Travel, food,room mates, computers, telephone, and other matters regarding MathPath camp

1. Are parents invited to visit during camp? Are students allowed to go home over the weekends?: A. Parent visits. Such visits are encouraged during the first 2 days of camp (arrival day and orientation day) and the last 2 days (closing day and departure day). Visits of a day or two in the middle of camp are also possible with advance arrangements. Long visits, or hanging around for the whole camp, have not worked well. Parents are welcome to attend any plenary session without special invitation. To attend breakout classes, please ask the instructor for permission, as some of the classrooms are small with limited seating. We used to allow parents free access to our dorm during visits, but as a security precaution we have learned from other camps, except during arrival and departure, parents (really anyone who is not student or staff) will not be admitted to the dorm without photo identification, and such visits are discouraged.
Going home for the weekend. Parents, or others designated by the parents (we have a permission form for this to be filled out before camp) may take students off campus (doesn't have to be home) for one or both days of our the weekend, but they need to consult with us and with the student first – the student may not want to leave camp, and leaving camp on weekends on a regular basis hinders the student's social interactions with the other campers. Also, please note that our weekend is Sunday-Monday. Saturday is a class day. One cannot take a student off campus before dinner time on Saturdays.
2. How do you choose the location for the program?: A. This is a complicated matter to which we have devoted a lot of time, energy and site visits!
The primary consideration is the safety and happiness of the students. We get answers to the following questions and many more: Do we get a dorm to ourselves so that students can easily be accounted for and supervised? Can each student have a single room so that they can fall asleep without distractions? Are there good public spaces in and around the dorm for group activities? Is the campus in a safe neighborhood without many busy streets to cross? Is the campus relatively compact so that food and classrooms are not far away from the dorm? Are there lots of opportunities for fun weekend activities nearby? Is the July weather good: warm but not too hot or muggy, or otherwise are buildings air conditioned? Is the location served by a hub airport, so that there are lots of nonstop flights to it from around North America (important for Unaccompanied Minors) and competitive ticket prices?
The next consideration is academic facilities. Are there enough classrooms close together of the right size (15 to 25 students)? Will we have all-day access to a lecture hall of the right size for our plenary talks (100-120 people, when staff and visitors are included)? Are there ample blackboards or whiteboards? Is there good AV?
Finally, we need an administration we can work with. Are they flexible? Will they pay attention to us, or is the campus overwhelmed with other summer groups? Do we have the support of the mathematics department? Are there lots of excellent math scholar-teachers at the host institution or in the area who can contribute to our program? Is the price right?
There are so many considerations that no location meets them all. We have moved around the country to learn what combinations work best, and to give variety for returning students and staff. However, at some point we may settle on one place that works best, or on a rotation between two places.
3. What times do you suggest we have our daughter arrive and depart from the airport or if we are bringing her and taking her back?: A. Each year we set the airport and the time interval during which students should arrive/depart. See Getting There for this year's information. Even if you are traveling with your daughter, if you want to use the transportation we provide, you need to arrive/depart during the time frame we set.
4. If we were to apply/register for MathPath and Dave were to be asked in mid-May to participate in the MOSP program, could we obtain a refund? As a seventh grader, this is highly unlikely, but he is continuing the testing process, and I prefer to know that answer now.: A. Yes, our general refund policy covers this case; see fee refunds. Those who will be attending MOSP will know before May 31 and thus will get a full refund of fees paid, less our $100 administrative fee.