Applicants must meet the following five criteria to be eligible for SMASH: 

1.  Ethnicity

• Must be African American, Chicano/Latino/a, Native American, Filipino, Pacific Islander, Southeast Asian (i.e. Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian, Vietnamese) or mixed race/multiracial with at least one parent from the above ethnicities.

2. Grade Level

• Be in the 9th grade at time of application

3.  Math skills

• Have strong mathematics skills appropriate for your grade level, as determined by the SMASH math assessment (which is administered to all SMASH applicants in March).

4.  Attend a public high school, or attend a private high school via scholarship.

5.  County Eligibility

• Reside in California in one of the following counties: San Francisco, Marin, Solano, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Alameda, Napa, Stanislaus, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, or San Mateo, to apply to Stanford or UC Berkeley sites.
• Reside in California, in Los Angeles county to apply to UCLA or USC sites.

The most qualified applicants should:

• Be a first-generation college student (You are considered a first generation college student if neither one of your parents received a bachelor's or 4-year degree (or higher) from an accredited college or university. If you have a sibling in college you are still first generation. If your parents took some courses, but did not complete a degree you are still considered first generation.);
• Come from a low income family (i.e. qualifies for Free or Reduced Lunch program); and
• Be currently enrolled in Geometry (or higher) with at least a B average.

We strongly encourage students to take advantage of the opportunities available to pursue STEM summer enrichment. If SMASH isn't a fit for you, take a look at our list of other math and science summer programs.