YRI Fellows have been admitted to Brown, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Caltech and Harvard. The common thread is a first-author research paper, built one-on-one with a PhD mentor, that gives an admissions reader something almost no other applicant has: proof the student can do the work.
This page covers where YRI Fellowship students have gone, the full story of one Fellow's path from no research experience to Brown and Johns Hopkins, and what a published paper does for an application. If you are a parent who just heard the name YRI and wants to know whether it moves the needle in admissions, start here.
Where YRI Fellows have been admitted
YRI lists these schools on its What is YRI? page and its tuition page:
- Brown University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Stanford University
- California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
- Harvard University
YRI's materials also name Cornell among the schools Fellows have gone on to. The Student Stories page highlights admission letters from Brown, Johns Hopkins and Stanford.
We are direct about one thing. A publication does not guarantee an admission, and nobody honest will tell you it does. What it does is give your child a credential that a stranger can check, at a venue their teachers have heard of, with their name in the first author position.
Sadaf S.: from no research experience to Brown and Johns Hopkins
Sadaf's story is the clearest picture of what the YRI Fellowship does for a college application.
Where she started
Sadaf was a rising senior with an interest in AI and technology. She had strong academics, but no research experience, no publications and no differentiator on her application. In a pile of strong students, nothing set her apart.
What she did at YRI
She joined the YRI Fellowship the summer before senior year and was paired with a PhD mentor. In 10 weeks she completed original research on optimizing neural networks for classification systems that must respond instantly. Her paper was accepted at an IEEE conference with Sadaf as first author, and she presented it on the conference floor.
What happened next
The IEEE paper became the centerpiece of her college applications. The results:
- Admitted to Brown University
- Admitted to Johns Hopkins University
- Selected for UT Austin's $128,000 full-ride scholarship
And the research kept going after the paper. She built a venture on top of the same work, and in April 2026 it was selected for the WUHC Incubator Pitch Competition at Wharton. She founded a nonprofit based on her research. She was also accepted to present new research on AI-assisted ECG analysis for coronary microvascular dysfunction at the 2027 Yale Undergraduate Research Conference. Her PhD mentor wrote her a letter of recommendation.
Her parents put it this way:
"We tried everything: summer programs, college counselors, tutoring. Nothing moved the needle until she joined YRI."
Sadaf's parents
Read Sadaf's full story, including photos from the conference and her acceptance letters.
How research helps a college application
Selective colleges see thousands of applicants with top grades and test scores. Research changes the conversation because it is evidence, not a claim.
It is proof a stranger can check
A first-author paper in an IEEE or Springer venue has a public link. An admissions reader can open it and see your child's name first. That is very different from a line on an activities list that says "interested in AI." Every YRI Fellow walks away with a public link to the paper and a letter from their PhD mentor.
It shows the four things committees look for
YRI's Top 1% Profile is built around four proofs that admissions committees look for: original research, invention, leadership, and wins judged by strangers. A published paper is the first of those proofs and often the foundation for the rest. Sadaf's paper turned into a venture, a nonprofit and a Yale conference talk. Ayaan R.'s paper also won 3rd place at his science fair.
It gives your child a story only they can tell
Ten weeks of one-on-one work means your child can explain every line of their research, in an essay or an interview. The deliverable of the YRI Fellowship is a first-author manuscript and a student who can defend it. That depth shows up in how they write and how they talk about what they want to study.
It earns a stronger recommendation letter
A PhD mentor who has worked with your child every week can write about how they think, how they handle setbacks and what they built. For more on this, see our guide on how to get a letter of recommendation from research.
Other YRI Fellows building standout profiles
Admissions results take time to come in, since a student who publishes in 10th grade applies years later. Meanwhile, YRI Fellows are already building records that stand out:
- Devansh G. published a first-author IEEE paper at 14 linking heart signals to depression, and launched a health-AI venture that scaled to 7 figures. Read his story.
- Ansh K. published at MIT URTC, was nominated for the Rashtriya Bal Puraskar, India's highest honour for young achievers, and founded a nonprofit reaching more than 350,000 students. Read his story.
- Aaryan S. had three first-author papers accepted at three international computational biology conferences in Washington DC, Italy and Spain. Read his story.
- Mubashir S. went from zero research experience to qualifying for Regeneron ISEF 2026. Read his story.
- Jonathan T. was named a Coca-Cola Scholars Program semifinalist, one of the most selective merit scholarships in the US.
The full record is on Published Work, and the science fair results are collected in YRI Fellowship science fair results.
The two YRI programs, and which one fits your admissions goal
YRI offers two programs. Both start with the same one-on-one PhD mentorship.
The Research Fellowship: one credential no one else in the pile has
- 10 weeks with a PhD mentor, one-on-one, ending in your child's own first-author paper
- Our writing team edits it, and our publishing team sends it to venues such as IEEE or Springer
- A letter of recommendation from their PhD mentor
- Free help until the paper is published
- $2,997, or 3 payments of $999, settled after acceptance
87% of Fellows publish. This is where most families start. See the Fellowship.
The Top 1% Profile: built for the Ivy League
If your child is aiming for Harvard, Stanford or the Ivy League, the Top 1% Profile builds the whole application with you:
- 2 to 3 published papers in one field
- A filed patent with your child named as inventor
- A company or nonprofit they start
- The full competition season, coached intensively
- Every piece positioned as one story for the most selective schools in the world
- The founder works with your family personally
- $9,997, or 3 payments of $3,333, over 6 to 9 months, for only 8 families a year
See the Top 1% Profile, or compare both on the tuition page.
When to start
The earlier, the more a paper can grow into. Sadaf started the summer before senior year and still had her IEEE paper in hand for applications. Students who start in 9th or 10th grade have time to turn one paper into a science fair run, a second paper or a venture. Many YRI Fellows, including Aarav B., Suriya D., Krishik S. and Melissa N., had papers accepted as 9th graders.
YRI welcomes curious students from middle school up, in any field, and no research experience is needed.
FAQ
Which colleges have YRI Fellows been admitted to?
YRI Fellows have been admitted to Brown, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Caltech and Harvard, among others.
Does a research paper guarantee admission?
No. A publication does not guarantee an admission. It gives your child something almost no other applicant has: proof they can do the work, at a venue anyone can look up.
Was Sadaf S. experienced in research before YRI?
No. She was a rising senior with strong academics but no research experience and no publications. In 10 weeks with her PhD mentor she produced a first-author IEEE paper.
Is it too late to start in senior year?
Sadaf joined the summer before senior year and her IEEE paper became the centerpiece of every application. Starting earlier gives the paper more time to grow into other results.
Which YRI program is better for Ivy League admissions?
If your child is aiming for Harvard, Stanford or the Ivy League, the Top 1% Profile is built for that goal. If you want one published paper to start, choose the Research Fellowship.
Give your child the paper that sets them apart
Applying is free, there are no essays, and you hear back within 48 hours. Tuition is only settled after your child is accepted.
Apply to the YRI Fellowship and give your child one credential no one else in the pile has. Before you decide, you can read what YRI is, check whether YRI is legit, or browse YRI Fellowship reviews.
