FAQs

Current eighth-grade students who live in the following eastern North Carolina counties are eligible to apply: Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Edgecombe, Gates, Greene, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Martin, Nash, Northampton, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Pitt, Tyrrell, and Washington.

No, because the program experiences are very similar at both locations and funding at ECSU is earmarked for students from those counties.

Yes, you would still be able to attend Step Up to STEM at ECSU as a Cohort 2 student. Cohort 2 students are only eligible to attend the campus location they attended as Cohort 1 students. 

Current eighth grade students who live in the following North Carolina counties: Alamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Anson, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Caswell, Catawba, Chatham, Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Davidson, Davie, Durham, Forsyth, Franklin, Gaston, Graham, Granville, Guilford, Haywood, Henderson, Iredell, Jackson, Johnston, Lee, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Mitchell, Montgomery, Moore, Orange, Person, Polk, Randolph, Rockingham, Rowan, Rutherford, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, Swain, Transylvania, Union, Vance, Wake, Warren, Watauga, Wilkes, Yadkin, and Yancey.

No, because the program experiences are very similar at all locations and funding at ECSU and UNC Pembroke is earmarked for students from those counties.

Yes, you would still be able to attend Step Up to STEM at NCSSM-Durham as a Cohort 2 student. Cohort 2 students are only eligible to attend the campus location they attended as Cohort 1 students. 

Current eighth grade students who live in the following North Carolina counties: Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumberland, Duplin, Harnett, Hoke, Jones, Lenoir, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, Richmond, Robeson, Sampson, Scotland, Wayne, and Wilson.

No, because the program experiences are very similar at all locations and funding at UNC Pembroke is earmarked for students from those counties.

Yes, you would still be able to attend Step Up to STEM at UNC Pembroke as a Cohort 2 student. Cohort 2 students are only eligible to attend the campus location they attended as Cohort 1 students. 

Accepted students do not pay anything to attend. The program’s costs of about $1,500 per student are covered by funding from the Anonymous Trust Foundation, the Barber Fund for Underrepresented Minorities for STEM Leadership, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Student SSEP grant.

The Step Up to STEM application portal is open from early December to early February of each year. In order to access the application portal, click on the green “APPLY HERE” button that can be found at the top of each page of the Step Up to STEM website. Please note that outside of the application season, the “APPLY HERE” button will not appear on any of the pages of the Step Up to STEM website.

No, you are not eligible to apply to Step Up to STEM. Students must currently be in the eighth grade to be eligible to apply to the program. Step Up to STEM takes place over the course of two summers, and students must have participated during the first summer (as rising 9^th graders) to be eligible to participate during the second summer (as rising 10^th graders).

We consider good grades, teacher and counselor recommendations, and the students’ responses to application questions when selecting program participants. Be sure to organize your ideas and write complete answers for the application questions and essay questions.

Within the application system, once you submit your recommender’s name and email address, the application system automatically sends an email to your recommenders requesting them to complete a recommendation on your behalf. Please be sure to spell the recommenders’ email addresses correctly as recommenders will not receive the automated messages if the email addresses are misspelled.

• Once you submit the names and email addresses of your recommenders, you will see the words “Requested” followed by the date that you submitted this information. 
• When a recommender submits a recommendation on your behalf, within the system, you will see the following: a green circle (with a white check mark inside), followed by the words “Received” and the date the recommendation was received in the system.
• Notes:
  • If you see the words “Accepted” followed by a date, this means that your recommender has agreed to fill out a recommendation on your behalf but the recommendation has not been submitted in the system yet.
  • If you see the words “Request declined” followed by a date, this means that your recommender has decided not to fill out a recommendation on your behalf and you would need to enter another person’s name and email address to submit a recommendation on your behalf. 

No, selection decisions are final and there is no appeals process.

Only current eighth-graders can apply to the program. Students who are accepted and complete the program as rising ninth-graders are the only ones offered a spot to return for a second year of programming as rising 10th-graders.

No, the Step Up to STEM staff does not go over applications with or provide feedback on applications to students or families as the Step Up to STEM staff is not involved in the application review process.

Students can also apply to Summer Accelerator, which offers programs at NCSSM-Durham, NCSSM-Morganton, and virtually. Although Summer Accelerator courses charge tuition, financial aid and scholarships are available.

Yes, you can still be accepted into the program. Most eighth-graders have not had the opportunity to do research. The best candidates for Step Up to STEM are students excited by the opportunity to participate in research and labs.

Each class will have approximately 16 students.

Yes, students will be able to use the summer academics program on college applications and on an application to NCSSM.

Though participation in Step Up to STEM signals a strong interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, Step Up to STEM participants do not receive preferential treatment when being considered for the NCSSM Residential and NCSSM Online programs.

Adult resident advisors and counselors live on each male and female hall. They are actively involved with the students throughout the program.

All participants are required to live on campus during the one-week residential program. The schedule for Step Up to STEM includes daytime and evening activities.

Yes, all participants will receive a certificate of completion.

Students may not use cell phones when they are in class or participating in organized programs and activities.

Although participants are welcome to bring their own laptops, please note that each participant will be issued a loaner laptop at check-in for academic purposes. Loaner laptops must be returned before participants check out of the program.

Participants dine cost-free at the school dining hall. Special dietary needs can be accommodated and must be communicated in the parent comments form.

Two students share each dorm room.

Students must be in their dorms by 9:30 p.m. for a hall meeting. The in-room curfew is 10 p.m., and lights-out in the dorm is 11 p.m.

Yes, each child can apply using the same log-in credentials. Click here for step-by-step instructions on how to submit multiple applications.

• Step 1: Go to the homepage of the site you’re trying to access.
• Step 2: Click “Log In”.
• Step 3: Underneath the Email/Password fields, click “Forgot your password?”.
• Step 4: Enter the email address that you use to login to the site.
• Step 5: Click “Send Instructions”.
• Step 6: You will be sent instructions to the email you entered to reset your password. If you aren’t able to locate the email in your inbox, we recommend checking your Spam/Junk folder.
• Step 7: Click on the link within the email.
• Step 8: Enter a new password and confirm the password.
• Step 9: Click “Reset Password.”

Please note that only one file can be uploaded to the recommendation form. If you have multiple documents, please merge into one file before uploading to the recommendation form. If there are difficulties with attaching a file, there are a few potential reasons this may occur:

• The file is not in an available format- Please check to ensure that the file type you are trying to attach is one of the accepted formats in the site.
• The file is encrypted- SurveyMonkey Apply will not accept encrypted files. In order to attach your file, it will need to be unencrypted.
• The file is corrupted- It is possible that the file you are trying to attach is a corrupted file. In order to resolve the issue, re-save the file to a new folder on your computer and attempt to attach the file again.
• A task related issue- Depending on the issue, it is also possible that the error is related to another setting on the task. For example, you are unable to edit the task.