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Who

Programs are intended for students in the 4th to 11th grades

What

The IDEA MATH 2021-2022 year-round program offers five types of series during the school year. These five series are:

• School Enrichment (SE) Series builds students' understanding of the concepts they are likely to encounter in general school curriculum with extra depth and breadth.
• Extra Curricular (EC) Series is designed for students pursuing extra curricular mathematics far beyond general school curriculum and provides extensive preparation for contests such as MATHCOUNTS, AMC, AIME etc.
• Accelerated Championship (XC) Series intends to improve top level young students' command of the core knowledge leading to higher studies in mathematics.
• Contest Edge (CE) Series provides additional preparation opportunities for various math contests such as (MATHCOUNTS School/Chapter/State/National, AMC 8/10/12, AIME, ARML, HMNT, AIME, HMMT, and Math Olympiads).
• Math Olympiad (MO) Series focus on systematic development on math reasoning skills preparing for Math Olympiads.

Students may enroll in combinations of the courses depending on their learning goals. In particular, students can also consider the Contest Edge (CE) Series as a supplement to any of the School Enrichment (SE) Series and Extra Curricular (EC) Series, and some times to the Accelerated Championship (XC) Series.

This web page is intended for the Math Olympiad (MO) Series.

In the past 25 years, the Phillips Exeter Academy Red Lion (PEARL) math team, under the supervision of IDEA MATH academic director Dr. Zuming Feng (joined by IDEA MATH staff Ivan Borsenco latterly), has become a dominant force in US high school math contests. From 2000 to 2020, students from PEARL have been USAMO winners more than 40 times and have won 26 IMO Gold medals, 11 Silver medals, and 8 Bronze medals. These students have diverse background, skillsets, and characters. What do they have in common? Well, almost all of them have studied Math Transition 3X (or 31X-40X-41X) and Math 431-511-521, and worked extensively in PEARL math club activities with Zuming and Ivan. The materials in the Math Olympiad (MO) Series builds upon materials Zuming used for PEARL math club activities and US Math Olympiad Summer Program (MOSP) entry level courses.

Program Setup and Workload

The IDEA MATH 2021-2022 Math Olympiad (MO) Series will offer courses (MO1/MO2/MO3) via remote learning -- Zoom based LIVE classes. Each course consists of two parts: part 1 will be offered/taught in the session 1 (or fall session) and part 2 will be offered/taught in the session 2 (or spring session), and part 2 is a continuation (not a repetition) of part 1. In each session, there are 12 class days and each class day has a 2.5-hour class for a total of 30 class hours. (Therefore, for each course, we have 2*12*2.5 = 60 total class hours--- 30 hours for part 1 in session 1 and 30 hours for part 2 in session 2.) We intend to cover our materials via our classroom activities. Hence we expect less than 1 hour of homework for each class day and no more than 10 hours of homework per session (half academic year).

The tuition for each of these courses is $1970 = $985*2 (to be paid in two payments: $985 per session) for a total 60 in-class hours (30 in-class hours per session, unit rate is less than $33 per hour) of teaching and homework/test grading.

Why

IDEA MATH provides in-depth enrichment in important mathematical areas, particularly in the fields from which contest problems are drawn: algebra, combinatorics, geometry, and number theory. We believe students learn best by discovering, rather than simply memorizing, essential theorems and techniques. Our process puts students at the center of the classes, as students work together to develop their ideas. Our instructors lead this process by teaching vital ideas, giving meaningful examples, and guiding students through the problem-solving process.

How

We apply seminar-style teaching in our classes. Class sizes are small to ensure that students receive plenty of individual attention. Students are expected to work as a group and present their solutions and ideas to the class.

Zoom Class Policies

To protect students' privacy, we ask our students to:

1. Always use student's full name along with IDEA MATH ID to join Zoom classes. Only enrolled students are allowed to join our LIVE classes.
2. Turn on video and audio during the class.
3. No recording or taking photos is allowed.

For more detailed online class policy please visit here.

What are the unique strengths of IDEA MATH that distinguish it from other (summer/winter/online/weekend) math programs?

The unique strengths of IDEA MATH can be summarized as follows:

1. Comprehensive and well-tested teaching materials, modeled after the training materials once used by our academic director Dr. Zuming Feng in his work with the Phillips Exeter Academy Red Lion (PEARL) math club/team and Math Olympiad Summer Program (MOSP). (Go here for more references on curriculum info. )
2. Strong team of instructors, consisting of front-line teachers, coaches, and top former students. (Find more staff info. )
3. Emphasis on student leadership and the development of an attitude conducive to learning.
4. Focus on schools and the local math communities.

For more details, please visit our FAQ page.

Contact IDEA MATH

As always, we welcome parents' specific academic questions about our curriculum and teaching styles, as well as students' class-work and preparation. Please contact info@ideamath.org---make sure to include the following info in your email subject: student's full name, 4-digit IDEA MATH ID, and intended program.

IDEA MATH provides an extensive curriculum. The course list shown below consists of projected courses we will offer in this program. Two of the major strengths of our program---a strong academic team and a full range of materials---allow us to create new courses/groups to meet the needs of the students body. Therefore, the course list (and course schedule) is subject to change based on actual enrollment and staff availability.

Please visit detailed curriculum grid for a more complete reference of IDEA MATH course curriculums.

Note: All course information can be found at our curriculum page here.

* Each course will only be offered when a minimum number of students have enrolled. Some courses might run multiple sections. To maintain the high standard of our students' learning experience, class sizes will remain small---about 8 to 16 students for PC0/PCA courses, about 8 to 20 students for other courses.

** All class times are in the US Eastern Time Zone. Each course will meet 12 times per session. Check calendar here.

IDEA MATH provides an extensive curriculum. Please see the projected course offerings below and their (main) corresponding placement levels. In general, each applicant not recently enrolled (that is, who has not completed an IDEA MATH course in the spring or summer of 2021) in our programs shall take a placement test in one of our open online/onsite placement test sessions. (For more details on our placement test/course placement process, please visit here.)

Test Levels and their corresponding courses

It is important for each applicant to input accurate, complete, detailed, and up-to-date academic background information (i.e., age, grade level, math courses taken, official contest scores, etc.) in the applicant's IDEA MATH student account. We review this information to make initial course placement/placement test level decisions.

In general, each applicant not recently enrolled (that is, who has not completed an IDEA MATH course in the spring or summer of 2021) in our programs shall take a placement test in one of our open online/onsite placement test sessions. (For more details on our placement test/course placement process, please visit here.) We will find the most appropriate course placement based on the information entered in the student’s IDEA MATH account and (if applicable) placement test work. Please note that our academic team will make the final decision on your course placement based upon your academic background and your work in the placement test. (Further course placement adjustments can be made, by our academic team, based upon your class work.)

Please click this link to register for the placement test. The placement test fee is non-refundable and non-transferable. An extra charge may be applied if a student wishes to change testing dates after registering and paying for the placement test. If you would like to request a different placement test, please email us and an additional charge may be applied.

Summer/Fall Placement Test Schedule

* Each placement test is 90 minutes long. Students should arrive at the testing location (onsite or online) 10 minutes prior to the test. All test times are in the US Eastern Time Zone.

** The placement test fee is non-refundable and non-transferable; that is, it cannot be transferred from one applicant/student to another applicant/student, and it also cannot be transferred from a registered/chosen test session/date to another placement test session/date for the same applicant/student. Special test sessions (test fee starting at $150) can be arranged depending on staffing availabilities. Please contact info@ideamath for inquires on special test sessions.

Fall/Winter Placement Test Schedule

* Each placement test is 90 minutes long. Students should arrive at the testing location (onsite or online) 10 minutes prior to the test. All test times are in the US Eastern Time Zone.

** The placement test fee is non-refundable and non-transferable; that is, it cannot be transferred from one applicant/student to another applicant/student, and it also cannot be transferred from a registered/chosen test session/date to another placement test session/date for the same applicant/student. Special test sessions (test fee starting at $150) can be arranged depending on staffing availabilities. Please contact info@ideamath for inquires on special test sessions.

Note that registration is only the first step of towards enrollment. Enrollment (for each session) is completed only after the tuition is paid in full. The tuition payment is independent to student's course placement because the tuition is for the program, not for a specific course. The IDEA MATH staff will work with students on course placement by reviewing their academic backgrounds, assigning placement test levels, reviewing placement test work, and more. IDEA MATH staff make the final decision on students' course placements. (Please see our Course Placement Policy section for details.) All tuition refund for withdrawing will be processed based on the refund policy.

Pay Tuition

Please log in to your account to pay the tuition online.

Session 1 (or Fall Session, September 2021 to December 2021) Tuition Schedule

* The tuition payments may be stopped earlier than the published date if the program has reached to its upper capacity.

** After the tuition payment deadline date, a late fee ($150) will be applied to the tuition and admission can only be given if space is available.

Session 2 (or Spring Session, January 2022 to May 2022) Tuition Schedule

* The tuition payments may be stopped earlier than the published date if the program has reached to its upper capacity.

** After the tuition payment deadline date, a late fee ($150) will be applied to the tuition and admission can only be given if space is available.

For the class schedule, please check the course schedule.

Session 1 (or Fall Session, September 2021 to December 2021) Class Dates*

* All class times are in the US Eastern Time Zone. Each course will meet 12 times per session. Check calendar here.

Session 2 (or Spring Session, January 2022 to May 2021) Class Dates*

* All class times are in the US Eastern Time Zone. Each course will meet 12 times per session. Check calendar here.

Please note that only tuition is refundable per the above policy. Other fees such as the application fee, the registration fee, and the placement test fee are non-refundable and non-transferable.

Credit cannot be transferred between different type of programs---say, from summer, year-round, winter, etc.

For programs of a similar type (e.g., between summer programs), we will follow the withdrawal/refund policies. For example, after tuition is submitted and before date X, we will apply the transfer in the following way (assuming space is available for the intended program): switching series is considered a withdrawal from one series and an enrollment to another, and any difference in tuition rates applies.

To request a refund and withdraw your student, please send a complete request in writing to info@ideamath.org. You must include the payee name and mailing address matching the information in the student's account in order for your request to be deemed complete and submitted. Please include "Refund Request" and the student's name in the subject line. The amount of the refund will be based on the time that a complete request is submitted; incomplete requests will not be deemed to meet deadlines for withdrawal.

If the student is ill and chooses to withdraw from the program, we can offer prorated credit (proportional based upon the first refund policy: paid tuition deducted by $150, then prorated per day) towards a future program. A note from a licensed physician is required. The doctor's note should clearly assert that the student's current medical status does not allow the student to complete the remainder of the program. The date when the doctor's note is submitted to IDEA MATH (via info@ideamath.org) is considered the initial date for the prorated refund (credit) calculation. The same policies apply if the IDEA MATH staff determine that the student must withdraw due to illness in order to protect the health and welfare of themselves or other students.

For all purposes related to this refund policy, a day shall be deemed to begin at 12:01am local time in the US Eastern Time Zone (US ET).

Academic team

Academic Director

Dr. Zuming Feng

Instructors

Mr. Ivan Borsenco

Mr. Alex Song