<p>The problem sets are meant to guide you in learning number theory. Basically the idea is for you to figure everything out before “formally” learning it the next day in lecture. They’re ~18 problems long, but “long” in the sense that after the first few, you probably won’t finish them daily (I know of 4 people in two years that always finished their problem sets, but they went in knowing quite a bit of number theory.) </p>
<p>tl;dr you think for a long time</p>
<p>The psets are generally divided into 3 sections: 1) numericals, which is your standard working-with-numbers problems 2) proofs and 3) misc. The misc is usually 3 or so problems; the rest of the pset is divided equally between (1) and (2)</p>
<p>@schakrab - I actually looked at #4 yesterday and realized I forgot all the geometry I learned last year, haha I thought the first part of #8 was pretty easy.</p>
<p>Thank goodness, I think my math teacher had a seizure when I asked her for recommendations for the ~4 math programs I’m applying to. When I handed her the PROMYS form and she saw that it was only checking boxes, she literally said, “That’s it?”. I think she was relieved.</p>
<p>Should we include all our work from start to finish, even parts that are wrong/contradictory? (I’m rewriting it to make it actually legible.) It shows my thinking process, but some of it is kind of exorbitant.</p>
<p>If you came up with the right answer then just include that process, without the tangents. If you couldn’t come up with a complete answer, just put down as much as you have. Remember that there are a lot of long applications to look through so while you want to be complete, you don’t want to have too much extraneous/unnecessary information</p>
<p>I found number 1 really easy, it only took me an hour.
I’m used to math being very easy, and I’ve been struggling (but enjoying the struggle) for these problems.
This is my first time applying, so I just wanted to know how hard it is to get in, like do I even have a chance? And how much are the short answers and teacher recommendations weighted versus the problem set.
Not to ask to much, but how many can I get wrong and still have a chance of getting in (I’m struggling with 2, 4, and 7) because I’m still learning geometry.</p>
<p>From what I know, the problem sets are by far the most important aspect of the application and the teacher recs/short answer are just there to confirm that you’re a good and hardworking person. promys is full of people who really know how to think</p>
<p>I can’t answer how many you have to get right, but definitely do your best</p>
<p>They accept around 60/600 first years every year. In addition,there are ~20 returning students every year and 10 european students who apply through a joint program (although there are also international kids separately counted in the 60). I think the number of people who apply as first years has been increasing, however</p>
<p>well, I’m a 2 year attendee from PROMYS, and I can answer all your questions too. From what I understand, it seems like a lot of you guys have questions. To answer to basics, PROMYS is not based for comeptition math. IMO, PROMYS certainly helps you think mathematically, and teaches you a few number theory skills you can use for competition math. However, the main gist of the program is the number theory course. I went into PROMYS will a sense of number theory (all problem solving, no proof experience). However, I enjoyed it thoroughly. If you’re looking for something fun to do, and you love math, come to PROMYS. </p>
<p>Also, there are MOSP participants who come to PROMYS. Some went the year before and some come right after MOSP. To my understanding, MOSP ends at the end of June, and PROMYS starts at the beginning of July. So, the times aren’t really conflicting. </p>
<p>For the workload, there is certainly a lot. In the first week, the work load won’t seem much if you have prior experience, however, it can get challenging. Almost all participants don’t finish all the problems in the psets everyday. The food is decent in the cafeteria, but it’s Boston right outside. There’s plenty of places to eat out, but beware of time management. MIT and Harvard and both near, and TA’s will give you tours if they are from the college. </p>
<p>anyways, that’s all I can think of, so if you have any questions, PM me</p>
<p>This sounds odd, but could it potentially hurt my chances that I know a lot of little tidbits about math? Several of the questions were very easy for me, because I was able to make connections to bits of math trivia that I had read about. I’m a bit concerned that it may look as if I asked for help with the problems (which I certainly did not), because some of them literally came down to two or three steps due to my making use of this trivia. Should I just eliminate this trivia and try to show the problem solutions more in-depth, or would it probably be better to leave them in and show my math knowledge? Both?
I do have some problems, however, that extend over two or three pages. Is this okay?
I have 3.5 problems left to due before the ED deadline. If I don’t finish them, will this significantly harm my chances? Is it better to apply early without complete solutions, or to wait until later when I have solved them all?
I really don’t know much about PROMYS, I only learned about it two or three weeks ago. </p>
<p>@pequenino
I doubt knowing math trivia would hurt your chances. I knew a couple of people who went into PROMYS knowing basically all of the number theory (only a couple - you are definitely not expected to know number theory going in) so presumably, they knew tricks/shortcuts to the application questions. Those people got in, learned the number theory with the first years, and also were allowed to take the advanced seminars, so don’t be afraid of not getting anything out of the summer, because you will.
They didn’t have ED/RD deadlines when I applied (it’s new this year I think) but I’d finish all the questions thoroughly before submitting. Last year decisions came out pretty late, so I think the ED deadlines are mostly just to ensure a quick-ish response</p>
<p>Also I spent the first three pages of this forum summing up all of camp- you should check it out (:</p>
I thought the first part of