Vikash Singh Accepts Prestigious Stamps Leadership Scholarship to UCLA

Mr. Vikash R Singh, a recent graduate of University High School in West Los Angeles, California has chosen to enroll at the University of California, Los Angeles as a Stamps Leadership Scholar. He was one of just ten students selected by the UCLA Faculty Commitee on Honors, Awards, and Prizes from a UCLA freshman applicant pool of 86,512 students, the largest in the nation, and was chosen on the basis of scholarship, leadership, and innovation. The prestigious Stamps scholarship award is a four year full tuition scholarship with an additional $12000 stipend for international travel, research internships, and outdoor leadership experiences. Stamps Scholars also benefit from a biennial national conference and enhanced professional networking through a Facebook group and Linkedin. The 2015 Stamps Scholars National Convention will bring together top students from over forty partner schools and will take place this coming April at the Georgia Tech campus.

Vikash graduated as valedictorian from University High School with a 4.7 cumulative weighted GPA, completing 15 AP classes. His other recent honors include becoming a published co-author in the "PLoS ONE" International Scientific Journal this past fall at the age of 17 through breast cancer research he conducted at UCLA and Charles Drew University, CIF Scholar Athlete of the Year for the LA City Section, Los Angeles Volleyball Coaches Association (LAVCA) Academic Player of the Year, National AP Scholar, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Invention Challenge Finalist, LA Metro MESA Competition Calculus Gold Medalist, the UCLA Regents Scholarship (awarded to top 1.5% of incoming freshman), and the UCLA Alumni Scholarship.

At University High School, he participated in Jazz Ensemble and Orchestra, but has also played first trumpet for the Disney XD Rock Orchestra, Los Angeles Youth Orchestra (LAYO), and the LAUSD All City Band, which marches in the Tournament of Roses Parade each year. He also played on the Varsity Basketball and Volleyball teams, was the president of the MESA Club and California Scholarship Federation (CSF), and held officer positions in California YMCA Youth and Government. His future plans include pursuing medical school and business school to work in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He is passionate about using his knowledge to make advances in the scientific world.

The Stamps Family Charitable Foundation partners with 41 visionary colleges and universities to award multi-year scholarships that enable extraordinary educational experiences. Of approximately 600,000 applications reviewed for consideration in 2014, 188 were selected as Stamps Leadership Scholars-less than .033% of the applicant pool. The new recipients, whose combined Stamps awards are worth almost $28 million, join nearly 550 Stamps Leadership Scholars and alumni of these generous merit awards. Stamps Leadership Scholars are driven and talented individuals with proven leadership skills who are supported by multi-year awards to work towards long term goals. The 160 Stamps alumni include three Rhodes Scholars, two Fulbright Scholars, and a Marshall Scholar. They have earned or are pursuing degrees at Harvard Business, Law, and Medical Schools, the Manhattan School of Music, MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, the University of Michigan, and Georgia Tech.