Policies for Students Receiving Offers of Admission

This page covers the fine print for questions related to admissions, financial aid, and registration.

Policy on Attendance

Mathcamp does permit students to be absent few days of camp, for any reason, by prior arrangement: this includes arriving a few days late, missing a few days in the middle of camp, or leaving a few days early. (Of course, it's always sad to miss any of camp, but we'll do our best to make the transitions smooth for you.) Such arrangements should be made before registering for camp except in case of emergency.

Missing seven or more days of camp is not permitted. (Why not? Because we have waiting lists, for both new students and returning alums, full of folks who would be excited to attend all five weeks of camp, and we want to prioritize those who are able to make use of the full camp experience.) In particular, this means participating in Mathcamp and in the IMO are mutually exclusive; admitted students who make their country's IMO team will need to choose which summer activity to do.

Note that the first week of camp includes classes which will be prerequisites for many classes later in the summer, so we especially discourage new students from arriving late if at all possible.

Similarly: participating in Mathcamp is compatible with keeping up with your regular routines, but is not compatible with participating simultaneously in other programs, including intensive online courses or virtual summer programs. We've frequently seen students reserve an hour or so a day for something outside of camp, such as keeping up with practicing an instrument, athletic training, tutoring online, setting aside some time for writing college essays. If you manage your time carefully, then finding five or so hours a week to keep up a regular habit is doable at camp, especially if the timing of your activity is flexible. But pursuing a substantial outside project or parallel program, especially one with fixed hours, would really compromise your ability to make the most out of the Mathcamp experience, and this is not permitted. Instead, we ask students to fully commit to making Mathcamp their priority for these five weeks!

If a student misses more than a week of camp, or is present on campus but chooses not to engage in the Mathcamp experience, we reserve the right not to grant alum status or to provide proof of participation.

Policy on Rescinding Admission

Mathcamp reserves the right to revoke an offer of admission at any time, including once a student is at camp, for reasons that include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Any part of the application contains misrepresentations; or
• Any information comes to the attention of Mathcamp calling into question the candidate’s honesty, maturity, or suitability for participating in Mathcamp.

In such cases, clarification will be sought from the candidate and their parent/guardian before a final decision is made. We will gather additional information as needed. The decision of the Executive Director will be final.

The candidate will also be responsible for returning any part of the financial aid package already disbursed, such as costs of tickets purchased by us or reimbursed to the candidate.

Policy on Financial Aid

Financial aid awards are based on the family income that is provided in the scholarship application. When a student receives financial aid from Mathcamp (in the form of tuition remission, travel grants, or other awards), we will ask for appropriate documentation (e.g. a copy of the family's most recently available tax return) when they register for Mathcamp. If the information in the supporting documents is significantly different from what was provided in the application, we reserve the right to modify the scholarship amount accordingly.

For students receiving travel awards: Mathcamp staff will purchase the plane tickets (or other means of transportation) for students traveling on standard itineraries. If the student's travel is not straightforward, then they should discuss plans with the Mathcamp staff; in such cases, it may be preferable for families to purchase tickets, in which case Mathcamp will reimburse up to the equivalent for a standard itinerary. See the Financial Policy for Travel Awards [PDF] for details.

Policy on Registration and Withdrawal

At the time of registration, we ask for a deposit of 25% of the expected camp fee (taking scholarships into account). The remaining 75% will be due on or before the first day of camp.

If a student decides to withdraw from the camp and gives us sufficient notice, the camp fee deposit will be returned, less an administrative fee of $250 USD. After May 15, refunds are available under extraordinary circumstances. You should contact us to discuss your situation if the need arises. In such cases, the student may be partially reimbursed for the time they missed.

A withdrawing student will be required to return any part of the financial aid package already disbursed, such as costs of tickets purchased by us or reimbursed to the student.