<p>Hello all,
I would love to get advice and referrals for math camps for my rising HS freshman daughter. She had gone to JHU-CTY summer camps the two previous years and I am looking for a change. I found two camps that might suit her:AwesomeMath and MathPath. I would love to hear the insights of those who have gone to or are familiar with either summer programs. Could you tell me if it was worthwhile, how rigorous the academic component is and what was the quality and quantity of the recreational time at these camps? Are there other math camps I should look into that would accept a 13 year old. (She recently made states in the Mathcounts competition.) Thank you for any advice and information you can offer.</p>
<p>MathPath is for the most mathematically talented middle school students (until 9th, so your D will be among the oldest but still in the range). AwesomeMath focuses on competition math. So it depends on what you want to get out of it. </p>
<p>MathPath does a lot of trips, etc on weekends and is a very friendly atmosphere with a lot of camaraderie. It's not all about "all math, all the time". The kids have a very, very good time, and you really can't beat a session with John Conway. But the emphasis is on mathematics (in the broader sense), not competition preparation.</p>
<p>I can't speak to Awesome Math from personal experience. You may want to head over to the Art of Problem Solving fora for more information on math camps.</p>
<p>Here's a new one in So Cal that came across the wire. It seems expensive but it's run by some amazing people. It's for ages 11-18.</p>
<p>[url=<a href="http://mathlinks.us/%5DMathLinks%5B/url">http://mathlinks.us/]MathLinks[/url</a>]</p>
<p>AwesomeMath is harder than MathPath. Have her take a look at the application questions for AwesomeMath; normally if you can solve around 7 or more, you're in. Give her some time (they take a while to solve!) and see how many she can get. If she's able to solve about 7 by the application deadline, she should be fine there. If not, she'll be better off at MathPath (which is still a great program, just not as rigorous as AwesomeMath because its primary aim is middle schoolers).</p>
<p>My son loved MathPath. He didn't consider AwesomeMath because he's into theory more than competition. The guy in charge of MathPath, Dr. Thomas, absolutely loves the students AND the math. As I understand it, he also regularly trounces the middle schoolers at soccer, but I'm not sure about that part. They do field trips and have outdoor time. Their curriculum is not the same as a high school curriculum, but instead they browse a lot of college-level number theory, set theory type stuff.</p>
<p>MathPath's test is not easy - a math-profession adult I know who saw the test was extremely impressed. Its problems will also take some time. In any case, have her look at the tests for both programs and see which are more interesting to her.</p>
<p>I think many of the programs will accept younger children if they can do well enough on the entrance test - some other top programs are Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics (HCSSiM), Ross, Promys, and MathCamp. </p>
<p>And I think the deadlines are pretty soon, so you have little time to waste.</p>
<p>Whichever program you choose, I think it's an excellent idea. My son loved all four years of his summer math programs and learned a ton. Now, at his freshman year at a top STEM college, he's well-prepared.</p>
<p>Warning, MathPath, unlike Mathcamp, does NOT wait until the deadline to start reading applications. Several years ago MathPath had nearly filled by the time the deadline rolled around.</p>
<p>If what you are interested in is contest math, by all means you should go to some place concentrating on teaching techniques for contest math. That would not be MathPath (or it's older sibling US/Canada Mathcamp).</p>
<p>Thank you all for delineating the difference between the two camps; that was extremely helpful. We downloaded the questions and when she looked at them, it was like nothing she had ever seen before. She will be a bit disadvantaged compare to other applicants since she has just recently looked into math in this whole new way (ie: not just the algebra taugh in school) and I realize it is a different mindset. With application deadlines looming, it's too late to enroll her in AOPS online courses to help guide her to think about complex math problems. Well, we will give it a shot anyway and I will make sure that we will be more prepared for next summer.</p>
<p>Take a look at Math Zoom. There are usually 2 camps. One on the East coast and another on the West coast.</p>