Davidson Young Scholars - How to Apply

Step 1: Eligibility

To be eligible for the Davidson Young Scholars program, applicants must:

• Meet or exceed the minimum Qualification Criteria; and
• Be 5 to 16 years old at the time of application; and  
• Be a U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident of the United States; and  
• Reside in the United States or be stationed overseas due to active U.S. military duty (please note our services to U.S. military families overseas may be limited).

The Davidson Young Scholars program does not discriminate based on race, gender, religion, ethnicity, or disability.

Step 2: Review Application Checklist PDF

Download and review the Young Scholars Application Checklist and Procedures (PDF) to ensure your application materials are ready when you begin the Online Application Process. 

The Davidson Institute strongly recommends keeping a copy of your application materials, as well as typing and saving your responses to open-ended questions in another program before pasting the text into the Online Application System. If you are logged into the Online Application System and there is no new information submitted within a 60-minute timeframe, your session will time out and you will receive a server error. Your information may not be saved.

Step 3: Login to Online Application System

Access our Online Application System to complete the application. The Davidson Institute strongly recommends that you keep a copy of your application materials for your records, as all applications and uploaded documents become the property of the Davidson Institute and will not be returned.

If you have already applied for a Davidson Institute program using the Online Application System, you may use the same login information to apply for the Davidson Young Scholars program. If you have started a Young Scholar application for an applicant, please select the appropriate name from the drop-down menu on the APPLICANT page. Review FAQs about the Davidson Institute’s Online Application System as needed.

Step 4: Complete Online Application

Applications completed by the first day of each month, or the next business day following a weekend or holiday, will be reviewed in that month. Applications are not considered complete until Parent Agreement Forms have been signed by each custodial parent, and the Nominator Form has been submitted. See ‘Email Correspondence’ section below for more information regarding these forms.

Young Scholar applications are reviewed on an individual basis to determine if an applicant is qualified, if more information is needed, or if the Young Scholars program is not a good fit at that time. Upon review of the application, additional testing or information may be requested in order to determine the applicant’s eligibility.  

Decision notifications will be sent via email at the end of the same month in which the application is reviewed. All applicants will receive an email stating whether the applicant is accepted, not eligible, or if more information is needed. Please do not contact staff to check on an applicant’s status during the review month as this delays the process for all applicants. If you have not received a decision notification by the first day of the month following the review, please first check your junk/spam folder. If you do not see an email, please contact ysapplications@davidsongifted.org.

Step 5: Verify You Are Receiving Emails

In order to minimize the chance of email sent by the online application system and the Applications Team being classified as spam by your email provider, please add @davidsongifted.org to your safe sender list and notify your Nominator and all parent/guardians to do the same. Please note the email address used by the online application system, youngscholarsapps @davidsongifted.org, is an unmonitored mailbox and emails sent to that address will not be read. For further details on adding an email domain to your safe sender list, please search online or see our FAQ: "Q. Will I be receiving any email notifications after I apply through the Online Application System?".

Immediately upon submission of the application, each custodial parent and the listed Nominator will receive emails with links to complete their respective forms. The application will not be considered complete until all these forms have been received by the Davidson Institute.

Parent/guardian(s) listed as the Primary Contact on the Parent/Guardian page of the application will receive emails at each of the following points: 

• After submitting the online application, to notify you it has been received. At this point, you (and the other custodial parent listed) will also receive a link to the Parent Form.
• Once the Nominator has submitted the Nomination Form.
• Once the entire application and forms are confirmed to be complete. At this point, the application will go to review on the 1st of the following month.
• If the application or forms are deemed incomplete, you will receive an email indicating next steps.
• Once the review period is complete and decisions have been made all applicants will receive an email stating whether the applicant is accepted, not eligible, or if more information is needed.

Step 6: If Accepted, the Enrollment Process

Applicants accepted to the Young Scholars program must complete an Enrollment Process before services can be made available. Details and instructions will be emailed to all accepted Young Scholars. The process requires signatures from all custodial parents agreeing to the policies that govern the Young Scholars program, including a strict Confidentiality Policy. It also includes updating and confirming contact information and schooling information, and selecting passwords for the Young Scholars Online Community websites.

For more information about this process, please visit the
Frequently Asked Questions about the Young Scholars program and application process.

If your question is not answered in the FAQs, please email ysapplications@davidsongifted.org.
Emails will be answered within three to five business days.