An applicant must be a current junior in any secondary school at the time of the application deadline. Home schoolers are eligible.

• An applicant must have at least one custodial parent or legal court appointed guardian whose primary residence of record is in Pennsylvania. Military dependents stationed in Pennsylvania are eligible.
• A student may not have previously attended any of the eight Pennsylvania Governor's Schools of Excellence.
• A student may apply to no more than two Pennsylvania Governor's Schools of Excellence in a year.
• A student who accepts an invitation to attend the Governor's School for Health Care must commit to the full residential, five week long, seven days a week program.
• There are no exceptions to these rules.

The application itself also lists grounds for application disqualification, applicant responsibilities and procedures.

Application -available at www.pgse.org/and www.pde.state.pa.us/ or at your high school guidance office.

Chief Essay

1. The essay should clearly state your involvement in the project.
2. The project should take place in your Pennsylvania community.
3. The project should NOT be research based.
4. State Health Improvement Partnerships - use this link for organizations in your area that might be of assistance.

There are four (4) parts to the application that must be completed.

• Personal Data Sheet: includes Student Information (name address, etc) and three essays. These essays are a)introduce yourself to the selection committee b) provide a resume of your extracurricular activities including volunteer work and c) propose a service/leadership project that affects you or your community and how you would implement it. If you are accepted to PGSHC, you are expected to implement this project during your senior year of high school.
• Science Teacher Reference Form: have a current, or past science teacher evaluate you
• Activity Adviser/Teacher Reference Form: have a current teacher, health science teacher, extracurricular adviser, or volunteer/service coordinator evaluate you
• Guidance Counselor Recommendation Form: counselor provides absence/tardy information, standardized test score information (if available), and a grade transcript.

For further information, please see the application.