There are math camps all over the country, some free, some not; some in Chicago, some across the country. A few admit everyone they can fit, others ask you to complete an application, write an essay, and/or take an entrance quiz/test/problem set. The table below can help you make a choice. Some things to note:

• A few have deadlines as early as March, so note the application due dates!
• Going to a camp where you might live away from home for a week or more can be intense and transformative. These are the camps best for students who know math is their favorite subject, have attended math circles for a year or more, and for who the thought of doing math all day (and then hanging with friends at night and maybe doing even more math) is highly appealing.
• If you/your child aren’t ready for that intensity yet, consider local options. MC2 camps are free, half day, and generally last for two weeks. These are meant to be an intermediate step between the full day intensity of some of the best known math camps, and not doing math at all for the summer.
• If you are thinking about a summer camp away from Chicago but don’t know much about them, consider emailing us at info@mathchirclesofchicago.org to ask for advice. The camp listed here vary quite a bit, and we know leaders from all of them and can help guide you to one that might be best for you. (If you have been participating in MC2 we can also try to put in a good word for you).

A math camp can be truly transformative. Students who go on to study math and related subjects in college often have experienced this kind of academic enrichment. Another reason why MC2 camps are free is to level the playing field so students from all walks of (Chicago) life can have the chance to experience something that has historically been open to only more privileged students. We’d love you to join us here in Chicago, but we’d be happy if you went to any of these summer camps–as long as you are happy there!

March Update! Wolfram is also offering an online all girl middle school camp, June 19th to the 23rd. The camp meets all day, and costs $500 but offers financial aid based on need. You should also check out the collected summer camp list on the Art of Problem Solving website.

In math, ~ usually means ‘approximately’. The websites for these camps are often vague about their deadline for submitting applications. If it says, for example, ~March 15th, what I think this really means is that you have just as good a chance as anyone else to get in if you apply by that date, but that you may still have a chance if you apply after (which probably means they’ll take applications for several more days/weeks until they fill up their camp!) If you really want to go to a particular camp, meet the deadline. 🙂

For a few years we’ve made the claim that MC2 is the largest math circle in the world. It’s a claim that, admittedly, is hard to verify, but seems likely enough, particularly as we continue to grow.

We’re not done–in fact, we are hoping to claim that we are the fastest growing math circle program in the world too. Our plans for the upcoming school year:

• We are doubling our capacity for 5th/6th (Haynes) and 7th/8th (Brahmagupta) at our Payton and UChicago Hubs. And Kovalevsky-A2/PC is returning to UChicago.
• We will have 8 online sections of math circles this fall, up from 5 in the spring.
• We will have 30+ after school programs (‘Math Circles in a Box’).  We are particularly interested in adding schools on the south and west sides.
• We will hold community center programs in Pilsen and Woodlawn.
• We will partner with MAPSCorps to offer statistics-based math circles in 4+ high schools.
• If you are interested in starting a math circle at your own school, leading or assisting online, helping out at a community center or shelter, email us at info@mathcirclesofchicago.org. We need to have a fast growing teaching community too!

This expansion follows our doubling of enrollment (and the length!) of our summer programs this past July. (Check out the photos here!)

While it’s mathematically impossible for MC2 to be the fastest growing math circle program in the world forever, if we keep growing at this rate for eleven years every person living in Chicago will be attending our sessions.

Since we’re in Chicago, we know that winter is followed by Summer. So maybe it’s not too soon to start thinking about it?

This is the first of two posts I plan to make about summer math learning experiences. For the local opportunities, expect detailed application information by March. Some previews:

Math Circles of Chicago:

• Rising 6th, 7th, and 8th/9th grade programs at two Hubs, with students from any school eligible to attend. These will meet mornings from 9AM-noon. These two week camps are projected to run from July 11th to July 22nd.
• Rising 10th to 13th grade programs possibly in conjunction with colleagues at UIC. These will be weekly camps where students can participate for 1, 2, 3, or 4 weeks (each week will ‘stand alone’). Currently these are projected to run Between June 20th and July 15th.
• We are hoping to offer another camp starting later in July or early August led by the prominent mathematician, author, pianist, and chef Eugenia Cheng!
• These camps will be free.

UChicago Young Scholars:

• UChicago YSP is one of the longest standing summer math camps in the country. Typically this camp starts the weekday after the 4th of July and continues for 4 weeks.
• Look for their website to update in early spring with information about applying. Tuition is charged on a sliding scale.

Wolfram

• Wolfram will decide whether it will have a high school camp in person or not this year by February 1st. If so, the camp will take place in Champaign Urbana.
• Wolfram also offers a camp for middle school girls.
• The camp will run from July 8th to the 23rd. Wolfram also provides a free coding ‘boot camp’ for the three days prior to the main camp.

Other options: Follow the link below to one of last year’s posts on summer programs, There are many national and online opportunities that you can pursue and that should be taking applicants soon!

Our June 2020 Julia Robinson Math Festival was canceled like many major in person events. Now, in partnership with the national JRMF organization, Julia Robinson Math Festivals are back! We are offering an online festival for 3rd to 8th graders. Some key information:

1. The event will run on Saturday, May 29th, from Noon to 2PM Central Time. Register here.
2. The festival will be online, using the Gather.Town platform. Each participant will have an avatar and will be able to roam around the virtual festival, entering rooms by choice. Gather.Town has functions that allow you to connect to friends (so you can stick together, or find each other across the festival).
3. Roughly speaking, the festival is for 3rd to 8th graders. Older MC2 students can email info@mathcirclesofchicago.org if they are interested in helping us host the festival.

Gather.Town will allow us to better simulate the environment of an in person festival–it will be the first festival every using this technology!There will be puzzles throughout the virtual space along with a variety of math circle like activities in individual rooms. The space will be geared to engage a range of students, with levels for beginners and more experienced math circlers, along with activities that will be facilitated in Spanish as well as English. It promises to be a fun experiment in conducting a high-agency, collaborative math virtual math world. Join us!

Many MC2 students over the years have participated in UChicago’s Young Scholars Program. That program continues, but has now expanded to UIC! The key differences between the programs:

• UChicago YSP is a 4 week commitment starting the week of July 5th, serving 7th to 12th graders. Their website should be updated with the Summer 2021 application soon.
• UIC YSP is a series of four 1-week programs, the first starting on June 28th. You can participate in as many or as few as you’d like! Students must currently be in 9th to 12th grade (aka Rising 10th to 13th graders).

My colleague Will Perkins at UIC shared the following detail for UIC’s program:

9:30-10:30: arrival and mathematical lecture
10:30-10:45 break
10:45-12:00 small group problem solving
12:00-1:00 lunch break
1:00-2:00 invited speaker or video
2:00-3:00 small group activities
3:00 dismissal