Has anyone done this program? How does it compare to the other math ones in terms of overall experience?
What math were you in the year before you got accepted? I’m in Algebra 2 currently, however I have pretty good scores on math competitions and would have done precalc concurrently if it weren’t for my schedule.
How is the overall experience, especially for girls?
I’ve never been to HCSSiM, but I know five or so kids who were there in 2014. They all really enjoyed it. It’s a lot of math, but it’s structured in a way that there’s no stress over the math. It seems like a very welcoming, quirky place, and the girls I talked to loved it.
I’m not sure if there’s a skewed girl/guy ratio, but I can say, coming from Ross, which was 2/3 male, that it’s generally okay to be a girl in the minority at math camps – people look at you for you who are and what you bring, and forget a lot of external stuff. I felt impostor syndrome for about two days at Ross, as a fairly underprepared white female-presenting person, but I doubt that even that small bit of “I shouldn’t be here” would be present at HCSSiM, from the things that the HCSSiM girls said. (And, by the way, I consider Ross to be the best and most formative six weeks of my life and miss it daily, so even if there is a rocky start, there’s also time after that 
.)
HCSSiM is different from PROMYS or Ross because there’s designated “not math” time and more actual instruction – the other two are working alone or with peers on number theory problems 24/7 with some pressure to finish the set before the next day. It’s way more intense than MathILy, though, and I think you get greater continuity at HCSSiM than at Mathcamp.
Admission to HCSSiM is primarily based on the Interesting Test (and probably essays – I don’t have a sense of how much those matter to Hampshire), which is a series of interesting math questions that you’ll write up solutions to. I’d imaging that ability shown on the Interesting Test matters quite a bit more than your current math class. These math camps are typically looking for mathematical maturity, not scores.
Definitely poke around on the HCSSiM website if you haven’t already; it give a pretty good picture of what Hampshire is all about. Even at Ross, the last year HCSSiM kids started caroling on Yellow Pig Day and making references to the number 17. You’ll learn a lot of abstract math unlike any you’ve encountered before, and have a fun time while learning it. Apply if you love math with your heart.
There’s also SUMaC. Look at http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/15408627#Comment_15408627.
@pseudoprimal Thank you for your response! I was also thinking about applying to Ross as I live in Michigan so it would be pretty close distance-wise. How would you compare the average math level of people in both the of the programs, would most people have completed precalc or calculus before going or no?
Thanks!
@pseudoprimal hard to compare math levels, though I will say that kids who went to HCSSiM one summer sometimes go to Ross the next summer, but the vice versa isn’t really true.
Most people at Ross have completed Calculus. In my group of friends, the first-years who were rising juniors had mostly all completed a couple of semesters of math past Calculus, but I can assure you that this isn’t necessary. The specific material you learn in Calculus (or Linear Algebra, or whatnot) won’t really be of help to you* – again, it’s all about mathematical maturity. The kids at Ross who were scary-accelerated were looking for a challenge in previous years and have torn through a lot of material in a short amount of time. I definitely learned how to be average there.
Another note: a bunch of people at Ross were rejected the first year they applied but accepted the next year, so there’s really no harm in trying! If you can figure out the problems on the Ross application and are 15 or older, and you feel like you would like to spend all of your time doing proofs without guidance from adults for six weeks, apply. There are some really nice threads about Ross on here, including http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/summer-programs/867050-why-you-should-consider-the-ross-mathematics-a-letter-program.html .
*except for if you take Abstract Algebra or another class that actually does fill in the foundations of Number Theory. This is one reason why kids who went to another program the previous year tend to be equipped fairly well to deal with the math; a lot of math programs teach Abstract Algebra.
@pseudoprimal Thanks for your response! I think that I’ll aim for HCSSiM this year but also try for Ross.
Hey @2019hs ! Did you get in?