I’m currently applying to MIT PRIMES USA (the application is due in couple days…good luck to anyone else who’s applying!) I guess I’m just wondering how selective it is/how high the acceptance rate is (and how likely it is for me to get in). Is it comparable to RSI (~1% acceptance rate) or more to other selective programs such as the Simons summer research program (~12%)?
What factors do they weigh most in admissions (pset, rec letters, background, competition performance, diversity)? How much background are they expecting (e.g. calculus, linear algebra, abstract algebra, coding ability)? How many problems solved for the p-set would be expected (it says >50-60% should consider applying, but I assume most people accepted would be higher than that)? This year is out of 13 (7+6). How many in the general/advanced section and what would the split be for an average participant?
Hey fellow applicant! Don’t have any info for you, but out of curiosity, how many problems have you solved? I’m at about 12.5/13. I think most serious applicants are approaching that range if not at 13. From older threads from previous years, contests don’t matter much, though the recommendation letters do, and at least a calculus background is expected.
Great to hear you are applying! I am a current PRIMES student heading into my third year with the program. Not really sure about PRIMES USA admissions because it is more selective but from what i’ve heard, your problem set is the most important part of the application and is essentially used to narrow down the pool substantially. Your LoRs are also critically important to help with this. From this pool, mentors choose which students they think would be a good fit to do a project with them in their field of research based on their scores on certain parts of the pset and the personal statement. Hope this helps!
Gitcommit, you did pretty well on the pset. I have two advanced problems unsolved and wonder if I still have chance. I always have passion for math research and PRIMES seems to be a great opportunity that I have long been looking for. Good luck to all of us!
@ohmypost It turns out that I got at least 1 part of a question completely wrong and I messed up one part of a different computation that screwed up another entire problem’s answer though my method worked.
