<p>Is anyone on board at Ross yet?</p>
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<p>I’m confirmed attending, and quite excited.</p>
<p>Accepted, but not sure if I’m going.</p>
<p>In comparison to PROMYS (also accepted this year), which would be better for me? I want to work a lot on a number theory research project I’ve been doing, and I’m currently a sophomore.</p>
<p>buzzer11,</p>
<p>what field in number theory are you researching on? I’ve been to neither but I’ve heard of the number theory focus at PROMYS.</p>
<p>I have a friend who’s done a research on fibonacci mod p. it’s kinda cool=]</p>
<p>Ross was the original number theory summer program, as both Ross and PROMYS would acknowledge. Ask each program how much emphasis they have on a student doing a research project already started–it MAY be that PROMYS has more of that going on, but I don’t know that for sure.</p>
<p>nirvanatear, i’m working on the collatz problem.</p>
<p>Which one would you choose and why?</p>
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<p>Ross because it is more intense. But I have nothing bad to say about SUMaC.</p>
<p>As a first year at Ross you are expected to do problem sets before any other math work. If you have a strong backing in number theory, as it seems you might, then you will be able to finish a lot of the early sets quickly. This will probably give you some free time to spend on the research problem if you so choose. I wouldn’t go to Ross or PROMYS for that matter if you doing number theory research is a major goal of yours since neither are for that. I ensure you that you will learn a lot, work hard and make good friends at ross, but successful research is not likely to occur.</p>
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<p>Housing is set for Ross 2009. As usual, it’s on the north end of campus.</p>
<p>Hi!
My son’ll be at Ross Program this summer and as a concerned mom, I need to have some detailed information about the life at the camp. Can anybody answer these questions?</p>
<p>1)What is their typical daily schedules and weekend activities? Do they have any time to read books or practice their instrument or relax?</p>
<p>2)If they want to play musical instrument, where would be the place?(In their dorm or can they use one of the OSU music practice room?)</p>
<p>3)In the invitation package, they said they discourage the visits/excursions with friends or relatives…do this mean that parents cannot visit their kids either?(We are planning to visit him 2 or 3 times over the 8 weeks…)</p>
<p>4)How much money is reasonable amount to have for extra spending?</p>
<p>5)How about the overall security around campus?</p>
<p>6)Are there cleaning tools(vacuum, brushes, spray…) at the dorm? or Should he bring those to camp?</p>
<p>7)Can we buy some snacks/water bottles before camp starts and leave in his dorm?</p>
<p>Sorry for the so many questions and thanks in advance!</p>
<p>[I’ll list out your questions and try to provide some answers. My son, who will be a junior counselor at Ross this summer, happened to be near my computer, so most of the answers are from him. I’ll put my own answers in brackets.] </p>
<p>“1) What is their typical daily schedules and weekend activities? Do they have any time to read books or practice their instrument or relax?” </p>
<p>On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays only two hours are scheduled (lecture and discussion). On Tuesdays and Thursdays only one hour is scheduled (lecture). So students have an enormous amount of their own time to spend. Practically speaking students will be spending at least eight hours each day working on the problem sets to maintain an acceptable pace. This leaves plenty of time for students to read or practice instruments, depending on how fond they are of sleep. [Students are expected to be responsible for setting their own schedules–that’s a big part of the learning experience at Ross.] </p>
<p>“2) If they want to play musical instrument, where would be the place? (In their dorm or can they use one of the OSU music practice room?)” </p>
<p>Generally the OSU practice rooms are restricted access, so some finagling might be necessary to get into one of those. Ross people in the dorm are pretty receptive to practice in the dorms, however. Most math people enjoy music, so just be good at what you are practicing. Both dorms I’ve been in in the past have had a piano. [This year the program is in Houck House, and it has a reputation for having good amenities.] </p>
<p>“3) In the invitation package, they said they discourage the visits/excursions with friends or relatives…do this mean that parents cannot visit their kids either? (We are planning to visit him 2 or 3 times over the 8 weeks…)” </p>
<p>It really is discouraged. There’s really nothing stopping you, but you should consider how much a visit could derail your student’s progress. The weekends aren’t exactly “free” time, because the weekends are when you catch up with the problem sets you weren’t able to complete during the week. [I just left my son there the whole summer, after driving him out there the first two times he went. This year he will fly out by himself. Probably some classmates will go out together with some classmate’s parents once in a while. Mostly the students work together and make friends with one another.] </p>
<p>“4) How much money is reasonable amount to have for extra spending?” </p>
<p>I’ve gone on as little as $50 and didn’t spend much of that. There isn’t a lot to spend your money on besides more pens. The meal plan covers a huge variety of food, so spending money in restaurants is basically a waste. [The meal plan is LAVISH. The food is really good and varied at the south end of campus, and adequate at the north end. I’ve never heard of a Ross student using up their whole meal card, not even by the end of the summer.] </p>
<p>“5)How about the overall security around campus?” </p>
<p>Great. Ross stipulates that new students aren’t allowed to cross High Street because that’s off campus. The campus itself is extremely safe. [The one issue to watch out for is dorm residents leaving the door open for strangers, but I’ve not heard of any serious security incidents at Ross specifically or at Ohio State in general. The campus is very well lit and well populated with students at night, even in the summer.] </p>
<p>“6) Are there cleaning tools(vacuum, brushes, spray…) at the dorm? or Should he bring those to camp?” </p>
<p>I don’t know about the things you’ve listed, but unless your son is planning to conduct chemistry experiments the mops and brooms should be sufficient. [You’re asking about teenage boys in dorm rooms, and they seem to bear with the conditions in the dorms.] </p>
<p>“7) Can we buy some snacks/water bottles before camp starts and leave in his dorm?”</p>
<p>Certainly, and it is a good idea, although not entirely necessary. (The meal plan includes snack foods, so the student can buy snacks after arrival.) [There is plenty of opportunity to buy snacks at the campus dining facilities, and I recall there being refrigerators in each dorm room.] </p>
<p>[Best wishes for a great time at the program.]</p>
<p>Wow! Thank you very much for your detailed answer. It certainly is very helpful and I am much relieved after reading your reply. :)</p>
<p>You’re welcome. I wasn’t sure if that answer would be reassuring or scary, but to me the take-home point is that a lot of students who have been to Ross who are young enough to go back willingly go back.</p>
<p>So, has anyone else committed to Ross this summer?</p>
<p>My son will be at Ross this summer. Since we live in Portland (OR), we are wondering who else is going there from Portland or nearby places. Also, how many total students are typically admitted each year? Thanks.</p>
<p>I hear most people who go to Ross are from east of the Mississippi River (we are BARELY west of it), so your son will be special if he is coming from Portland. I wonder if he will be on the same plane flight my son will be on (private message to talk about that).</p>
<p>My son will be going, but will be arriving a few days late because he has to take a NY State Regents exam on June 24. There’s another boy who is also from Long Island who will be arriving late too. (New York schools generally stay in session later into June than other states.)</p>
<p>There was a fairly large group of students from various parts of Long Island last year. Ross would start even earlier in the summer were it not for that detail of New York school scheduling. The schedule maintained the last few years has been very good for us, dealing with a school schedule that ends in the first week of June.</p>
<p>Thanks to the mom with all those questions regarding campus life and also to tokenadult and son for the answers.
Also being from Long Island, my son will be joining the program a couple of days late.</p>