Transcript for the Math Jam "AwesomeMath" on Jan 29.

Math Jam hosted by zman (Zuming Feng ).

nsato (19:35:35)
Welcome to tonight's AwesomeMath Math Jam.

nsato (19:35:41)
Before I turn the floor over to our moderators for this discussion, I would like to briefly explain our classroom to those who have not previously attended one of our Math Jams.

nsato (19:35:50)
This classroom is moderated. This means that the messages you type will come to the moderators rather than going directly into the room. The moderators will choose some of the messages and questions to share with all of the participants.

nsato (19:36:03)
There will likely be a lot of questions, so please keep your questions on-topic and to-the-point.

nsato (19:36:11)
Tonight we are joined by Zuming Feng. He is the Academic Director of Awesome Math, as well as a former US IMO team leader and coach.

nsato (19:36:18)
I'll now turn things over to Zuming.

zman (19:36:29)
Hi, this Zuming.

zman (19:37:28)
Anybody been to AwesomeMath last year?

nsato (19:38:08)
Does anybody have any questions about Awesome Math?

zman (19:38:54)
I assume most of you know what AwesomeMath is all about, but just in case, here's a rundown:

zman (19:39:22)
We are a three-week program focused on problem-solving. It starts in mid-July and ends in early August.

elephantmaster_2 (19:39:20)
Will we be allowed to use LaTeX to typeset our admissions test solutions, and if so, will we be given a template similar to the USAMTS one?

zman (19:40:10)
yes, LaTeX is great!

zman (19:40:19)
but handwriting is fine too

zman (19:40:43)
there is no template for the solutions. Just make sure your name is on all the pages and your writing is clear

zman (19:40:57)
of course, the second one is not a problem if you use LaTeX.

simcity1993 (19:38:29)
do we get taught one on one

simcity1993 (19:39:00)
or do we just have tests and arent taught anything

zman (19:41:38)
we don't do one-on-one teaching; the lectures are in groups.

zman (19:41:59)
however, our instructors and mentors are happy to work with you after the lectures if you have any questions.

zman (19:42:27)
we have two evaluation tests during the entire program

zman (19:42:43)
these tests are just to see everybody's progress and what we need to focus on; there's no pressure.

zman (19:43:43)
back to the mentors issue: there are about ten academic mentors, who live in the dorms (so they're very accessible) and are always available for students to ask questions.

zman (19:44:08)
these mentors are all college students who have done very well in math competitions and in higher math study.

Cinderella_2 (19:41:28)
What is LaTex?

zman (19:44:39)
LaTeX is a typesetting language that is used to type many of the world's professional mathematical and scientific papers.

zman (19:44:49)
AoPS has a great LaTeX tutorial:

zman (19:45:08)
http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/LaTeX/AoPS_L_About.php

l3m1 (19:42:11)
Are the apartments single-sex (students and mentor)?

zman (19:45:28)
Yes, the apartments are single-sex.

zman (19:45:52)
Each apartment has eight students, two to each room, and a mentor lives in the living room and is in charge of the dorm.

zman (19:46:42)
The mentor organizes games and sports, like frisbee, during the evening and the weekends.

krsattack (19:45:06)
When are the evaluation tests given?

zman (19:48:36)
there's generally one at the middle and one is at the end.

elephantmaster_2 (19:45:45)
What time would we wake up and what time would we sleep?

zman (19:49:58)
Class starts at 9. Usually we want students to wake up at 8 or so.

zman (19:50:09)
But you can sleep later if you want; you'll just miss breakfast.

zman (19:51:06)
We ask students to check in to their rooms at 11.

zman (19:51:29)
After 11 they can't go out of the dorm, but they can still hang out in any rooms in the apartment.

zman (19:51:45)
It varies a bit by dorm, but most people go to bed by 12.

zman (19:52:04)
Also, about the dorm situation: the dorms are separated both by sex and age.

zman (19:52:22)
So the younger students are put together, and the high school students are together.

julia92128 (19:46:15)
For which graders?

zman (19:52:41)
It fits most for grades 7-11.

zman (19:53:19)
Of course, there will be some exceptions; we're still open to twelfth graders, but from our experience that's not the largest group.

simcity1993 (19:47:36)
When do the real classes start

zman (19:53:57)
All the classes are real, not imaginary! And they all start at 9.

zman (19:54:16)
There is one lecture in the morning followed by a problem session, and the same in the afternoon.

zman (19:54:44)
You do lots of math and solve lots of problems during the three weeks.

simcity1993 (19:50:45)
So, we have to go to where exactly for the dorms?

zman (19:55:06)
From the dorm to the classroom is about a 3 minute walk.

zman (19:55:41)
From the classroom to the building where we eat lunch and hang out in the lounge is another 3 minute walk.

zman (19:55:45)
So everything is pretty close together.

zman (19:56:15)
There's a swimming pool in the apartment complex where we stay. Every night we organize various recreational activities--beach volleyball, soccer, frisbee, swimming, ping-pong.

krsattack (19:53:25)
What level math would we work on? Does it depend on application test results, grade, etc?

zman (19:57:17)
AwesomeMath is designed for students with varying experience, but generally the problems are on the AIME level and the entry-USAMO level.

zman (19:57:55)
Unlike last year, where we had four different levels, this year we are letting people choose two short courses.

zman (19:58:00)
(One in the morning, one in the afternoon.)

zman (19:58:46)
The courses have descriptions that will be posted on the website; the difficulty level is stated in the description.

zman (19:59:11)
The courses focus on four basic topics of olympiad mathematics: algebra, geometry, combinatorics, and number theory.

zman (19:59:35)
For each of these areas, we have at least two courses to accomodate different backgrounds.

zman (20:00:09)
Based on the application test results and your experience on various math contests, we will recommend specific courses.

zman (20:00:22)
You get to pick in the end though.

elephantmaster_2 (19:53:56)
How much choice do we get when it comes to classes?

simcity1993 (19:55:25)
This is a camp?

zman (20:01:06)
Yes; AwesomeMath is a summer camp hosted at UT Dallas.

zman (20:01:28)
As for choice, you have a lot of freedom; we just make recommendations.

zman (20:01:45)
Our goal is to allow you to focus on the topics that interest you and that you want to really improve on.

elephantmaster_2 (19:58:34)
How many hours of classes would we have daily?

zman (20:02:27)
There are two 1.5-hour lectures and two 1.5-hour problem sessions each weekday.

zman (20:03:19)
Each problem session is a continuation of the earlier lecture--the same students are in the class--but the students get to use the techniques they've just learned.

zman (20:03:43)
The professor remains in the room and helps students; each room also gets 1 or 2 mentors assisting.

simcity1993 (20:00:19)
I thought this was a online course to practice for mathcounts (comptetion). I believed all the participants will log on remotely and practice math skills. But this seems like practice for students at dorms at some distant location. Am I mistaken?

zman (20:04:55)
Yes, this is a summer program held at a centralized location. This way students get to meet other students interested in math and work with them to improve their problem solving.

zman (20:05:27)
And they get to meet and work with wonderful mentors in real life, to see how they study and develop their skills.

zman (20:06:09)
Having the camp in a centralized location makes it more trouble for the students, but we believe it is worth it. Getting away from home can allow you to really focus on math for those three weeks.

l3m1 (20:03:57)
How many people go to AwesomeMath?

zman (20:06:18)
Last year there were about 105 students.

zman (20:06:26)
This year we plan to have about 120 students.

zman (20:07:06)
I'd estimate that it's broken down about 50-50 for middle and high school students.

krsattack (20:02:29)
Are there any specific trips planned for this year?

Teki-Teki (20:04:42)
um - see earlier notes about the mathcounts math jam - it's an entirely different thing (this is awesomemath)

Teki-Teki (20:04:58)
oh, hi zuming. i went to amsp last year

Teki-Teki (20:05:57)
i'd second the wonderful mentors - they really made an impact on me when I attended last year

zman (20:08:15)
This year we plan to go to Six Flags and Water Country.

zman (20:08:38)
Likely the trip will happen on a Monday, and we will work on the Saturday before. That way the park will be much less crowded.

minranli (20:06:41)
so we won't do any math today, but talk about the people in the dorms, right?

zman (20:09:09)
That's correct; we're not doing math problems in this math jam.

zman (20:09:16)
Unless you want me to give you a problem; that's fine too.

zman (20:09:29)
But this math jam is for you to ask all your questions.

elephantmaster_2 (19:43:21)
About the admissions Personal Information Form: Is the 250 word limit for both the responses combined, or is it 250 words per essay?

zman (20:10:30)
I will check on this...I suspect it's 250 words per essay.

zman (20:10:44)
yeah. 250 words per essay.

zman (20:11:01)
for everyone else, elephantmaster is asking about the application

zman (20:11:23)
the application is pretty simple.

zman (20:11:29)
there are two questions:

zman (20:11:34)
1) In the past year, what extracurricular activities were you involved in? Describe the nature and extent of your involvement. Which one is most important to you?
2) Pick a challenging problem that you were particularly proud of solving. Share your solution and elaborate mathematically on the ?aha!? moment.

zman (20:11:48)
you also need a reference from one math teacher

zman (20:12:09)
this is just to determine whether you are at the level where you would benefit from coming to AwesomeMath.

zman (20:12:24)
we don't want you to come all the way out to Texas and then be overstressed.

deveaus (19:54:16)
At what level is most of the work?

zman (20:12:49)
as I said before, it's at about an AIME or early USAMO level.

zman (20:13:18)
but we also start to prepare you on proof writing instead of just computation problems, so even if you don't feel like you're at the USAMO level

zman (20:13:37)
we still work on lots of proofs that will be very helpful for developing your knowledge.

krsattack (20:09:57)
What kind of scores on the application test would get us into awesomemath?

zman (20:14:27)
the application test is challenging. For many students, the last few problems are very difficult.

zman (20:14:45)
We are more interested in the students' ideas; we don't want to just see the answers, we want to see how students work.

zman (20:15:05)
So we don't really give the tests a grade, we just look at the tests to see if the student is one who really wants to explore math and try new approaches.

Teki-Teki (20:14:10)
are there going to be divisions by ability this year, because we had everyone from AMC/early AIME to advanced USAMO last year?

zman (20:16:16)
students aren't split into different levels explicitly, but the courses have different ability levels and we try not to drop everyone into the same course.

zman (20:16:57)
someone asked earlier about the size of the program.

zman (20:17:58)
120 students is a lot, but if you split that into five or six different courses in the morning the size is very manageable, and it's easy to get to know people pretty well.

Teki-Teki (20:07:40)
it really doesn't seem so big, though, because you develop close relationships with about twenty of the other students (those in your dorm/level)

Teki-Teki (20:16:45)
so will this year cater more to individual students' strengths/weaknesses

zman (20:18:37)
yes, in the sense that you get to pick your own courses, so you can pick the ones you feel you really need to work on.

zman (20:19:20)
last year everybody learned four different topics, but we felt it would be better for students to pick fewer topics and go more into depth

zman (20:19:53)
although last year there were no real courses, there were just topics, where instructors talked about what they liked best.

zman (20:20:15)
this year, instructors have written out material to really develop your skill completely in each discipline.

Teki-Teki (20:19:41)
is gabriel coming back? he was a really good teacher.

zman (20:21:39)
Here's another major difference between this year and last year; this year we also have a mathematical forum in the evening. This is a chance for students to see how the mentors work on higher mathematics. Gabriel is coming back, and he will be in charge of running this forum.

zman (20:21:58)
We think this is the best way for students to see how a young mathematician works.

zman (20:22:24)
He will probably be doing less teaching during the morning/afternoon lectures, but he'll teach through this forum.

zman (20:22:38)
The forum is optional; students can choose to go to other activities instead.

zman (20:23:18)
But we want to use this forum to show students what the next level is. It's very important; we're not just interested in solving a few problems; we want people to learn how mathematics is really developed.

zman (20:23:42)
Gabriel is back as a visiting scholar.

Teki-Teki (20:22:43)
what sort of topics will this forum cover?

zman (20:24:02)
It's at the discretion of the presenter.

zman (20:24:28)
Gabriel will be presenting sometimes; he will probably do algebra, number theory, the sort of things he did last year.

zman (20:24:37)
But other instructors and mentors will be presenting too.

Teki-Teki (20:24:49)
oh for those who were not at AMSP 2006, this is gabriel dospinescu

zman (20:25:42)
mentors might present some of their summer work, the things they're working on through their university's undergraduate research program

l3m1 (20:19:28)
How are any medical issues handled (i.e. is there a nurse available)? Also how are things set up for students who need to take regular medication?

zman (20:26:17)
we want to provide this unique project, this forum, to bridge the gap between solving contest problems and doing mathematics research.

zman (20:26:37)
regarding the medical issues: if anyone is sick, there's a clinic and an infirmary on campus

zman (20:26:52)
(the school has a clinic on site)

zman (20:27:08)
if the emergency is too great for the clinic to handle, then there's a hospital nearby

zman (20:27:41)
the program is attached to UT Dallas, so we can use all of their facilities...they have medical care, and we're entitled to use them.

zman (20:28:48)
if students need regular medication, parents should give the list to Titu (the director) and he will make arrangements.

zman (20:29:03)
if he has to go to the drug store with a prescription, we can do that

Teki-Teki (20:31:44)
are there any scholarships?

zman (20:33:03)
there are scholarships offered through MATHCOUNTS I think

zman (20:33:49)
and this year there are scholarships available through the American Foundation for Excellence in Mathematics.

zman (20:33:58)
there is more information available at http://www.awesomemath.org/faq.shtml

Teki-Teki (20:33:38)
any other organizations?

zman (20:35:51)
We're giving two full scholarships to the to the top finishers at the MATHCOUNTS National Competition. There will be a $1000 scholarship awarded at ARML. And Mu Alpha Theta offers grants of up to $2,000 for members.

zman (20:36:26)
again, go to http://www.awesomemath.org/faq.shtml for details

nsato (20:28:49)
Does anybody have any more questions?

zman (20:30:15)
be sure to go to our website, www.awesomemath.org.

zman (20:30:34)
The application and lots of information about the camp is located there.

zman (20:31:11)
if you have any questions later on, contact Titu Andreescu at titu@awesomemath.org.

nsato (20:31:53)
Thanks to Zuming Feng for taking the time to come and answer questions.

zman (20:32:00)
I guess this is it. Thanks for coming, everybody!

zman (20:36:35)
Thanks everybody!