Thank you for your interest in applying to Youth Leadership Somerset!

For those who have applied for the Class of 2024-2025, decisions will be announced mid-August via email. Thank you.

Youth Leadership Somerset is a nine month program for high school students who live in Somerset County.  The program includes presentations by community leaders, small group challenges, and interactive programming that will explore local issues, enable you to form connections with peers from across the county, inspire community involvement, and build leadership skills.

Application Requirements:
Students must be residents of Somerset County entering grades ten through twelve to be eligible for this program.

Commitment
The program includes nine sessions, one Saturday per month, September through May. Sessions begin at 9:30 A.M., are approximately five hours long, and can be held at various locations.

We typically receive 2 to 3 times the number of applications than there is space available in the class. Applicants are asked to seriously consider their ability to honor the time commitment of this program before they apply. We recognize that some sessions conflict with SAT/ACT test dates, and ask that you do your best to be mindful of this in your planning.

To graduate, participants must attend the mandatory September session, and may miss no more than two of the remaining sessions.

Participants should have the support and commitment of their parent(s) or guardian(s).

Application Questions Focus on:

• School/Community/Volunteer Activities
• Employment history, if applicable
• The two most critical issues facing Somerset County teenagers today.
• The most significant issue facing Somerset County residents today.
• A difficult issue you faced in the community or at school. How did you work to resolve it.
• Your proudest accomplishment and why?
• Why are you applying to Youth Leadership Somerset?
• How would you describe a leader?

Class Dates for Youth Leadership Somerset 2024-2025 (dates may be subject to change)

• September 28, 2024
• October 26, 2024
• November 16, 2024
• December 14, 2024
• January 11, 2025
• February 8, 2025
• March 15, 2025
• April 5, 2025
• May 10, 2025

Applicants will be advised of their status (accepted or declined) by mid-August. 

Important Note: This application must be completed in one sitting. 
Your answers will not be saved if you close the application prior to submission on Page 4 of the form. Before you begin, please review the text above which outlines all required information. Consider saving your responses to the short answer questions in another document and copy/paste to this form when you are ready to submit.