I’m applying to some math camps for the summer, and want to know the general prestige associated with each one, and rank the camps by said prestige. TBH I’d be extremely grateful to go to any of them, this is just to get a better understanding of which ones I should prioritize.
The camps:
SUMAC
ROSS
PROMYS
USA/Canada MathCamp
HCSSIM
PRIMES
I’ve seen this done before but I’ve only been able to find it for results from around 2010 - definitely outdated.
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First of all, PRIMES is not a summer program. It is a full year program focusing upon research in one of three areas: Mathematics, Computer Science, and Computational or Physical Biology.
There are two versions of PRIMES. One is for Boston area students and is very difficult to get into. The other one is open to students across the USA. It is known as PRIMES-USA and is extremely difficult to get into. But if you do get into PRIMES, absolutely do it. It is more demanding and more prestigious than any of the other programs. Also, summer is a relatively quiet time for PRIMES, so students can do both PRIMES and another program.
Among the other names on your list, I would rank them as the following (best first):
Tier 1A: Mathcamp Canada/USA
Tier 1B: ROSS, PROMYS, HCSSIM
Tier 2: SUMAC
As you said, you can’t go wrong with any of them, but they are not all the same.
Mathcamp Canada/USA and HCSSIM have a lot of options on what to learn.
ROSS and PROMYS are very similar because PROMYS was patterned after ROSS. Both are six weeks and focus upon number theory.
I know less about SUMAC, but I think its courses are also limited.
I would try to focus less on prestige and more on what would be a good fit. Ross and Promys are more focused on number theory. HCSSiM, MathILy, and Mathcamp have more choices for classes.
My son did MathILy and Mathcamp and enjoyed both.
Can you describe Mathily? I have heard good things about it.
MathILy starts with the same class for all students but then they choose classes that they like. There is a lot of collaboration and community.
SuMAC is considered less prestigious, not sure why but it is the only one of these that has a topology track if you enjoy that. ROSS and Mathcamp I would say the most prestigious but choose based on what you think would be the most fun.