How to Earn College Credit For Your High School Research Project

Through Polygence’s partnership with the Gifted and Talented Institute at the University of California in Irvine, high school students can now earn up to 3 college credits for their research project! Read on to learn how this works.

Create a research project tailored to your interests and your schedule

Polygence pairs you with an expert mentor in your area of passion. Together, you work to create a high quality research project that is uniquely your own. We also offer options to explore multiple topics, or to showcase your final product!

Explore the program

Program Structure

The University of California at Irvine (UCI) is a top-ranked public university with “very high research activity.” UCI’s Gifted and Talented Institute (GATI) is dedicated to seeking out intellectually gifted, highly motivated high school students, regardless of background, and enabling them to develop their unique abilities through college-level research opportunities. 

Through our partnership with UCI x GATI, select Polygence students can earn 3 college credits at UCI through a partially self-paced and fully remote curriculum. Current Polygence students in the process of writing research papers or past Polygence students who have written papers are eligible to apply.

This add-on to the standard research mentorship experience ensures students receive rigorous training in college-level academic writing and college credit on their transcript to reflect this. Through online modules and video lectures that demonstrate how to effectively formulate research questions, locate and utilize academic sources, and effectively structure their argument, students are prepared for serious academic research in their undergraduate years and beyond. The three credits they receive is equivalent to a full college course at most institutions.

Benefits

Cost-effective

The price of $567 per credit of this 3 unit course is more than $120 less than the average  credit at four-year colleges ($694 US) and far less than the average of $1,586 for students at four-year private, nonprofit colleges. High school students can save money and get ahead on their college education by earning highly transferable college credits through our UCI x GATI partnership.

Feedback from UCI faculty

Through this UCI course, students receive detailed feedback on their research paper from faculty at a premier research institution. Although all Polygence students receive writing coaching from their expert mentors, a greater volume of writing feedback from scholars with different perspectives can help students revise their papers into their best possible version to make them strong candidates for publication.

Get started on your own research project

Register to get paired with one of our expert mentors and to get started on exploring your passions today!

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Access to UCI resources

Students enrolled in this course have access to the entire library of UCI resources including academic journal articles. Having access to the resources of an undergraduate at a premier research institution can help high schoolers find the cutting edge research and highest quality sources to maximally support their own academic work.

Opportunity to submit to UCI x GATI student journal

Students who complete this course are also eligible to submit their work for publication in the prestigious UCI x GATI student journal where it can be showcased alongside the work of other gifted young researchers from around the world.

Want to get college credit for your very own research project? The deadline for our Spring cohort of Polygence scholars to enroll in this UCI course is March 1st, 2023. Apply now to dive into research with Polygence.