Pure Math Major Extracurriculars

hebegebe
Tue, 11 Apr 2023 12:21:45 +0000

Thanks @DadOfJerseyGirl for bringing me in.

@thankingcow, math research by high school students is relatively rare relative to other forms of STEM research. And the reason it’s rare is because it requires a significant amount of training in how mathematics research works before even bright students can start making a contribution.

The only place that I know that regularly has high school students do math research is MIT, through their PRIMES program. There are two versions of PRIMES. The first, just called PRIMES is for students within driving distance of MIT, and is very selective. Students accepted into this program typically spend multiple years in the program, but much of the first year was spent on teaching students on how to read existing math papers and how mathematics research is actually conducted. This period could get either shortened or lengthened depending upon how quickly the students learned these concepts.

The other version of the program is called PRIMES-USA, and as the name suggests, can be applied for by anyone in the USA. It is much more selective than normal PRIMES, and typically the students accepted this program are some of the strongest math students in the USA. Traditionally this was only for juniors, but they are now starting to accept sophomores.

Apart from this, I am not aware of any summer programs where students could do research in mathematics. I am not talking about things like PROMYS where students can learn advanced concepts in mathematics, but actually do research. AwesomeMath had a specialized program that did this a few years back but don’t know if they still do.

Even if you can’t do math research, you have done great in terms of qualifying for USAJMO. If you think you can qualify for USAMO next time, I recommend going after that rather than another USAJMO qualification.

ETA: RSI is another summer program where students can do math research. But that’s also extremely selective.