MIT Primes: Program for Research in Mathematics, Engineering and Science for High School Students
MIT Primes is a free year-long after-school program for juniors and sophomores in the Greater Boston area who are interested in solving problems in the fields of mathematics, engineering, or computer science.
In this blog post, we are sharing different ways that high school students can apply to MIT Primes as well as what exactly students do in the program.
How to Apply to MIT Primes?
MIT Primes opened its application for the 2024 session on October 2nd, 2023, and all applications must be submitted before November 30th, 2023. Admission results will be revealed in early January 2024.
Eligibility
In order to participate in MIT Primes, you must be a high school student living in the Greater Boston area. This is because the program may require a student to come to the campus weekly.
Students already enrolled in the program from last year may choose to reapply to stay in the program for the following year. Primes also encourages female students, minorities, and students from underprivileged schools or groups to apply as well.
Application
The application process to MIT Primes includes 5 steps:
Selecting section for research
The 2024 Primes program will include 2 sections
Mathematics
Computer science and computational biology
Fill out application
Students start by filling out their profile and answering some backup questions, along with naming their recommenders. These recommenders will automatically receive an email request to submit a recommendation letter for the student.
Ask for letters of recommendation
Students must ask 2-3 people they know well for recommendation letters. It is preferable if these people come from a math or science related background.
Solve the problems required to enter
The tests for math and computer science are separate. Students are only required to complete the sections they applied to. If they are applying to both the math and computer science section, then both problem sets must be handed in.
Completing your application
Students must fully complete all parts of the application, as well as add a personal statement. This personal statement must include details about a memorable experience the student had with their math/computer science experiences, why they want to participate in the program, etc.
Why Choose MIT Primes?
There are many reasons to choose MIT Primes, some of which are mentioned below:
Students are provided with an opportunity to work on a real world project in the fields of mathematics, computer science, or computational biology over the course of one year
Students will interact and work on projects with researchers from MIT and other schools
Students will also interact with other like-minded high school students enrolled in the program
Students will learn how to use computers to do pure or applied mathematical research and gain advanced knowledge in their field of specialization
Students will also learn how to publish their findings in a professional research journal, along with the skill of orally presenting their project to others in the science community
Students also have the opportunity to present their projects to national science committees such as the Regeneron Science Talent Search, Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), and the Davidson Fellows Scholarship
Students gain valuable experience for other math research programs that they may take part of in the future
Students can obtain recommendation letters for college, as well as having a higher chance of getting into MIT (Around 45% of MIT Primes alumni get into MIT)
Programs Within MIT Primes
Some programs within MIT Primes are listed below:
PRIMES-USA: A free year-long online math research opportunity for high school students from across the United States (outside of Greater Boston). Students will work on both group and individual projects that will be mentored by
Menezes Challenge PRIMES Circle: Free after-school diversity-oriented spring-term (4 month) math enrichment for high school students from the Greater Boston area. The goal of this program is to further develop the interest of math in individuals to bring more diversity to the mathematics community.
Yulia's Dream: A free math enrichment and research program for exceptional high school students (grades 10-11) from Ukraine. Students meet once a week to discuss advanced math topics beyond the school level or to work on projects mentored by MIT mentors. Classes are available in Ukrainian, English, and Russian.
Primes runs two collaborative initiatives:
MathROOTS: A free two-week diversity-oriented mathematical talent accelerator summer program hosted by MIT Primes for nationally selected high-potential high school students.
CrowdMath: An online collaborative year-long research project open to all high school and college students around the world. It provides students with the opportunity to work together on large research projects with MIT mentors and peers. CrowdMath is a place for students to experience research mathematics and discover new ideas.
Primes affiliate program for middle-schoolers:
PRIMES STEP: A year-long enrichment program for curious middle school students (grades 7-9) ready to learn more advanced mathematics from Greater Boston.
How is MIT Primes different from other research programs offered at MIT?
Summer math research programs (RSI, PROMYS, and REUs) give an excellent research experience. However, in them the time scale is still much more compressed than in a usual research environment (a few weeks rather than several months). On the contrary, PRIMES is designed in such a way that students are able to do mathematical research at a natural pace, i.e., work on a single project over about a year. Also, participation in PRIMES does not rule out participation in the summer programs; in fact, it only improves your chances of doing well in them.
How is participation in Primes different from participation in olympiads and science competition?
Science competitions are a valuable experience for students, and are an important factor in learning how to organize and communicate research results. Primes staff will help you prepare your project for competitions, and write a mentor letter for you.
However, excessive focus on competitions and monetary awards is not a good idea in mathematical research, learning and doing mathematics should be a higher priority. Intention to participate in science competitions is by no means necessary for being accepted to PRIMES.
While mathematical Olympiads and competitions are fun and undoubtedly useful, they are actually a poor model of mathematical research. Specifically, in Olympiads, one solves relatively simple problems that admit a short and elegant solution, often using a small number of clever tricks, in a very short period of time.
On the contrary, while participating in research offered by Primes one deals with much more complex unsolved problems, which often do not admit a short solution by a clever trick. Also, the time allowed for mathematical research is much longer.
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