There is a new procedure this year for new applicants. Most things will be submitted online. If you submit your initial application form online by the April 20 deadline, there is no application fee. Otherwise, there is a fee of $25.
(If you have attended MathPath before or been admitted before, you have a different procedure explained here.)
There are 4 parts to the application process:
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Complete the online application form.
Do this as soon as you know you are interested. It is free and allows us to be in touch with you. Either the applicant or a parent or guardian may fill out this form.
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Ask a teacher or math coach to complete the
online academic recommendation form.
Direct your recommender to this "How to Apply" page on www.mathpath.org
(not .com) so s/he can click on the link. Also, give your recommender
your code number (explained below).
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Ask an adult who knows you well in a non-academic capacity to complete the
online non-academic recommendation form.
This might be a family friend, music teacher, athletic coach, scout leader, chess coach, pastor, etc. Direct your recommender to this "How to Apply" page on www.mathpath.org (not .com)
so s/he can click on the link. Also, give your recommender
your code number (explained below).
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Submit your work on the
Qualifying Test.
For this item only we encourage you to submit handwritten hardcopy by post.
The mailing address for submission is on the test and also at the bottom
of this page.
Why handwritten copy? Because unless you already know how to use math-writing software very well, your electronically produced solutions
are likely to omit figures and be too terse to qualify for
admission. What about submitting handwritten copies electronically?
You may scan your solutions into a pdf and submit them as an email
attachment (e-address below), but they cannot be faint or blurry. If an electronic test submission is not dark and clear enough, we will ask you to resubmit hardcopy.
If you or your recommenders do not wish to submit online, you
or they may mail in the old hardcopy forms available here:
Old Application Form,
Old Academic Recommendation Form and
Old Non-Academic Recommendation Form.
The mailing address is on each form and below.
However, we think you will find it easier and faster to submit online.
If you submit the application form by hardcopy, it must be accompanied by a check or money order for $25 made out to MathPath. If it is received after the application deadline, there may be a late fee (to be announced closer to the deadline).
Your application is not complete until all 4 items are received.
We usually make an admissions decision within one week of receiving a full application. All decisions and other correspondence from us will be by email, so please check it regularly. If you are expecting a decision and have not received it, first check with your recommenders, and then check with our
Academic Director.
Normally, we will email any submitter within a few days of receiving their submission.
Code Number.
As part of submitting your online application form,
you will be asked to make up a 4-digit code number,
which you will then give to your recommenders. This will help us verify submissions and link them to you. Please make a record of your number, so you won't forget it.
Also, please look over the online form once before filling it out, and ask your recommenders to do the same. You may need to look up some information to fill out the form, and unfortunately you cannot save the form half done and come back to it after you get this information.
Apply Early!
There are several reasons for this.
First, it will increase your chance of admission.
Why? Because we do rolling admissions and applications are coming
in faster this year
than ever before. If, say, by Feb 15 we have filled
75% of the seats and lots of applications are
still coming in, we will set a much higher admission standard at that
point in order not to let the camp get too large.
Second, if you are admitted, it is much better to know this early, because
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It reduces your fee. For each full month that you pay the whole fee before the final payment deadline (May 31), your fee is reduced by 1%.
Click on Fees in the navigation bar to the left for details.
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It allows you to book cheaper air tickets to camp.
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If you are choosing between several summer programs, it helps you to make up your mind if you know your options early.
The only group for whom it may not be advantageous to apply early is those who only want to come for 2-weeks. Since we prefer 4-week campers, we may defer admission of early 2-week applicants. If we can fill the camp with strong 4-week applicants, we may not accept any 2-week applicants. However, we expect to admit a few 2-week campers.
Registration. If you are admitted, we will email you word of your admission and several other things, perhaps at various times. The first thing to come, along with word of admission, will be a Registration Form. To reserve a seat, you must return this promptly by post along with a deposit of at least $1000, and you will have the option to pay in full at a reduced rate. If you are eligible for financial aid, we will send information about that with the Registration Form; your situation may affect when you pay as well as how much.
Other forms to be received will concern health information, various waivers, information on booking travel, and general information about camp (the Precamp Briefing). The waivers and health forms will need to be completed and returned to us before camp, probably by May 31, 2010.
Importance of the Qualifying Test. The most important part of your application is the Qualifying Test. Do as well as you can, and do not rush.
Although early applications are good, it is better to take one more week to think and write good solutions than to rush through the Test and submit sloppy incomplete solutions. For information on how we score it, see the instructions on the web copy of the test.
Contact Information.
All submissions and correspondence concerning admissions go to the
Academic Director, Prof Stephen B Maurer of Swarthmore College.
His email address is smaurer1@swarthmore.edu.
His postal address is:
Mathpath
c/o Prof Maurer, Math/Stat
Swarthmore College
500 College Ave
Swarthmore PA 19081
USA
Unless you are very close to a deadline or outside the USA, there is
no need to use express mail or priority mail; regular first class mail
is almost as fast and much less expensive.
Save your money for activities at camp!
