YRI Fellowship Reviews (2027): Students and Parents

What do YRI Fellowship reviews say? Students and parents describe the same pattern again and again: a student who started with no research experience, a PhD mentor who gave the project structure, and a concrete result at the end, usually a paper accepted at an IEEE or Springer venue or a science fair placing. Every review on this page comes from a Fellow or parent featured on the YRI site, and each is tied to an outcome you can check yourself on Published Work or in a case study.

A note on how to read this page: these are testimonials YRI collected and publishes, not anonymous third-party reviews, so treat them the way you would any program's testimonials. What makes them worth more than most is that each one names a result, and the results are verifiable.

Reviews at a glance

Reviewer	Started with	Result
Sadaf S.	No research experience, rising senior	First-author IEEE paper; admitted to Brown, Johns Hopkins and UT Austin
Suriya D.	No research experience, 9th grade	Accepted at IEEE EMBC 2026
Mubashir S.	No research experience	Regeneron ISEF 2026 qualifier
Aditya S.	No research experience	Best Oral Presentation at an IEEE conference in Tokyo
Avyay G.	9th grader	1st place at his regional science fair, state qualifier
Ashwajit W.	Research ideas, no publications	First-author Springer paper, presented at BICA 2026
Ishaan M.	No plan	Published in IEEE

Student reviews

Sadaf S.: IEEE first author, admitted to Brown

"Having a real publication changed everything. Admissions officers could see I wasn't just talking about research, I had actually done it. The IEEE paper was the centerpiece of every application I submitted. Without YRI, I wouldn't have had that."

Sadaf joined the summer before senior year with an interest in AI and no research background. Her paper on neural network optimization for real-time classification systems was accepted at an IEEE conference, and she was admitted to Brown, Johns Hopkins and UT Austin.

Suriya D.: IEEE EMBC as a 9th grader

"I joined YRI as a 9th grader with zero research experience. Within months, my eye-tracking Alzheimer's detection research was accepted at IEEE EMBC."

Mubashir S.: Regeneron ISEF 2026

"Making it to ISEF with something I actually cared about was surreal."

Mubashir built a gravitational-wave detection project with machine learning and qualified to represent his country at Regeneron ISEF 2026.

Aditya S.: Best Oral Presentation, IEEE Tokyo

"Presenting at an international IEEE conference in Tokyo was surreal. Winning Best Oral Presentation for my session made the trip even more special."

Avyay G.: 1st place in 9th grade

"My research won 1st place at my science fair and I qualified for state. I never imagined achieving that in 9th grade."

Read Avyay's full story.

Ashwajit W.: Springer in two months

"I went from research ideas without publications to a first-author paper in Springer, in two months."

Ishaan M.: from no plan to IEEE

"I went from no plan to a week-by-week roadmap. We scoped a real study, drafted my first manuscript, and got published in IEEE."

More from Fellows

"I wanted to prove you could do real ML research without a GPU cluster. My mentor helped me scope it to something achievable. Presenting at ISEF felt like validation that the idea had legs." Jayant K., ISEF 2026

"The best part of YRI was the positive attitude of the mentors as they guided me to finish my research paper. The program creates a space where you can learn and succeed." Neil V.

"The YRI Fellowship gave me PhD mentorship, publication opportunities, ISEF coaching, and lasting support beyond the program." Aarnav B., accepted at IEEE ICITSIF 2026

"The structure kept me on track. I never felt lost, even when the science got hard." Shrey V.

"I published in a real journal. Seeing my name in print changed how I see myself." Aishwarya P.

"I published my first paper in an IEEE conference in Singapore, and I could have never done it without the YRI Fellowship." Hanshul D.

"YRI taught me how to think like a scientist, blending biology with AI, and pushed me to unlock my full potential." Tarek O.

"YRI completely changed my academic path, and it is the best investment I could have made for my future." Ezekiel K.

Want to see where these papers ended up? Every one is listed on Published Work, and the Fellowship page shows the ten-week structure these students went through.

Parent reviews

"We tried everything: summer programs, college counselors, tutoring. Nothing moved the needle until she joined YRI. She published in IEEE and got into Brown and Johns Hopkins." Parent of Sadaf S.

"My son published research in IEEE and presented at an international medical conference, only in 9th grade. As a parent, seeing your child accomplish something this meaningful is incredible." Suriya's father

"We have watched Devansh take on real research. Something that felt far beyond a school project." Devansh's parents

"After joining YRI, I saw a positive change in Ezekiel. He became more confident when presenting." Ezekiel's mother

Several of these families, and more Fellows, are on video on the YRI homepage, in their own words.

What the reviews have in common

Reading them side by side, four themes repeat:

Starting from zero. Most reviewers had no research experience. That matches how the program is built: weeks 1 and 2 are spent finding the question with the mentor, not handing over a syllabus.
Structure. "Week-by-week roadmap," "kept me on track," "scope it to something achievable." The ten weeks follow a fixed arc: question, study and data, writing, submission.
The mentor. Reviewers credit a specific person. Every Fellow is matched with a full-time PhD mentor in their field, from a network of more than 1,000 researchers.
A result they can name. IEEE, Springer, ISEF, a 1st place. 87% of Fellows publish, and the competition preparation for ISEF, JSHS and regional fairs is part of the program.

Trade-offs to know before you apply

Reviews tell you what went well. Here is what you should also know:

It takes real work. Most Fellows spend five to eight hours a week, including the 1:1 session. A student who is not ready for that will not get these results.
Publication runs on the journal's calendar. The program is ten weeks, but peer review can take longer. Mentorship continues at no extra cost until the paper is published.
It is online. If your child wants a residential campus experience, see YRI vs university summer programs.
No college credit. If credit matters, compare YRI vs Pioneer Academics.
Tuition is non-refundable once paid. Applying is free and tuition is settled only after acceptance, but after that it is non-refundable under YRI's terms.

How YRI compares with other programs

If you are reading reviews of several programs, compare them on the same three questions: what did the student finish with, can you verify it, and what did it cost? Our side-by-side guides use those questions: Lumiere vs Polygence vs YRI, YRI vs Lumiere Education, YRI vs Polygence, YRI vs Horizon Academic, and the best research programs for high school students. For prices across the market, see how much research programs cost.

Ready to write your own?

The Fellowship is $2,997, or three payments of $999 with no interest, with need-based aid available. The application takes about ten minutes, has no essays, and decisions come within 48 hours.

Apply to the YRI Fellowship →

FREE GUIDE · PDF

Download the YRI Fellowship brochure

The program, the outcomes, the mentors and the tuition, in one PDF you can read with your family.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are these YRI reviews real?

Yes. Each review comes from a named Fellow or parent featured on the YRI website, and each is tied to a specific result, such as an IEEE paper or an ISEF qualification, that you can look up on Published Work or in the case studies.

What do parents say about YRI?

Parents most often mention the concrete result and the change in their child: a published paper, an admission, or a student who became more confident presenting their work. Several parents are interviewed on video on the YRI homepage.

What results do YRI students typically get?

87% of Fellows publish, in venues including IEEE, Springer and Elsevier. Fellows have qualified for Regeneron ISEF, won Best Oral Presentation at an IEEE conference, and placed at regional science fairs, and have been admitted to Brown, Johns Hopkins, Stanford and Cornell.