the UCL Summer School residences. Both residences are located in the heart of London and feature private bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, 24/7 security, free Wi-Fi, laundry services, and weekly clean and change of bed linen. Both residences have access to tennis courts which can be booked free of charge.

Standard Accommodation

John Dodgson House is one of UCL’s dedicated central London student residences. Located near St Pancras and King’s Cross stations, it is a short walk from the UCL campus. This residence offers private, en suite rooms in shared flats with other UCL Summer School students. The flats are self-catered with shared kitchen areas.

Cost: £1000 per 3-week Session

dodgson_collage
Premium Accommodation

Garden Halls is a new development offering cutting edge student accommodation with outstanding facilities. Located even closer to the UCL campus than John Dodgson Hall, this residence features private en suite rooms as well as cinema, music and games rooms, an outdoor terrace, quiet study rooms and a cafeteria. This residence is catered and students can choose a meal plan including breakfast only, or breakfast and dinner.*

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