Matryoshka Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Hi there! I'm not sure if this really belongs on the "Accelerated" board, as my dd is already in 11th grade and I think most I've see talk about this here have their kids take these classes much earlier, but I posted my question over on the High School board, and crickets are chirping. I tried to look back in the archives and noticed that pretty much all the posts on eIMACS came from this forum... So I was wondering if anyone's had any experience with the eIMACS courses (even if your kid was younger) maybe take a look at my questions over in this thread? Those courses sure are $$$, but dd really lit up when taking that placement test... just trying to figure out if this is the right way to go for her. Update and question in post 16. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaConquest Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Did you see this thread? http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/516909-elements-of-mathematics-could-this-replace-aops/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted September 7, 2014 Author Share Posted September 7, 2014 Did you see this thread? http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/516909-elements-of-mathematics-could-this-replace-aops/ Thanks :) , but that's not about the same curriculum I'm talking about - that thread is about their Elements of Mathematics - Foundations (EMF) courses, I'm asking about their Advanced Mathematical Logic courses, which are a more advanced set of courses, and have a different placement test - sorry, I guess I didn't specify! AoPS-loving younger dd13 tried the upper-level placement test and didn't quite pass it, but did pass the EMF placement test and has taken their first course, so I am familiar with those. DD16 (the one I'm asking about now) took and passed the upper-level placement test and is looking to take the AML sequence. While both courses are put out by IMACS, the courses do seem to have quite a different "feel", at least if they're both consistent with the kinds of questions on the placement tests. Younger dd enjoyed the questions on the upper-level placement test much more (even though she didn't pass it), and then she wasn't that thrilled with the EMF course she took. For her, I think we'll skip the rest of EMF and if she's still interested later try for the upper-level courses again. EMF lays foundations for, but is not a required prerequisite for AML. So yeah, unfortunately reading about experiences with EMF doesn't answer my questions about their AML sequence... Has anyone's kid taken any of their Advanced Mathematical Logic courses?? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 Yes, DS took LM1 (the first advanced math logic course) and scored an A+. In the other thread you asked... Anyway... has anyone's kid taken the IMACS Math/Logic series, and did they find it helpful/worth the $$? Did they find what they learned there useful for other courses? What was their background before they took the course? Is it necessary to start at the beginning, or could she maybe do something like just take Set Theory? (I wouldn't bother signing her up for their CompSci sequence as she's already doing AP level). She just took their Placement test and they said she did "Outstanding" (or do they say that to everyone that passes it?) We didn't pay out of pocket. We were still with our CA-based charter at the time and the stipend covered the cost. I wouldn't pay $995 otherwise (we dropped the charter this year, that's why he isn't doing LM2) but that's only because I am cheap. Considering it is supposed to be a university level course and my son took about 39 weeks (out of 40 weeks) to finish, with full instructor support when he needed it (via email), perhaps it is a good deal. I believe EPGY also has a similar course but theirs is probably more expensive (it has been a while since I checked). I am not sure how the eIMACS and EPGY courses match up though. I would suggest starting at the beginning unless she is already comfortable with the level 1 and 2 syllabi. ETA: since you asked :D...yes, DS scored outstanding for both the mathematical logic and the CS aptitude tests but we opted for logic since Terry suggested that the first logic level could be more challenging for him than the first CS level. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted September 8, 2014 Author Share Posted September 8, 2014 Thanks for the feedback, Quark! Man, wish I had a fairy to pay the tuition! How did your ds like the course? Would you recommend it to someone like my dd? It's weird, on this board I feel like she's "old" to be starting this, but compared to most IRL, she'd still be quite young... What's your ds doing instead of the 2nd course? I wish there were more out there. Seems like the Coursera and OpenCourseware courses are self-paced with no support. I think she'd just lose steam with something like that. Same is true of just buying her books on the topic... Just saw Harvard Extension offers a class with some of these topics - at $2200, it makes this one seem cheap! :svengo: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 He liked it. Perhaps not as much as some of his pure math work but he liked it enough to really work hard at it. I would really like for him to continue the series but paying almost $1K out of pocket for one course is beyond us for now. After LM 1 he did AoPS Intermediate Number Theory and he is taking calc 1 at a local CC for now. Yes I would certainly recommend it. I've only heard good things about the eIMACS advanced courses. Good luck with your decisions! I wish there were more affordable choices too. I asked Terry about paying in installments and unfortunately, that is not available for now. :mellow: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Matroyoshka, I just stumbled across this thread while doing a search. Did your daughter end up taking an eIMACS course? I am looking into the University Computer Science course for DS during high school. I see from quark's post that you get an actual letter grade. Am I right to think of these courses as 1 credit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 Matroyoshka, I just stumbled across this thread while doing a search. Did your daughter end up taking an eIMACS course? I am looking into the University Computer Science course for DS during high school. I see from quark's post that you get an actual letter grade. Am I right to think of these courses as 1 credit? My dd did end up taking the first Math/Logic course. She really likes it so far. I'm not sure about the credit? I'd assume they mean each course to be a credit? I'm sure you could ask - if you find out, post the answer here. :) Dd's not having to spend a ton of time on it so far to keep up with the syllabus, but she's only 3 weeks in so it may take more time later. For the course she's taking, the syllabus covers 24 weeks, but you have 40 to finish. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbeltmom Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Matroyoshka, I just stumbled across this thread while doing a search. Did your daughter end up taking an eIMACS course? I am looking into the University Computer Science course for DS during high school. I see from quark's post that you get an actual letter grade. Am I right to think of these courses as 1 credit? My boys are taking the Computer Science courses. I am giving them one credit for each course. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Ok...I called and was told that the transcript would say that the course is equivalent to 3 college credits, but to be aware that it is not an accredited course. ETA: A student should plan 4 - 5 hours per week. A credit seems reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbeltmom Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Ok...I called and was told that the transcript would say that the course is equivalent to 3 college credits, but to be aware that it is not an accredited course. ETA: A student should plan 4 - 5 hours per week. A credit seems reasonable. Fwiw, both of my boys have had to put in more than 5 hours per week. I don't know if that is typical or not. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Fwiw, both of my boys have had to put in more than 5 hours per week. I don't know if that is typical or not. Am I reading your signature correctly - both are taking the AP course? Did they take the University I and II before the AP? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbeltmom Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Am I reading your signature correctly - both are taking the AP course? Did they take the University I and II before the AP? My younger son, who thinks he wants to major in CS, took both university courses. My older son, who will not be majoring in CS, just took the 1st university course before taking the AP course. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 My younger son, who thinks he wants to major in CS, took both university courses. My older son, who will not be majoring in CS, just took the 1st university course before taking the AP course. Who's having an easier time of it? - do you think taking one vs. both courses helped make the AP class easier? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbeltmom Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Who's having an easier time of it? - do you think taking one vs. both courses helped make the AP class easier? That's tough to answer. My oldest started the class this summer, so he is farther along in the course. I would imagine that taking both of the University Courses would make the AP easier only because the student would have more programming experience going into the AP class. The AP class goes way beyond what is tested on the actual AP exam as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 So, dd's still taking the course (and the syllabus actually covers all 40 weeks - she said she missed those assigned weeks the first time she looked). Thought I might update, and ask a question. She really likes it, in fact over vacation this week she's taken the opportunity to get a few weeks ahead. She asked me to see if anyone else who'd taken the course could answer if they found it challenging or easy (or where inbetween). I told her I'd ask, but that I think most of the people here would have taken it younger, so that could also skew results? (She's 16) She is finding it very intuitive, and yes, easy. I told her I'd heard it was a challenging course, but that perhaps she just had good intuition for these concepts, and hopefully that bodes well for her pursuing a CompSci major. (And do they cover the stuff in these courses faster in college, but it's been slowed down because kids as young as middle school are taking them? Maybe that's part of it?) She typically finishes the suggested week's work in 1-2 hours and is getting mostly perfect scores. She has yet to even contact the 'teacher'. Has anyone taken the follow-on courses, and does the difficulty ramp up (or might it ramp up later in the course - she's almost halfway)? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 So, dd's still taking the course (and the syllabus actually covers all 40 weeks - she said she missed those assigned weeks the first time she looked). Thought I might update, and ask a question. She really likes it, in fact over vacation this week she's taken the opportunity to get a few weeks ahead. She asked me to see if anyone else who'd taken the course could answer if they found it challenging or easy (or where inbetween). I told her I'd ask, but that I think most of the people here would have taken it younger, so that could also skew results? (She's 16) She is finding it very intuitive, and yes, easy. I told her I'd heard it was a challenging course, but that perhaps she just had good intuition for these concepts, and hopefully that bodes well for her pursuing a CompSci major. (And do they cover the stuff in these courses faster in college, but it's been slowed down because kids as young as middle school are taking them? Maybe that's part of it?) She typically finishes the suggested week's work in 1-2 hours and is getting mostly perfect scores. She has yet to even contact the 'teacher'. Has anyone taken the follow-on courses, and does the difficulty ramp up (or might it ramp up later in the course - she's almost halfway)? I have no idea but you may want to look at MIT Open Courseware for your next adventure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 So, dd's still taking the course (and the syllabus actually covers all 40 weeks - she said she missed those assigned weeks the first time she looked). Thought I might update, and ask a question. She really likes it, in fact over vacation this week she's taken the opportunity to get a few weeks ahead. She asked me to see if anyone else who'd taken the course could answer if they found it challenging or easy (or where inbetween). I told her I'd ask, but that I think most of the people here would have taken it younger, so that could also skew results? (She's 16) She is finding it very intuitive, and yes, easy. I told her I'd heard it was a challenging course, but that perhaps she just had good intuition for these concepts, and hopefully that bodes well for her pursuing a CompSci major. (And do they cover the stuff in these courses faster in college, but it's been slowed down because kids as young as middle school are taking them? Maybe that's part of it?) She typically finishes the suggested week's work in 1-2 hours and is getting mostly perfect scores. She has yet to even contact the 'teacher'. Has anyone taken the follow-on courses, and does the difficulty ramp up (or might it ramp up later in the course - she's almost halfway)? Is the course Mathematical Logic 1? My son took it in junior high (I think between 7th and 8th but can't remember). Some parts challenged him but he finished in three months with an A. He thought he had only three months to do it, which is why he finished quickly. I'd say it took several hours per day, maybe 3-4? He felt it was helpful material. Also, we considered the other math courses, but other opportunities came up for him that were closer to home and he wouldn't have had the time. The courses looked interesting, though. Maybe one of the math profs on these boards could look over the syllabi for the different math courses and give you an opinion. The AP comp sci course covers more material than you'll find in a typical good AP comp sci class. Good luck to your daughter. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Unfortunately, DS only took the first course. He was 10 IIRC. I know he said a few weeks were challenging but mostly the course was either easy or just right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 Is the course Mathematical Logic 1? My son took it in junior high (I think between 7th and 8th but can't remember). Some parts challenged him but he finished in three months with an A. He thought he had only three months to do it, which is why he finished quickly. I'd say it took several hours per day, maybe 3-4? He felt it was helpful material. Unfortunately, DS only took the first course. He was 10 IIRC. I know he said a few weeks were challenging but mostly the course was either easy or just right. Thanks, this actually helps. It does sound like they've slowed down the course vs. a university pace for the younger kids that tend to take this (which makes sense). This confirms my suspicion that as an relatively older student she should perhaps speed up her pace a bit. It would be really nice if she could get through the whole sequence, but she won't have time before she graduates high school if she stays on this apparently very relaxed pace... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 (edited) Did your daughter end up continuing to the next level? ETA: since you asked :D...yes, DS scored outstanding for both the mathematical logic and the CS aptitude tests but we opted for logic since Terry suggested that the first logic level could be more challenging for him than the first CS level.Just chatted with Terry on the phone. Do you think the mathematical logic is useful as a going wider tool? Both of mine are interested in the CS courses while DS11 is considering the ML course as well. I forgot to ask about pricing but $1k would be cheaper than DS11's current CTY class :lol: Both cleared the aptitude tests. They like having an instructor/tutor to discuss but by email. My DS11 still hates to talk. We went to visit IMACS Silicon Valley to look at their homeschool classes. My DS10 wanted a B&M math class for socializing. ETA: Found the fees page. Comparable to AoPS, cheaper than CTY https://www.eimacs.com/about.htm Edited August 3, 2016 by Arcadia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Just chatted with Terry on the phone. Do you think the mathematical logic is useful as a going wider tool? It depends a lot on the kid. I think for a kid interested in applications, it would help. Given the cost, we couldn't continue without dropping other things that DS really wanted to do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 It depends a lot on the kid. I think for a kid interested in applications, it would help. Given the cost, we couldn't continue without dropping other things that DS really wanted to do. We'll probably try the CS course first then. Terry found DS11's free EIMACS EoM Foundation course's aptitude test from many years ago :lol: Totally get it about the cost aspect. Their B&M classes cost a lot more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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