Regeneron Science Talent Search
Before you spend hours on this
Will this scholarship actually lower your cost?
Not always. Many colleges reduce your financial-aid package when you win an outside scholarship — sometimes dollar-for-dollar — so the money can end up saving the school instead of you. It's called scholarship displacement. Two free tools tell you where you actually stand:
General guidance, not financial advice — your school's financial aid office is the only authority on how they treat outside awards. Always confirm with them before deciding.
Best fit for
HS seniors with serious independent research already completed in math, science, engineering, or social science. NOT for kids 'starting a project for STS' — the work has to be substantial enough that a research scientist would call it real. If you're not sure your work qualifies, ask a research scientist mentor for an honest read.
What they actually look for
Regeneron STS (formerly Westinghouse, then Intel STS) is the most prestigious HS science research competition in the US. 300 scholars get $2,000; 40 finalists fly to DC for a week of judging + $25,000-$250,000 awards. Past finalists include 13 Nobel laureates, multiple Fields Medalists, Turing Award winners. The bar is publishable research — most finalists have done summer programs like RSI, Garcia, SSP, or have research lab placements.
What you'll need
- Original independent research project (typically completed over multiple summers / a year+ of focused work)
- 20-page research paper documenting the work
- Multiple essays (~10) on research process, scientific thinking, goals
- Two recommendations — at least one from a research mentor
- Transcript + standardized test scores (still required, despite the research focus)
- Online application — opens September, closes November of senior year
When to start
If you want to apply, you need research underway by JUNIOR year at the latest. Apply for summer research programs (RSI, Garcia, SSP, Clark Scholars, Simons, Telluride) in junior fall. Application opens September of senior year, closes early November.
Watch out for
STS does not accept group projects — your contribution must be clearly individual, even if the broader research was collaborative. If you co-authored a paper with grad students, be ready to specifically document which experiments / analysis / code / ideas were yours. Also: only ONE student per high school can win each year as a top-10 finalist (the others get scholar awards), so internal-school competition matters at top STEM magnets.