Are we going to kill ANOTHER thread by driving it off topic into math competitions? 
Only if you want to keep talking about it.
1 Like
Math competitions are just fine! And I like to hear about other people’s experience.
Anecdote: A local unhooked math whiz (white male) that I mentored got a very nice acceptance to a non-HYP Ivy. I believe he ED’d to that. He didn’t do math competitions, but showed a passion for math in his applications. He was not legacy or athlete either.
OOS to math at UMD and Wisconsin should be mostly likely , although not 100%; it’s not an impacted major at either one. CS may be more iffy - but still a reasonable chance. Do give Stony Brook a closer look - excellent in both pure and applied math and CS. All three would be great places for double majoring. And someone has already suggested Univ of Rochester - smaller more intellectual vibe.
At this point, focusing on essays and curating the college list should be more of a priority. I think the math contest ship has sailed, and maybe he can get in an AMC12 score for RD, with some minimal prep. But I don’t think that should be a time consuming focus at this stage. I think the selective summer math camps will be a good indicator of his passions. Best of luck to your son - he sounds quite talented!
Thank you to everyone who replied. This is an amazing community! I ran all your comments by my son. He’s interested in looking at Stony Brook more closely, and possibly also UMD and Wisconsin. He’s not convinced e.g. Case and Rochester would be worth it financially, compared to Stony Brook but perhaps he could get merit aid.
It’s also interesting (and a little reassuring) to hear from parents of other math kids who got into his reach schools!
I wonder if he should really apply for math and not for CS? But then it has to be somewhere where he could switch to CS if he wanted to, or double major in it from within Arts & Sciences.
Since CS is more competitive, he should apply to that major directly,if a university admits by major, like UMD. It’s always easier to switch later to a less competitive major or add a second major.
My DS2 is a rising senior interested in mech eng . We are keeping URochester on our list. We swung by the campus on a beautiful Memorial Day weekend and ended up chatting with a couple of random students . Granted it’s not a scientific sample but they seemed bright , and enthusiastic about being there. My kid likes their flexible curriculum, and that’s another reason.
For merit consideration for Rochester, need to apply by Dec. 1, which is earlier than their RD deadline. This was somewhere on their website .
CS is typically more difficult to get. Easier to switch from CS to math than from math to CS.
1 Like
I briefly attended Rochester for grad school a few ages ago. I liked the school and the environment. They do get some snow for those who care.
The snow would be a plus for him, believe it or not.
2 Likes
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.