<p>My D has always been very good at math. Lately, though, she has expressed her "love" of math. She unofficially tutors her friends, gets great grades, has been recommended to take the highest IB level math next year, called me squealing with joy that she could also take AP Calculus as an elective, etc. You get the picture. She attends an all magnet HS with MSE, CS, and IB students making up the student body. It is a big deal for her to find a place where she believes she shines in a school where everyone is above average. So, give me something to latch onto, and I run with it. I started looking up summer math programs that I thought she would enjoy, since she "loves" math so much. My dilemma is this: Is there a chance that she will become intimidated by the other math lovers at the program and lose her love of math because she won't feel "special" anymore. I know this sounds silly, but she is not the most self-confident kid around, and I would want to boost her confidence, not make her feel "average" by sending her to a program. Has anybody had one of these summer programs backfire?</p>
<p>D expressed undying love for engineering - so I tossed her into CTY summer program for engineering to test. She came back loving it even more.</p>
<p>My D was in a similar position being one of the few math lovers at her high school. She went to a 6-week math camp three summers in a row and loved it. At the math camp she definitely wasn't at the top in terms of scores on AMC-type contests. But her self-esteem seemed to remain the same. She just accepted that those particular contests were not her forte. But she loved being around a variety of really smart kids with lots of different interests. I was also impressed with how polite and poised the campers were. They just seemed to be a great group of kids. </p>
<p>I feel like one of the biggest advantages of attending the camp is that the graduates fan out to universities nation-wide and my D has a network of friends who have given her lots of advice on colleges. When we visited possible colleges for my D she had a math camp friend to talk to at most of the schools. It will be interesting to see how long they keep in touch and whether this networking will extend to future job opportunities once they enter the working world. </p>
<p>There are quite a few math camps to choose from but I'll copy a link below to the camp that my D attended. The campers are mostly from Texas but there were students attending from all over the country, many on scholarship. I would be happy to answer any questions you have or connect my D with your D to chat about math camp. </p>
<p>Honors</a> Summer Math Camp : Texas Mathworks : Texas State University</p>
<p>First thing is there are a bunch of different math programs. Some aim at having fun with math( kinda like a camp with math), others focus on competition math(improve your amc score) and then others focus on basically taking a course and working on math only during the summer(math program). There is also a large differences between programs within these groups based on rigorousness. I'd say that if your daughter goes to the first type of program she will have fun and enjoy math, but probably not learn a ton(in comparison to the other two at least). If you send her to one of the latter two types she probably will be average, although I have no idea how talented your daughter is. There will be students who have come close to IMO, skipped grades, and nearly finished undergraduate math in high school. This is not a bad thing in my opinion because if she wants to go to a top college there will probably be people ahead of her. If she loses her love for math at a summer program then it is likely she would of lost it early in college anyway. This will at least give you a better look at what you really want to do in the future. I went in to a math program with a similar scenario where I was the best at math in my school, but at the program I was fairly average. This was the first time I had to push myself in math and actually work hard to do well. This was definitely a good preparation for college as well. I was no longer special, but I think it was a good thing. People instantly connect over their interests and I think you will find that your daughter will make better friends because of the fact that she isn't unique in her math interest. As mentioned previously your daughter would make friends from around the country (maybe the world), and most likely have counselors at top universities that can help to advise and give insight into the institutions. These math programs really allow you to enter the math community unlike anything else in high school. I strongly recommend attending a camp or program. It was most certainly one of the best experiences in my life.</p>