Yes, my kid’s T25 college said that they DO expect kids to take the AP credits and start with the more advanced classes.
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Speaking of St. Olaf, you might be interested in this recent post: Parents of the HS Class of 2023 3.0-3.4 - #349 by blueberriesforsal
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We were in a similar situation last year, luckily with DE credits staring at 8th grade. Here are my suggestions
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Have your son contact the math department in the schools he is interested in. Have him ask what path they recommend for a student like him, what classes he could test out from, what his first semester would look like etc. My son had no intention repeating what he already knew and had a college credit for. As he put it, a matrix in [insert a name of school] doesn’t look any different than a matrix in [his DE school].
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Try to set up a meeting with a math faculty when visiting colleges. S22 visits were all about how the school can help him build a resume for a grad school
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Check how many graduate level classes he could take (some schools have a max number allowed) and when he could start taking them
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Graduating in 2 years can be achieved, but is it the right path? You want your son to have a strong resume when applying for a PhD program. Can this be achieved in 2-3 semesters before he applies for grad school?
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Look into research opportunities
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As an alumni of the Canada/USA Mathcamp, your son has access to their mailing list and a bit of additional info. See where previous students went. Reach out to those who have studied at the colleges he is interested in. They can give him a better idea of how students like your son do in certain programs and what opportunities they are offered.
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Majority of colleges will have a board game club
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There are other goals for college besides having a strong resume for a PhD program… I’d help my kid focus on some of the “soft” elements as well… Rushing through has other downsides besides potentially not having the “right” resume for a doctorate!
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My math kid, S22, is going to Haverford. He is accelerated in math and loves board games. He likes that many LACs encourage or require undergrad research.
Harvey Mudd looks great off your student didn’ doesn’t mind the core requirements.
He applied ED to Haverford, but here is his list:
Brown
University of Chicago
Pomona
Harvey Mudd
Haverford
Swarthmore
University of Michigan
Carleton
Macalester
Amherst
University of Wisconsin
University of Illinois
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Thank you for this helpful list, @groundhog74. Can you share why your son chose Haverford in particular to apply ED? Why did he choose to apply to Havervord ED rather than, say U Chicago? Did he consider Wesleyan?
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I remember this thread:
Choosing school for math major - College Majors / Math/Computer Science Majors - College Confidential Forums
He felt that U Chicago had too extensive of core requirements. He also talked to math mentors of his who said that U Chicago wasn’t particularly friendly in terms of undergrad research.
He liked the undergrad research at Haverford as well as it being in a consortium with Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr. Some students even take classes at Penn.
A semester abroad in the Budapest math program is really good for math majors too.
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Very interesting. Thank you!
However, government attitudes in Hungary under the current prime minister and ruling party has been turning for the worse for those who are LGB or T or of non-European ancestry or of any other type of diversity relative to Hungary. So if the prospective math major falls into any of these groups, a semester in Budapest may be less attractive.
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Thank you @mathKids and @Blossom. Yes, for my kid at least, I think a full four years for him to grow socially will be best!
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With respect to potential course redundancy, especially as it pertains to college selection, your son may want to compare his completed HS courses to the course descriptions in corresponding topics offered at colleges. For example, your son should be able to evaluate whether the sub-topics of this introductory college topology course fall within his current range of understanding:
This is exactly what my son did, and the replies were really helpful/revealing re: how flexible departments would end up being, in this way and possibly others. I think kids who’ve taken a lot of math need a flexible department, and I will say that almost every dept. he contacted allowed you to either take a test to place out of beginner courses and/or to self-assess your level. The one school that required you to do petitions got dropped from his list
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Hello, I’m the OP of “A place to study pure math-- for the love of it” and would be happy to correspond off list if you’d like-- just send me a message. Also, is your son at Mathcamp right now? Mine is, and if so, maybe they can get together and chat about the college application and decision process.
My son is at Mathcamp now too.
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That is a new suggestion for us. Thank you!
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Thank you, Wesleyan sounds like a great option we had not considered.
@warblersrule Thank you!
Thank you so much for your generous offer. Yes, my son is at math camp right now! I would love the opportunity to respond off list but for some reason I cannot send you a direct message. If you are able to email me at patty@gish.org, that would be great, but if you are not comfortable with that, I understand. Many thanks.
I am curious why no one has mentioned Rice? I understand the concerns some may have related to its location in Texas – and we share those concerns – but the school itself sounds like a very supportive place to study math, while also being a more realistic option for my son, in terms of its selectivity.
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