Is Stanford EPGY worth $700?

cooljoe · 03-19-2006, 03:23 PM

Hi,
After my sophomore year, I realized that I will not be taking anymore math courses, for my high school offers nothing higher than Calc BC. I've been told to try out the courses EPGY has to offer even though they are very expensive. Is it really worth $700 to take courses like linear algebra and multivariable calculus from Stanford? Will it really make that much an impact on a college application? Thanks for any advice.

-Joe

marite · 03-19-2006, 03:32 PM

I don't know if taking EPGY it will make an impact on college applications, but not taking any more math for the next two years is not a great idea. There may be less expensive alternatives to EPGY. For example, does Rice have classes high schoolers can take and are they convenient in terms of time and location for you? UT-Austin has some classes online that seem much cheaper than EPGY, but I don't know what kind of support they offer to students.

If EPGY still seems the best option, ask your school if it would be willing to pay for EPGY. I believe the school would have to buy the software and provide you with a tutor. One of the math teachers presumably could do it.

cooljoe · 03-19-2006, 04:08 PM

Thanks for responding, marite.

I'll certainly look into e-mailing Rice about whether or not they have classes that I can take (hopefully at a better price). If not I'll probably have to stick with EPGY.

Does anyone else have some advice?

NYMomof2 · 03-19-2006, 04:39 PM

My son has taken EPGY courses, starting in 1st grade. The courses are excellent, but I agree that they're overpriced. They justify their charges on the basis that they are comparable to what a tutor would charge, but my son has never needed to use the tutor.

I think you should ask your school to pay for it. If they can't offer you anything, they should make the arrangements. And the cost to schools was only 1/2 the cost to individuals, at least a few years ago when I checked.

You might call EPGY (ask for Ray Ravaglia) and ask whether other schools in your area offer it. I know that they are trying to expand their in-school program now, and I believe that he is traveling around the country visiting schools.

texas137 · 03-19-2006, 05:11 PM

here's the link for UT's distance learning. Much cheaper than EPGY, but less support. You basically have to be able to keep yourself on track and learn it from the book.
www.utexas.edu/cee/dec

Once your college apps are in and you no longer need official grades, consider MIT OpenCourseWare:
http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html

cooljoe · 03-19-2006, 05:26 PM

Thanks for the advice.

2VU0609 · 03-19-2006, 06:05 PM

S attended Stanford's Summer Institute for Math and Physics after his junior year. He had maxed out math at his high school. He began a Real Analysis class there and completed it through EPGY for $200 over & beyond the summer program costs. He has a double major in math and econ at Vanderbilt and they awarded him credit for the course. That,along with AP credits, were the cheapest credits he has earned in college! $700 isn't cheap, but you may get more return for the buck than just the additional item on your college apps.

Eagle79 · 03-19-2006, 07:23 PM

cooljoe,

You can also try one of the less expensive EPGY courses to see if you like it. For example, Number Theory is around $500. Then you can determine if it is worth it. The price they charge is associated with the credit hours for the class. Because Stanford is on the quarter system these are quarter credit hours, not semester credit hours.

For you, being in Texas, the best option may be the UT online classes. I suspect that your school may have a relationship with them already so it may not cost you anything additional except perhaps the books.

cooljoe · 03-19-2006, 11:26 PM

Yeah, let's just hope that my school district can pay that $700! I'll probably be the first one in the school's history to ever take an EPGY class though (thank goodness for CC!)

NYMomof2 · 03-20-2006, 12:13 AM

I'm pretty sure that the school would have to pay considerably less than $700.

bouncechrissy · 03-21-2006, 11:26 PM

I have a friend who takes Linear Algebra at the local community college ... check out any community/junior colleges in your area.

ctymomteacher · 03-22-2006, 08:17 AM

My son also had no need for the tutor, and he didn't care about taking the CTY adminstered Midterm after Calc AB, so we went directly to the firm that markets the course material for the math courses in the series used by CTY (Can I get fired for this? Ha!). It was only about $70 to buy and use the materials and the on-line exercises and final exam, etc. If you're interested, I'll contact my son for the exact name of the firm, since I cannot remember it right now. It's in Texas, and "Texas" is in the name (I think). It was EXCELLENT, by the way.

Eagle79 · 03-22-2006, 10:20 AM

The name of the CTY software is Thinkwell. The Calculus class is taught by Professor Burger from Williams College. You can see their offereings at:

http://www.thinkwell.com

sagar_indurkhya · 03-22-2006, 01:10 PM

I take Linear Algebra through EPGY. It is essentially a self study course. I like it because I'm taking it in addition to multivariable calculus, so I go at a slow(quite slow) pace, so that I can fit it around my free time(read, vacations = cram time

)

cooljoe · 04-15-2006, 08:59 PM

Is it possible to take Calc BC and Multivariable Calculus at the same time?

Also, how good is UCCP?