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About The Curiosity Review Cohort
Our cohort is a 5-week virtual cohort for high schoolers who are genuinely curious about STEM—not writing for a college app, but because an idea actually got stuck in their head and they want somewhere real to put it. We meet Sundays, 9AM PT / 10 AM MT / 11AM CT / 12PM EST, for roughly 30 minutes. In addition to these group meetings there will be smaller brief meetings with mentors that will be planned based on personal schedules. All cohort members get guaranteed publication for their 600-1600 word piece under the select topics:
The Gaps – what school skips or gets wrong
- Why certain topics are taught in the wrong order
- Concepts that get oversimplified to the point of being misleading
- Things you only learn if you go looking yourself
The Connections – ideas that cross fields/interdisciplinary topics
- Where math shows up unexpectedly in biology, music, economics, social systems
- Frameworks from one discipline that explain something in another
The Deep Dive – going further than school did.
- Could be what a concept actually does in the real world
- Rabbit hole/discovery you personally went down through as curiosity drove you.
The Opinions – takes that spark debate
- Is the way we grade math actually counterproductive?
- Should statistics replace calculus as the default math track?
(Bullets are just examples; your piece doesn’t have to fit one exactly)
How it works
The 5-week writing process isn’t something you figure out alone. You’ll have support from the board and from your peers at EVERY stage—developing your idea, working through a draft, and revising with real feedback. We built this because we wanted a community that actually cares about the thinking and wants to help another person’s voice get heard.
Selective, on purpose
We keep this small because quality matters more than size with roughly 10 individuals selected per cohort. Every member is mentored in a small group with just one or two people per board member. This is so guidance stays personal and quality remains high. You will not be one of fifty people competing for a reviewer’s attention; you have someone who actually knows your topic and is invested in helping you get it right.
Who’s on the board
Our board brings real writing recognition—from the John Locke Essay Competition, the New York Times writing competition, and Scholastic Writing Awards, to leadership in school journals and literary magazines. This isn’t about credentials for their own sake; it’s about having people who genuinely know how to develop an idea and can guide you through doing the same.
What we’re actually selective about
We’re not looking for perfect writers. You don’t need a polished portfolio or a list of awards. What we’re looking for is real curiosity (I mean c’mon, this is the CURIOSITY review), not someone checking a box for an application. Peer review is a core part of this cohort, so we’re also looking for people genuinely willing to read someone else’s work, think about it seriously, and give thoughtful, useful commentary—even on topics outside what they’d normally read.
Standing out
Members who go above and beyond don’t just publish and move on. Standout pieces are nominated for a featured spot, marked with a label so readers know it was recognized by the board. And members who show real dedication throughout the cohort—not just good writing, but real engagement with the process—may be invited to join the board for future cohorts.
Not able to commit to the cohort but still want to publish?
Scroll past the cohort application for more details.
Plan to apply to our next cohort? Fill this form out (Don’t need to end up applying):
Application for the November 1st – November 29th Cohort (Application Deadline October 28th, 3 AM EST) :
* The deadline has been extended by 10 days to ensure applicants have enough time to put in quality applications. *
Individual publication
You don’t have to join the cohort to get published here. But the bar is higher, since you won’t have the guidance, peer review, or revision process cohort members get. Cohort members are walked through exactly what we look for with feedback at every step, and are guaranteed publishing once they complete the process. Still, if you’ve already got something you’re proud of—give it a shot! Pieces that stand out will be selected for publishing, because at the end you all have a voice!