<p>I have a great passion for math, especially pure math. I really want to be able to help some local college mathematicians in their research at some point. I emailed around at one college and none of them needed/ wanted a research assistant, they offered to have me join a problem solving group which meets once a month to discuss mathematical problems in journals, unfortunately my school day doesn't end by the time it starts. I'm kind of limited to 20 minute radius until I get my license, and I can't do anything this winter because sports have started up. When would you say the best time to contact other professors about this is? I've heard for science people summer is best, but when would you suggest I send out another batch of emails in order to get the best feedback, my sport doesn't end until February, is that too far into the spring semester?</p>
<p>I<code>ve got nothing to say on this subject, because, ha, well, we all know I</code>m a failure at math, not really, but…</p>
<p>But what<code>s “pure math”? To me, it</code>s just MATH.</p>
<p>Pure math is the more abstract math, not calculus or even linear algebra, One area of pure math I really like is topology.</p>
<p>[Pure</a> mathematics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pure_mathematics]Pure”>Pure mathematics - Wikipedia)
[Topology</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topology]Topology”>Topology - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Ohhhh, good to know. Yeah, I couldn`t do that either. Good for you, who can. I envy you people. </p>
<p>Just e-mail them at some point and explain your schedule. Some professor probably has a similar schedule to yours.</p>
<p>hey saminator910, we share a love for topology 
I think February is fine to send out emails. I did research in Topology with a professor starting in May (and continued during the summer) Though I think doing research during the summer is optimal, it’s possible to contact and then do research with a professor during the school year. Though, from personal experience, professors are much busier during the school year.</p>
<p>did you self-study or take Topology at the local college? what other math classes have you taken?</p>
<p>@psuedoquotient, cool! you’re the first person Ive known to like it( let alone be familiar with it)! So how much topology/math did you know before you did research with the Prof? and yes I self studied, I read a text on point set topology, and hopefully next some intro to differential topology. all local enrollable for high schoolers colleges around me are crap, Its rare to find a linear algebra class around here. Psuedo, how did you come in contact with the professor? How much should I include about myself. The fact is, my school’s stringent guidelines have restrained me, so I am in honors precalc, which is still accelerated but I wanted to be in calculus :(. I fear that when I included my previous math courses they were turned off, and I am fearful to list self studies because I don’t know if it “counts”, I have self studied a lot of calculus I and multivariate stuff along with the topology( calculus II stuff is boring).</p>
<p>You may consider doing a science fair paper/project that is math based. Also see if tgere are any Math Circles at the local universities.</p>
<p>Have you done the AMC/AIME/USAMO competitions? IMO (hehe) those are pretty fun compared to calculus.</p>
<p>I’m surprised that you’re reading/understanding texts on topology even though the school restricts you to pre-calculus. My HS let students take whatever math course they were ready for. </p>
<p>Like TwoTravelin said, you can try looking into unsolved math problems on your own as well. Maybe look at some number theory problems, such as the twin prime conjecture, or whether an odd perfect number exists.</p>