College Now

STEM Research Academy

The College Now STEM Research Academy at City Tech is a two-part program designed to provide NYC DOE high school students with an opportunity to develop strong college level research skills by engaging in authentic science inquiry and research activities. Selected students will be enrolled into a free Spring 2024 pre-college research course. Upon successful completion of the spring course, students will have the opportunity to apply for the 2024 STEM Summer Research Internship.

The summer program is FREE to students. College Now covers the cost of tuition, books and supplies. Students who participate will also receive a City Tech College ID card, free lunch on Mondays, and stipend upon completion of the summer internship program.

Program Description and Schedule

SPRING 2025

INTRODUCTION TO SCIENCE RESEARCH COURSE

Saturdays, 10:00am - 2:00pm, February 8th to May 31st (15 weeks)

This course is designed to strengthen basic skills such as formulating researchable questions, designing testable experiments, performing literature searches in library databases, and reading scientific literature including peer-reviewed journal articles. Participants conduct experiments in a science lab and field research at sites throughout Brooklyn, with the purpose of preparing them for a summer research experience with CUNY research faculty (class meetings for this hybrid course will be conducted both on-campus and remotely). They engage in research on a topic in the field of biology or chemistry, learn to formulate a question and hypothesis, design an experiment, analyze results, and present findings in a scientific format.

SUMMER 2025

Students who complete the spring course will have the opportunity to apply for the summer STEM internship:

RESEARCH INTERNSHIP ($1575 stipend)

Monday - Thursday, 9:00am - 4:00pm, June 26th - August 15th

Selected students will participate in a six-week structured laboratory program where they are matched with a City Tech faculty researcher and lab team, based on the student's area of interest. In addition to working in a research lab four days a week, students will be required to participate in a once-weekly college seminar and discussion group, conduct their own short research project, write a paper discussing their findings and present these at the Summer Science Symposium in the American Museum of Natural History.

ELIGIBILITY for the STEM Research Academy Spring Course

MINIMUM Requirements for the STEM Research Academy Spring Course

In order to be eligible for the College Now STEM Research Academy @ City Tech, students must meet the minimum requirements:

  • Sophomore or Junior in a NYC public high school
  • Completed Essay
  • Have a strong interest in exploring STEM research

PREFERRED Requirements for the STEM Research Academy Spring Course

  • Overall HS average of 80+
  • English scores/grades:
    • ELA Regents 75+
    • or SAT Verbal/Critical Reading 480+
  • 80+ on Living Environment Regents
  • 80+ on any one Math Regents
  • Passed all other required math, science and history regents exams taken so far

Haven't taken the Regents or SATs? That's OK! Students who have not taken the Regents or SATs will be evaluated based on the subject-area GPAs on their high school transcripts

Application Process

To apply you must:

  1. Fill out the attached application.
  2. Obtain the required parental and school staff signatures.
  3. Complete a one- to two-page, typed essay discussing your areas of interest in science, explaining what you hope to gain from STEM Academy participation and what makes you a great candidate for the program.
  4. Attach your most recent high school transcript.
  5. You or your guidance counselor must ensure that your application is received by the College Now office via mail or email (see below) by Friday, December 13th, 2024.
  6. Final acceptance decisions will be made and candidates will be informed of their acceptance status by Friday, January 10th, 2025.