<p>Dbate, you’re asking a question about the Yale application on the MIT thread. You might consider asking Yale directly. But my two cents:</p>
<p>Yale’s School of Science and Engineering distributes somewhere between 300 and 350 “Yale Science and Engineering Awards” to the top 11th grade physics, chemistry, engineering or computer science projects at local science fairs, and Yale does recruit from that pool of students. My daughter received several personal letters from two students in the Yale physics department after winning that award in our local science fair. So to Yale Admissions, “high level” might mean recognition at any regional or national level or even simply participation at this level. It may also mean research conducted with a college/university/research lab mentor (in which case, a letter from the mentor would be important). </p>
<p>A young person can also certainly create/develop/theorize important work outside of these sorts of environments, and in such a case, you should just send it in. However, it would also help if you had a letter from a more objective source (teacher, engineer, scientist) attesting to the merit of the work.</p>