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

1. Can you tell me a little about the demographics of the students at MathPath? How many apply? How many attend? What is the age distribution? What is the geographical distribution? The gender split? Other sorts of ethnic and religious diversity?

A. The number of applicants has increased each year, so it is hard to judge how many will apply in your year. For the 2011 camp, over 200 applied and 96 attended. We have also increased the size of the camp almost every year, but we think we have reached just about the maximum size for the sort of friendly, personable camp we wish to hold. Thus it is unlikely we will let the program go over 100 students. Almost everyone who is accepted chooses to come.

As for age distribution, in 2011 it was as follows

  age 11:  10
  age 12:  36
  age 13:  34
  age 14:  16

The grade breakdown for students in the school year before they attended the 2011 camp was

  5th:	 1
  6th:	18
  7th:	44
  8th:	16
  9th:	 4
  Other:12     (primarily homeschooled, sometimes in high school)

As for geographic distribution, 90 of the 96 students in 2011 were from the US, and these were split almost equally among students from the east coast (zip codes 0xxxx – 3xxxx), the west coast (9xxxx) and the interior (4xxxx – 8xxxx).

As for gender, in our 2011 program 1/3 of the students were female, our largest fraction ever. Girls have plenty of opportunity to make other female friends. Still, like the rest of the math community, we are striving towards the day when the sexes will be represented equally.

Students of all major religions have attended MathPath, as well as students who are not religious. We have usually been able to accommodate students who for religious reasons have food restrictions — vegatarian, kosher, halal.

All major ethnic groups have also been represented at MathPath. Groups that tend to highly value education and science are present in greater numbers than in the population at large. In recent years, around 55% of our students have been asian (both parents have asian surnames) or eurasian (one parent has an asian surname). Likewise, there are noticeable numbers of Jews and students of Eastern European heritage. However, our observation is that kids themselves really don't care about any of this. They all mix together easily through the things they have in common: a love of math and the joy of being zany kids.

2. I see from your website that you are geared toward middle school students with gifts in math. What kind of ability/achievement levels is your program 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 mostly unlike the ones in time-limited math contests. Many MathPath Test problems require the students to think longer.

3. Is your program appropriate for students who are middle school age but well into the high school math curriculum?

A. Absolutely! This is the oldest program in America for highly gifted math students of middle school age. 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.

4. After reading through the MathPath materials online, we wonder whether Algebra is required for kids going to the camp. While Jesse loves math and has shown some talent in it, he has not yet learned Algebra systematically (he learned Pre-Algebra and some topics in Algebra). Would it be best for Jesse to participate next year (if he is able to qualify) once he has learned Algebra completely? He will only turn age 11 shortly before camp starts this year.

A. The short answer is: we prefer that a student at MathPath have (at least informally) a year of algebra and a year of geometry, but it is not required. We have had a few students come who have had neither and have thrived, by choosing the right courses (e.g., number theory, graph theory, combinatorics - courses that don't use much algebra or traditional geometry). These students sometimes come back for a second year, after they have more algebra and geometry, and get an even richer experience.

It also depends on how much a kid is comfortable hearing about math that they can't fully understand yet (because every student attends the "plenary" talks, and these will sometimes require algebra or geometry). Some kids are happy, in fact excited, to get a glimpse at advanced math that they can't fully understand yet but will want to come back and study later. Others are frustrated if they can't understand it completely.

The best answer is: what counts for admission is how well an applicant does on our Qualifying Test (QT). There is always at least one question that tests algebra skills, and at least one that tests geometry skills. Sometimes a student does poorly on those questions (or doesn't submit them) and does very well on other questions. Then we may well admit the student, with the suggestion that we get on the phone and discuss whether the student should come that year or not. Also, if that's what happens in Jesse's case, at that point we can put you in touch with students who came to MathPath in a similar situation, and you can find out from them if they thought it was a good idea.

So the bottom line is: Let Jesse do the QT and let us decide.

You might say, well, doing the QT is a lot of work, so why do it if the decision may be that MathPath won't accept him yet or he will decide not to come even if you do?

The answer is: if a student loves math, then they usually find it fun and instructive to work on our QT, whether they come to MathPath this year or not.

Because of Jesse's age, if he doesn't come this year, he will have several more opportunities.

5. 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.

6. 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. 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.

Finally, it you go to the Art of Problem Solving Forums, you can find out what students themselves say about these various camps, including comparisons of camps. To go to the forums specifically about MathPath, click here.

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MathPath – "BRIGHT AND EARLY"