Hello. I’m a Sophomore in HS currently interested in pursuing a career in mathematics. The two top colleges that have caught my attention the most are Princeton and MIT. Now, the most important thing for me is not getting accepted. The most important thing to me is pursuing my interest, and becoming so filled with passion and skill and experience in it, that being accepted is merely a byproduct of that. One critical aspect that I have discovered on the matter of getting applied to an Ivy or a near-Ivy, is the pursuit and clear passion in a field, and an as close to as possible mastery of that field achieveable. I plan on expanding my passion and discovering my true interests through one of these programs. This summer, I received a letter in the mail from Brown. It was for the Pre-College Programs they were offering. Immediately, I thought what a great idea this was to get some experience. After a bit of research, a lot of which came from this forum, I learned that pre-college programs like Brown’s and even Harvard’s were more or less money ploys. The best that they offered, I learned, were experience. And definitely not something to consider putting on an application, especially not if the application isn’t to the school with which you did the program. So, I began to look for more, focused summer programs. I learned from that research, that the best programs were ones like MOSP and RSI. Through even further research, I learned that, with no other similar experience, applying to these would not be the best for me right now, since: 1.) I would probably get rejected; 2.) It’s apparently better to apply as a Junior or Senior; and 3.) The deadlines for this year have closed. Maybe I should have started with 3. No? So, I concluded that the best course of action would be to apply to go to one of the paid programs this year, for some baseline, easy experience. Then, I would go to a fairly-moderate program into which to get accepted, like PROMYS; and finally, with two more years of experience under my belt than would have been currently, I would apply to RSI. And, if I was not accept there (about which I would be disappointed), I would try for another research program like RSI. Is this a good game plan for gaining experience and knowledge in the math field? I want to know if I’m headed in the right direction. Also, I would like to take the USAMO or AIME, but I’m not sure as to when I would. I plan on taking the SAT as well. I have already taken the PSAT (1280, decent I suppose), and am taking one AP this year, and three to four next year. I am ranked #10 in my class, and I am working toward getting higher. Really just looking for some general guidance here. Any insight is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading this far.
PROMYS is highly selective. They select around 60 students every year. I’d say you should look into other good math programs such as HCSSiM, Mathily, or AwesomeMath just to be safe. The applications are still open for these. Best of luck.
When it comes time to apply to universities definitely think about and apply to other universities in addition to Princeton and MIT (and not just Stanford and Harvard). You will need match and safety schools and you should put significant thought into these.
Short answer - there is no specific path to acceptance at MIT or Princeton and you should do math programs because you like math. I second @DadofTwoGirls - you will need to add additional schools to your list. Princeton and MIT are very competitive. Princeton accepted about 6% of applicants this year, and MIT was around 8%. Any school which has acceptance rates under 10% are unlikely for almost everyone. You have time to explore additional options. MIT admissions is fond of applying sideways - doing what you enjoy in HS because you enjoy it - not because it will look good on a college application.
RSI is for rising seniors and has a 2% acceptance rate. Average of one student per state. While it is disappointing not be accepted they turn away almost everyone, which included a lot of qualified students each year.
Did you qualify for US(J)AMO this year? It is unclear from your post if you have even take AIME yet. Did you qualify from AMC10/12 and not move on, or are you not taking the qualifying tests? If you aren’t at that level you won’t reach MOPS. The kids I know who have qualified for MOPS were qualifying for USJAMO in 8th grade.
If you are at that level then PROMYS or Ross are possible after 10th grade (though deadlines are now passed). You can apply for next summer too.
Have you finalized summer plans?
Good luck.