Who attends maths summer camp for highly gifted middle school students?

A. Absolutely! This is the oldest program in America for the precocious and profoundly gifted middle school student. Many of these students are into high school or even university courses. However, it is not necessary that the student know any high school material because MathPath is about enrichment, not acceleration. Individual attention as well as sessions at different levels ensure that students have the opportunity to proceed according to their level.

2. I see from your website that you are geared toward middle school students with gifts in math. What kind of ability/achievement levels are your programs geared toward?

A. MathPath is geared toward middle school students at the higher end of giftedness in mathematics. However, we do not measure giftedness using SAT scores or performance in national math contests. Any student who loves math deeply can apply. The only factor is the student's application package, including the applicant's solutions to the Qualifying Test and the recommendation letters.

All admitted students share a common characteristic - they are able to do sustained thinking on a problem. This we know since a student must do satisfactory work on the Qualifying Test. The problems in the Test are unlike the ones in time-limited math contests. Many MathPath Test problems require the students to think longer.

3. My son is 13 years old and he is in 8th grade middle school. But he is taking pre-calculus in high school and he will take calculus after this summer and he scored 25 in AMC 8 test last December. My question is which camp will be better for him this summer, MathPath or Canada/USA MathCamp ?

A. It is necessary to provide enrichment for the very gifted in their early years. MathPath is such a program. MathPath is for those in the age range of 11 to 14 years. MathPath is more suitable for these younger students, first because your child will have peers who are in the same age range, and second, because MathPath is more concerned about building a coherent mathematical foundation than the high school camps. This should not be construed as a weakness of the high school camps. High school students who have had some exposure to some of the main branches of mathematics have already begun to have affinity towards one branch more than others and they thus tend to take in courses in that subject as well as other subjects at high school camps. I know this since I founded and grew an high school camp. The student at MathPath is too young and needs to have the broad exposure before they go to high school camps.

What is a foundation for the middle school student who is precocious in math? A foundation is what an edifice rests on. In this instance, it is the historically precedent concepts of which today's mathematics is the sequent. Such a foundation is provided at MathPath - through courses in such fundamental topics as geometry, mathematical induction, counting, number theory, and a survey of mathematics history. These are supplemented by the plenary lectures of the visiting speakers, often very distinguished mathematicians who provide a window on modern research and illustrate how a mathematician can think deeply even about elementary topics. The mathematics writing course is also a foundation course, albeit not concept-wise, in that it provides practice in the proper way of writing in the mathematical language, while also raising issues about methods of mathematical proof.

The Canada/USA Mathcamp is a summer program, for highly gifted high school students, where there is lot of freedom for the student to take various courses - not necessarily the ones mentioned above. As founder of both programs, and knowing both well, I recommend MathPath for middle school age students and Canada/USA Mathcamp or another good high school program that gives students lots of choices in math when these students apply from Grades 9 and above in future.

4. My daughter is in grade 7 and into math contests. We have come to know about a new summer program called AwesomeMath. Should we send Kyle to MathPath or Awesome Math?

A. It is not appropriate for one summer camp to comment on another. What is relevant here is a comparison of MathPath with ALL programs where most students are from high school. Even if Kyle were accepted, or even if she were in 8th grade, she would be among the youngest students at any high school program. This poses a problem for the student. We discuss this at length on the Who Applies page.

The focus of MathPath is the broad mathematical foundation of the middle school student. Even the problem-solving at MathPath keeps this focus. Another aspect of MathPath is that the grade 6 and 7 students who wish it get coaching for the next year's MathCounts.

The MathPath program runs for four full weeks. If you had a grade 8 student and could not decide between the programs, then consider also family vacation plans to see which program would fit the time.

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MathPath - "BRIGHT AND EARLY"