MATTER Magazine Spotlight: MIT PRIMES Program

By ROBIN DAO ‘26, KAITLYNN FARKAS ‘26, SARAH HUANG ‘25, SANGWOO KIM ‘26, AARTI RAJU ‘27

MIT PRIMES is a free, year-long program designed to nurture and challenge aspiring mathematicians. Hosted by the Mathematics department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), it presents an opportunity for high-school students looking to explore “unsolved problems in mathematics, computer science, and computational biology,” as stated by the program’s site.

Admission to MIT PRIMES is rigorous and highly selective, consisting of a personal statement and a general and advanced problem set of around 5 or 6 problems each. Computer science applicants must solve a computer science problem set in addition to the general math problem set. 

Once accepted, students follow four phases. In the first phase, the students’ assigned mentors recommend reading to expose them to potential future research projects. Towards the end of the first phase, the students submit a five-page report detailing an area they are interested in exploring. The mentors review these reports and invite the students with the clearest dedication and progress to complete their research. From there, the students undergo an active research process under the guidance of their mentors. Their work culminates both as a presentation at the fall term PRIMES conference in October and in a paper eligible to be sent to professional research journals for publication. Here at Exeter, there are a number of students who have attended this program in the past years.

Many Exonians shared why they decided to participate in the MIT PRIMES program. For example, Andrew Carratu ‘25 has been interested in mathematics and computer science research since a young age. Carratu has been a part of this program for the past two years, researching math and computer science. He said, “I want to have a future in something stem-related as a career. [MIT PRIMES] is a really nice program to just get into research before college.”

Another Exeter student, Shiqiao Zhang ‘25, also described that he had been interested in math research for a while, adding that MIT PRIMES is “one of the most prestigious programs in the United States for high school mathematical research.”

Davido Zhang ‘25 expressed similar reasons — the prestige of the program and his continued interest in respective subjects — for applying: “On one hand, I knew the program because of uppers and seniors who did the program. I was already interested in math: I competed in math olympiads, so I was already in the community… [MIT PRIMES] is the best program to do math research for free, so it’s just one of the options that I had and I decided to give it a shot because it’s pretty hard to get it,” D. Zhang said.

With regard to the program’s timeline, Carratu shared, “The first meeting is in March, and the goal is to choose the idea for the project by the time the summer starts.”

He continued, stating that there aren’t any meetings over the summer, so “you have to pick up pace with the research upon returning in September. The midterm report (which summarizes what topics you have read papers about and what problem your group will try to tackle) is due [at the] end of June, we were expected to have conducted experiments by the conference in late October, and to finish the final report by December 31st.”

Although it may sound daunting, Carratu added, “It feels like a lot of time when you hear it’s a year-long project, but in reality, it’s not as much because you only meet from March until May and September until December. Almost all of the research, 5-10 hours a week, happens outside these meetings, however.”

Although MIT PRIMES gave participants an unparalleled opportunity to conduct math and computer science research outside of school, it also came with many challenges. For D. Zhang, the commute was a big hassle. “Traveling from Exeter to MIT is an hour and twenty minutes if you drive. You could also take the Amtrak. I had to switch between them… [And] I would waste the entire afternoon going there,” he explained.

In addition, the demanding academic rigor of MIT PRIMES was challenging for many. Carratu shared that “trying to understand all the papers that [one was] reading each week” was particularly challenging.

Nonetheless, students were able to adapt and overcome these difficulties. “It can be helpful to call your partner to work through what you’re trying to solve for that week,” Carratu said.

For others like S. Zhang, “maintaining a detailed research journal where I write down my thoughts and record partial results” was helpful. “This helps me quantify the effort I put into my research project and gives myself a more objective reflection of the progress that I am making,” S. Zhang said.

During the MIT PRIMES program, students’ routines varied depending on their mentor. S. Zhang, who attended the program twice, explained: “My mentors last year were from UCI (University of California, Irvine), and we met online via Zoom each week at a time that worked for all of us. My mentor this year is from MIT, and I take the Amtrak train to MIT on either Wednesday or Friday each week to meet him.”

Students only needed to meet with their mentor for one hour per week, but D. Zhang noted that it could be difficult to balance other extracurriculars on top of MIT PRIMES. “I’m lucky because I did crew my prep year and only later joined squash, so I didn’t have to deal with doing both sports and the MIT PRIMES program.” 

Upon reflection, students had greatly memorable experiences during this program. D. Zhang and Carratu shared that their favorite moments were undoubtedly the October Conference, also known as the Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM) conference in Boston. During this event, they had the incredible opportunity to present their projects alongside highly accomplished researchers and many other talented RSI students.

Meanwhile, Alan Bu ‘24 shared his fondest memory, which occurred on a September afternoon halfway between Grill and Phillips Hall. Here, he experienced the magic of finally connecting the ideas and concepts he had been exploring since March. It was a moment of realization as he pieced together his research, marking a significant part of his academic progress.

Throughout the challenges the students faced, the MIT PRIMES program was an enjoyable and engaging experience for many. It was a way for students passionate about research to use the exposure to advanced ideas to grow, especially with the “guidance of experienced mentors,” according to S. Zhang. Most importantly, it was a solidifying factor for many hoping to pursue a career in the fields covered by MIT PRIMES, allowing them to get a taste of what’s to come.