The PROMYS thread! I’ve seen a bit of chatter on the camp, but there’s no thread up for this year (that I’m aware of).
We have some discussion, talk cool math problems, I… don’t really know, even.
I’m a class of 2019, and heard about PROMYS just under a month ago, and have been slaving intermittently at the admissions quiz for the last two weeks or so. This is awful exciting. ^^
Hey, thanks for starting a thread! I’ve been working on the admissions quiz too, but it’s starting to worry me that apps are semi-rolling. My school weeks are always super busy, and it’s difficult to set aside a block of time (since these questions require long concentration and not just a few minutes at a time) 
any advice? 
The way I’ve been doing it so far (not necessarily the best way, but I’ve gotten a couple of the problems done) is picking one, then messing with it when I get the odd bit of free time (I think it’s called ‘dead time’).
I have a teeny little notebook that can fit in my pocket (I got this from who-knows-where, but it’s very convenient) that I just scritch at, then a larger notebook I really write things in. If I think I see a pattern, or something like that, I’ll say it in there and try to prove it.
Eventually, I fumble my way to the answer I want! I’ve knocked out problems 5 and 8 so far (although I may or may not be correct). Just trying to order stuff around and look for patterns /exactly/ a few minutes at a time is all you need to get started, and once things get going, you can figure out the answers over an hour or two on the weekend.
TL;DR, poke at it over those few-minute bursts but keep good notes. You can pick up right where you left off, and get through the really mean stuff over a short burst on the weekend.
Good luck! 
I soooooo wish I could get my son to go at the PROMYS problems. Tried last year but he wasn’t that into it. His best friend loved some of the practice problems. Good luck to everyone trying this year.
@SouthFloridaMom9 It’s best that he doesn’t go, if he doesn’t feel motivated enough to do the problems. PROMYS is pretty intense by nature, being a math camp and all.
If he doesn’t feel motivated to try them, he wouldn’t enjoy the camp. 
Also, @angie414 , I totally forgot to tag you in that reply. Woops! >.>
@OMPursuit Thank you so much for the encouraging and helpful advice. I’ll definitely keep at it Best of luck to you on the rest of the problems!
Just out of curiosity, how much math experience does everyone applying have?
@QuVntt Oh, jeez, I don’t have so much as I should. o.o
I got moved up a grade in third, down in fourth, up in fifth, up two(!) in seventh. Finished Algebra I and Geometry before entering high school, self-studying pre-calc to slide into Calc I at a community college for next year.
Aside from that…? I did Mathcounts twice in middle-school (7th and 8th grade), but our team was mega casual, and we only had one really excellent member (and he wasn’t me :(). We got to state year one (before getting absolutely crushed), then didn’t even break regionals year two.
A math professor did a math club thingy for a couple of months weekly. I went to that! I don’t think I really got much out of it, though.
I’m not really cut out for competition math, but I love the problem solving. So, I’ve been doing a lot of Khan Academy/self study this past semester, just trying to explore this crazy world of math.
I also watch Vi Hart religiously. Slug cats forever. :F
Edit: I’ll be doing the AMC 10 this February, too. Heck, these problems probably aren’t the worst practice, although I very much doubt I’ll get a good score. 
@OMPursuit Im in the same boat as you XD, Im currently in my high school’s Honor Geometry class and pre-calc at a nearby community college to get into Calc BC next year. Ive never done any competition or any camps prior to this (except an engineering one in middle school, but there was no math involved). I feel like I can solve a majority of the problems with my experience but theres a few that are gonna be a little difficult XD. Best of luck to you on the app!
@QuVntt You too, man!
My biggest problem so far has been from just not doing a lot of math like this. Probably that, and the expectation on some of these problems that I get some pre-calc concepts I may or may not have looked at yet (like limits).
I recommend reading up on that for maybe one or two of these. o.o
So, now I’ve got a question!
How many problems are you guys planning on submitting? I think I’m gonna take the suggestion of doing a couple that really interest me in depth; I don’t know if I can solve more than half of them in the time, at least not with thorough proofs.
@OMPursuit Between life and the problem set, I’m really not making great progress, so I’m probably going to do the same.
@angie414 Aha, yeah, it gets to you. XL
I wonder if this is what college apps will be like? Probably less fun, though. Eugh.
I wrote solutions to 7.5 problems. My solution to the rational function one seemed too simple, so I left that out, and #1 was a bit weak, so I left it out too. I didn’t want to have my application to start out weakly. Though, it’s my first time, so maybe that was a mistake.
I literally submitted my application at 10:45 EST yesterday. That was probably a huge mistake, based on what I’m reading about submitting early giving an advantage.
I actually asked, @ellipticmodulo , and got an immediate reply: there is /no/ rolling admissions process. There’s consequently no advantage to applying earlier! 
The earlier comments seem to have been confusing correlation with causation. Those done with their applications faster must’ve just found the problems easier!
You’re in a better state than me, regardless. I only solved four (and submitted 3.5)!
I feel proud of my solutions, though, and I’ve had a bunch of fun.
The two most important things are
a) Learning something and
b) Having fun
I’ve done both, so I’m satisfied this time around, even if I don’t get in. Of course, hope for the best though
I hope most applicants have that attitude!
Just the experience of applying has been fun. I’ve never done anything like it before!
hey! I don’t think the number of problems you solve matters as much as showing your interest in math and having fun (I’ve heard people who’ve gotten from like ~5 - almost all problems solved getting in, if i remember correctly)
good luck to all of you!
Hi, @OMPurrsuit I agree, the experience of applying is an experience that I really enjoyed, nothing like what I have done before either. However, I applied to Ross. I have looked at the PROMYS application though and information about the camp and the camps are in fact pretty similar.
I would suggest you going on AoPS too, there is a PROMYS thread there too.
http://artofproblemsolving.com/community/c5h1198545_promys_2016_applicant_thread
When do they announce the result?