Ross is a six-week, residential, summer session for high school students who are talented in mathematics, well prepared in standard high school math topics, and eager to explore more advanced ideas.

Non-credit

Residential

Accepts International Students

Financial Aid

Our central goal has always been to instruct bright young students in the art of mathematical thinking and to inspire them to discover for themselves that abstract ideas are valuable and important. First year participants take the basic course in number theory. For most students, this is the first time they are asked to consider entirely new questions, to develop methods that they have not seen before, and to justify every answer.

The value of a mathematics education lies not only in obtaining proficiency in computational tasks, but also in building a foundation for critical thinking. Students who have never asked why things work the way they do are not prepared to lead the way to future scientific innovation. It is precisely this independence of thought and questioning attitude that the Ross Program strives to nurture.

The term begins with investigations of topics involving prime numbers and modular arithmetic. Participants observe curious numerical properties and search for satisfactory explanations of them. Starting from a list of “axioms”, they learn how to write proofs that are rigorous and complete. Even the simplest of those proofs might become important later in the term, when similar ideas are investigated in other contexts.

After examining concrete numerical examples, students identify patterns and then formulate general algebraic statements that include those numerical examples as special cases. They work to prove that those statements are true, and then use those proofs to help explain new observations. Eventually they encounter versions of the original questions in other contexts and begin to appreciate them from a deeper perspective. Some of these investigations lead to significant insights into the structure of number systems and the underpinnings of algebraic formalism. By considering simply stated questions from several directions, participants attain some understanding of how professional mathematicians and scientists work: gathering data, looking for patterns and analogies, making conjectures, and finally testing and proving those conjectures.

Students should expect to get deeply involved in intensive, mathematical work. Although formal classes take up only eight hours per week, Ross participants work hard during the many hours of unstructured time. They think about the many mathematical problems, and struggle with the difficulties. After a lot of effort they finally develop methods of thought that will prove useful in many aspects of their scientific lives.

Participants in this six-week summer course attend class for ten hours per week (five in lecture and five in small-group meetings). Apart from those classes, students structure their own time, with the understanding that they will spend many hours concentrating on the challenging mathematical ideas presented in class and on the problem sets.

After solving a problem, students are asked to write clear and accurate proofs of all their assertions. This practice with logical thinking and experience in mathematical writing will be of great use in abstract science and mathematics courses taken in college.

Students proceed at various paces through the problem sets. In fact, few students are able to master all the ideas and techniques the first time they see them. The Ross counselors strive to build a “community of scholars” in the dormitory, encouraging everyone to work on these challenging mathematical ideas, to share their ideas and insights, and to experience the joy of solving a difficult problem.

Mathematical ideas presented in the Ross Program are investigated with pencil and paper. Students are NOT allowed to bring computers, electronic tablets, TV sets, video game systems, DVD players, etc. We ask students to refrain from using their smart phones, and to avoid borrowing computers for internet searches, surfing websites, checking social media, computing, or playing games.

Typically, students live with three roommates in a small suite of rooms.
The dormitories and classroom buildings are air-conditioned. Each participant uses a single bed, a desk, a chair, and some closet space, and is provided two sheets, a pillowcase, and a blanket. Students provide their own towels and washcloths, pillows, clothes hangers, shampoo, soap and other personal items. Since towels and pillows are bulky to carry, staff members will take students to stores where those items can be purchased at fairly low costs. All students must remain inside the dormitory after dark and must not leave the campus at any time unless accompanied by a counselor. Student fees include the cost of three meals per day at the campus cafeteria. Upon request, the cafeteria can provide foods for students who are on restrictive diets.
Some foods (e.g. pizza) can be ordered from nearby restaurants and delivered to the dorm.

Session at Otterbein University in Columbus; Ohio

Jun 11 - Jul 21

6 weeks

Residential

6000 USD

Session at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana

Jun 18 - Jul 28

6 weeks

Residential

6000 USD

Each Ross student is asked to pay a program fee of $6000. Those funds are used to pay for six weeks of room and board, to hire instructors and counselors, and to cover incidental costs of developing and running math courses.

Financial Aid

Financial aid is available. Accepted applicants are encouraged to apply for aid if their families have some financial need. We hope to provide enough support to enable every accepted applicant to attend this great Program.
The Ross Program is able to provide scholarship support to qualified students who cannot otherwise afford to attend. Requests for support are made after a student has been accepted to the Program.
Various academic institutions in the applicant’s home city or state might also have available scholarships. In addition, some scholarship support for participation in math programs is provided by Mu Alpha Theta the national high school mathematical society. Other scholarship opportunities are offered by the Davidson Institute and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.