Spring PROMISE Program (LS2S) – 7th and 8th Grades

Application for the 7th and 8th grade PROMISE Program (Spring 2024) is now available!

Deadline to apply: January 10, 2024

The PROMISE Leading Students 2 Success (LS2S) Program is designed for Illinois students currently enrolled in the 7th and 8th grade. This program runs for the duration of 8-10 sessions on Saturday mornings each Spring, typically February through April. Students attend various classes in mathematics, science, computer science, and more. Program sessions take place at on IMSA’s campus located at 1500 Sullivan Road in Aurora (60506)

IMSA's PROMISE Programs aim to address the challenges of culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse (CLED) students. PROMISE is a proven model of success for realizing the vision of a highly diverse and creative STEM workforce. Illinois students enrolled in the 7th-9th grade who demonstrate high academic achievement and meet one or more of the following criteria are eligible to apply:

  • Student identifies as Black or African American and/or Latinx
  • Student resides in a rural Illinois county
  • Student qualifies for National School Lunch Program

Our PROMISE Program application opens at various points in the year depending on grade level. Application deadlines are listed on each webpage. The application will consist of the following items. All materials must be submitted by listed deadlines in order to be eligible:

  • Complete the online application
  • Student Essay
  • Parent Statement
  • Teacher Evaluation Form from a current Math or Science teacher
  • Counselor Form which includes the request for official grade reports

The Teacher Evaluation should be completed by a current math or science teacher. IMSA recommends notifying your teacher before sending an evaluation request, so they are prepared to complete the evaluation. Once you have started your online application, you will be provided a link for the appropriate form. It is the applicant's responsibility to provide this link directly to your teacher of choice. Teachers will complete the evaluation form electroically and submissions come directly to the PROMISE team.
The recommendation form will ask teachers to tell our team more about the applicants STEM interests, participation, prepration, collaboartion skills and more.

Send the Counselor Form to the current school counselor (or school administrator who oversees transcript requests). Once you have started your online application, you will be provided a link for the appropriate form. It is the applicant's responsibility to provide this link directly to your school official. The form will be completed electronically and submissions come directly to the PROMISE team.

If an academic school counselor is not available at your school, we encourage you to speak with your school about the appropriate school official to send the request to. The form will request general information about the school the applicant attends and will include the request for grade reports for the last 1.5 years.

Fall PROMISE Program for 9th grade students:

November 20: Application Opens

January 10: Final date to submit application

January 26: Decisions are released via email

*Check back in March for the summer PROMISE Program timeline details*

The Fall PROMISE Program for 7th and 8th grade students will be held on Saturdays February through April from 9:00AM to 1:00PM at IMSA (located in Aurora, IL).

  • February 3 - Virtual Family Orientation
  • February 10
  • February 24
  • March 2
  • March 9
  • March 16
  • April 13
  • April 20