Advantage Testing Foundation Information

Learn more about the public service initiatives of Advantage Testing and the Advantage Testing Foundation.

The Advantage Testing Foundation Information Booklet

The Advantage Testing Foundation 210 East 86 th Street, Suite 601

New York, NY 10028 www.atfoundation.org

Table of Contents

Section 1: The Advantage Testing Foundation 1. Mission Statement 2. Board of Trustees 3. Initiatives & Partnerships

Section 2: About Advantage Testing 1. A Brief Introduction 2.

Summary of Public Service Initiatives

Section 3: Correspondence and Publicity 1. TRIALS Recruitment Letter 2.

Math Prize for Girls Recruitment Letter

3. 4.

Mayor’s Proclamation

“Girls-only competitions build confidence – and the ranks of women in math” The Christian Science Monitor (October 27, 2017) “For Girls, a Rare Chance to Flex Math Muscles at MIT” The Boston Globe (September 27, 2014) “MIT Hosts Math Prize for Girls” MIT News (September 20, 2011) “Math Women Rock” MIT Admissions Blog (March 8, 2011) “With a little help from Arun Alagappan” India Abroad (October 7, 2011) “TRIALS: Diversifying law schools” Washington Square News (March 6, 2009) “Blakely Native Gets Educational Opportunity of a Lifetime” WTYV.com (August 20, 2013) “Grooming Young Talent for Future Leadership” The Wall Street Journal (July 7, 2011)

6. 7. 8. 9.

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Section 1

The Advantage Testing Foundation

Advantage Testing Foundation Mission Statement

The Advantage Testing Foundation identifies and cultivates future leaders of every background. By forging strategic partnerships with leading universities and other distinguished institutions, we expand the opportunities of our nation’s extraordinary young people.

The Advantage Testing Foundation Board of Trustees Arun Alagappan , President , is the President and Founder of Advantage Testing, Inc. He is a magna cum laude , Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Princeton University and a graduate of Harvard Law School. Mr. Alagappan sat on the Board of Editors of the Harvard International Law Journal , served as Law Clerk to Judge Dorothy Nelson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and worked briefly at the law firm of Sullivan and Cromwell in New York City. He was a Teaching Fellow in Harvard’s Department of Mathematics and was awarded a Certificate of Distinction for Outstanding Teaching of Harvard Undergraduates from the Dean of the College. Mr. Alagappan serves on the Board of Trustees of Prep for Prep and as Vice President of the Board of Trustees of LEDA (Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America). The goals of these organizations are to nurture the academic and leadership potential of exceptional students of modest means and to increase the socioeconomic diversity of students at leading colleges and universities. Shirley M. Tilghman , Vice President , is the President Emerita of Princeton University. She is a world-renowned scholar of molecular biology who has conducted pioneering research in the field of human genetics. Dr. Tilghman is a member of the National Research Council’s committee that set the blueprint for the Human Genome Project and was a founding member of the National Advisory Council of the Human Genome Project for the NIH. Prior to being named President of Princeton, she served on the university’s faculty for 15 years. She is a member of the American Philosophical Society, the National Academy of Science, the Institute of Medicine, and the Royal Society of London and is a recipient of the L’Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Developmental Biology, and the Genetics Society of America Medal. Dr. Tilghman formerly served on the Board of Trustees of LEDA. She is a Trustee of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Fellow of the Harvard Corporation, and a director of Google, Inc. Dr. Tilghman is a graduate of Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and received her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Temple University. Martha Minow , Vice President , is the 300 th Anniversary University President and former Dean of Harvard Law School. She is an expert in human rights and advocacy for members of racial and religious minorities and for women, children, and persons with disabilities. Her recent books include Government by Contract (co-edited, 2009) and Just Schools: Pursing Equality in Societies of Difference (co-edited, 2008). Ms. Minow served on the Independent International Commission for Kosovo and helped to launch Imagine Co-existence, a program of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, to promote peaceful development in post-conflict societies. Her honors include the Sacks-Freund Teaching Award, selected by the Harvard Law School Class of 2005, the Holocaust Center Award, 2006, and an Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Toronto, 2006. In 2008, she served on advisory committees addressing legal policy and educational policy for the Obama campaign. Ms. Minow received a B.A. from the University of Michigan, an M.Ed. from Harvard and a J.D. from Yale Law School. She clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall of the United States Supreme Court.

John Manning, Vice President , is the Dean of Harvard Law School. He is also the Morgan and Helen Chu Professor of Law. He served as the law school’s Deputy Dean from 2013 – 2017, and from 2007 – 2017, Dean Manning was the Bruce Bromley Professor of Law. He serves on the Harvard University Task Force on Inclusion and Belonging and on the HarvardX faculty committee. Dean Manning is a prolific scholar of public law, focusing on statutory interpretation and structural constitutional law. He is a co-editor of Hart & Wechsler’s Federal Courts and the Federal System (6th ed., 2009) and Legislation and Regulation (2d ed., 2013). Prior to joining the Harvard faculty, he was the Michael I. Sovern Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. Dean Manning was a law clerk to the Honorable Robert Bork on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and to Associate Justice Antonin Scalia of the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dean Manning is a summa cum laude , Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard College and a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School. John Edward Sexton , Vice President , is the President Emeritus of New York University, as well as the Benjamin Butler Professor of Law and NYU Law School’s Dean Emeritus. Dr. Sexton is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of both the Association of American University Presidents and the Council on Foreign Relations. He also serves on the Boards of the New York State Commission on Higher Education, the American Council on Education, the Institute of International Education and the Association for a Better New York. While Dean of the Law School he was President of the Association of American Law Schools. Dr. Sexton received a B.A. in History from Fordham College, an M.A. in Comparative Religion and a Ph.D. in History of American Religion from Fordham University, and a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. Before joining NYU, he served as Law Clerk to Chief Justice Warren Burger of the United States Supreme Court, and to Judges David Bazelon and Harold Leventhal of the United States Court of Appeals. J. Tomilson Hill , Treasurer , is a private investor whose five-decade career has spanned both investment banking and the asset management business. He previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Blackstone’s Hedge Fund Solutions Group and Vice Chairman of The Blackstone Group, where he was also on the Board of Directors. Mr. Hill is also the founder of the Hill Art Foundation, a public exhibition and education space in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood. He is a graduate of Harvard College and holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School. Mr. Hill is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations where he chairs the Investment Committee, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Lincoln Center Theater, where he serves as Vice Chairman. He serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and as a Trustee of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. In addition, Mr. Hill is a member of the Investment Committee of the Smithsonian Institution’s endowment. He formerly served on the Board of Trustees of Milton Academy and The Nightingale-Bamford School.

Lauren Frank is Director of Marketing and Investor Relations at Value Insight Partners, a fund that invests in value-oriented hedge funds. Prior to joining Value Insight Partners, Ms. Frank served as Director of Business Development and Strategy for the WPP Group. Ms. Frank is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. A young leader in education philanthropy, Ms. Frank serves on the Board of Trustees of Girls Prep Lower East Side and serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of Girls Prep Bronx. She also serves on the Executive Committee of the Harvard College Fund and on the Steering Committee of New York Presbyterian Hospital’s New Leaders Group. Beth Nash has a longstanding record of promoting positive social change through scholarly work and philanthropic pursuits. She is particularly interested in championing leadership roles for traditionally underrepresented groups including women and girls. Ms. Nash was a founding board member of the Sadie Nash Leadership Project. In 2015, A Better Balance presented her with a “Distinguished Leadership Award” in recognition of her founding the NYU School of Law’s Carr Center for Reproductive Justice. Ms. Nash co-founded and served as principal of her own investment firm. She had previously worked at Goldman Sachs and, subsequently, at CREF. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and holds graduate degrees from Columbia Business School and NYU. Former Board Member U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan served as Vice President of the Advantage Testing Foundation’s original Board of Trustees from 2007–2009, a position she resigned upon her nomination for Solicitor General by President Barack Obama. Prior to her nomination, she was the Dean of Harvard Law School and the Charles Hamilton Houston Professor of Law at Harvard University. In addition to her service as a Trustee of the Foundation, Justice Kagan was an original partner of the Advantage Testing Foundation’s Trials law school preparation program. Her contributions in shaping that program will continue to benefit outstanding scholars of underrepresented backgrounds for many years to come. Justice Kagan is a summa cum laude , Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Princeton University and a graduate of Harvard Law School.

The Advantage Testing Foundation Initiatives & Partnerships

Advantage Testing Foundation Math Prize for Girls

“The country’s preeminent math competition for young women” —MIT Office of Admissions

Each year since 2009, the Advantage Testing Foundation has offered the largest math prize for girls in the world. Nearly 300 young mathematicians annually take our exceptionally challenging examination of mathematical analysis and creative problem solving and compete for more than $55,000 in prizes, including a first prize of $25,000. o Past ceremony speakers include: o Susan Hockfield, former President of MIT o MacArthur Genius Award Recipients Dina Katabi, Esther Duflo and Stephen Wolfram o Yale Professor of Astronomy Priya Natarajan o MIT Professors Shafi Goldwasser and Nancy Hopkins o Princeton Professor Corina Tarnita o MIT Math Department Chairman Tomasz Mrowka o Harvard Professor Radhika Nagpal o Board of Advisors includes: o Michael Sipser, the Dean of the School of Science at MIT o Maria Klawe, the President of Harvey Mudd College & the former Dean of the School of Engineering at Princeton o Leading mathematicians on the faculties of MIT, University of Washington, University of Wisconsin, and Harvard

o Contest Supporters :

o The Akamai Foundation o Wolfram Research

For more information: http://mathprize.atfoundation.org

Advantage Testing Foundation TRIALS Program (The Training and Recruitment Initiative for Admission to Leading Law Schools)

In 2009, the Advantage Testing Foundation launched Trials in partnership with Harvard Law School and NYU School of Law. Trials is the nation’s most selective full-scholarship pre-law program, preparing students of underrepresented socioeconomic backgrounds for admission to leading law schools. Trials students are selected on the basis of their compelling personal narratives, ability to overcome adversity, commitment to public service, and academic achievements. o Twenty full-scholarship five - week residencies at Harvard Law School or the NYU School of Law to study logical reasoning, argumentation, critical reading, and essay writing with Advantage Testing instructors o Trials Scholars vital statistics: o Median starting diagnostic LSAT score at the 40 th percentile o 6 selected as NYU Root-Tilden Scholars o 2 selected as NYU An-Bryce Scholars o Alumni include 1 Rhodes Scholar, 1 Rhodes Finalist, 4 Fulbright Scholars, 2 Soros Fellows, and 2 Marshall Scholars o Past lecturers include: o Martha Minow, former Dean of Harvard Law School o Richard Revesz, former Dean of NYU School of Law o John Sexton, former President of NYU and Dean of NYU School of Law o Ronald Sullivan, HLS Criminal Justice Institute Director o Robert Bordone, Director of the Harvard Negotiation Clinic o Randall Kennedy, HLS Michael R. Klein Professor of Law o Median official LSAT score at the 88 th percentile o Multiple admissions to all top 10 U.S. law schools o 57 admitted to Harvard Law School o John Manning, Dean of Harvard Law School o Trevor Morrison, Dean of NYU School of Law

For more information: http://trials.atfoundation.org

LEDA—Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America

Each summer, the Advantage Testing Foundation and Princeton University pool their resources to provide institutional, academic, and financial support to LEDA, an academic intervention program widely recognized as the most successful in the nation. LEDA’s goal is to help primarily rural public high school students of modest means earn acceptance to and succeed at the nation’s leading colleges and universities. o median household income of ~$30,000. o more than 35% of the last five LEDA cohorts were admitted to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, or Stanford o 57% of the most recent LEDA cohort will attend Harvard, Princeton, Yale, or Stanford o 71% of the most recent LEDA cohort was admitted to an Ivy League college, MIT, or Stanford o LEDA Scholar vital statistics: o 92% of all LEDA graduates currently enrolled in “Ivy League/Most Competitive,” “Highly Competitive,” or “Very Competitive” institutions (ranked by Barron’s ) o In 2014, LEDA participated in President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama’s first White House Summit on College Opportunities for Low Income Students. o Advantage Testing Associate Director John Roberts served as President of LEDA’s Board of Trustees from 2010–2015. o In April of 2019, Advantage Testing Foundation President Arun Alagappan was recognized as Guest of Honor at LEDA’s 15 th Annual Gala and awarded the first-ever LEDA Hero Award for his “relentless support of LEDA and our Scholars.”

For more information: http://www.ledascholars.org

Prep for Prep

The Advantage Testing Foundation provides pro bono intensive SAT and SAT Subject Test instruction to high school juniors in Prep for Prep, a highly regarded and extremely successful leadership development program founded in 1978. Students enter Prep for Prep in the fifth, sixth or seventh grade and complete a rigorous 14-month course of study to prepare for the transition from New York City public schools to leading independent schools. Prep for Prep supports student success in high school and college by providing participants with leadership opportunities, college and career counseling, and access to a deep alumni network. o more than 270 Prep for Prep students prepared for college admission tests o 40.5% of Prep for Prep students tutored by Advantage Testing attend or have graduated from an Ivy League institution

For more information: http://www.prepforprep.org

Section 2

About Advantage Testing

Advantage Testing A Brief Introduction

Advantage Testing is widely regarded as America’s preeminent private tutorial and test preparation service. We specialize in academic tutoring from grade school through graduate school and in preparing students for standardized tests. Educational philosophy We believe that sound long-term preparation enables students to develop the tools necessary for success. Whether mastering academic course materials or studying for standardized tests, our students develop the skills and motivation to maintain a rigorous, individually tailored approach to learning that ultimately instills education’s most enduring rewards: • self-confidence • academic growth • joy in learning • intellectual curiosity We adapt traditional methods of study and practice for the individual, teaching our students to study not just intensively, but effectively. We do not believe in “tricks” or short cuts. Instead, we teach the core content and strategies relevant to every subject, test, or assignment, an approach that is consistently and rigorously educational. Approach to learning • Long-term : Cognition involves phases of comprehension, application, and repetition that take time, both during and between teaching sessions. The benefits of such productive work, of course, become long-term as well. • Rigorous : Advantage Testing students work hard. We teach the efficiencies of skill, knowledge, and sound reasoning rather than short cuts or tricks. Assignments, memorization, drills, and practice tests are crucial components of our programs. • Comprehensive : For more than thirty years, we have continually refined and expanded our teaching materials and approaches. Our curricula and instruction reflect a depth and breadth born of experience and thorough analysis. • Practical : We design and implement concrete strategies with specific steps toward attainable goals. Practice itself is the backbone of our structured test preparation. • Creative : Tutors adapt their distinctive styles of teaching to each individual student, while the student in turn is encouraged to contribute to the process.

Our instructors Advantage Testing comprises a group of professional instructors who value educational achievement. Our faculty consists primarily of high honors graduates of leading colleges who hold graduate or professional degrees. All our instructors must be: • …able to motivate students of whatever background or ability to achieve their highest possible scores. • …experienced, dedicated teachers who have received uniformly outstanding reviews from their students inside and outside our program. • …energetic, informal, and approachable so as to be able to establish productive relationships with our students. • …top performers required to score in the 99.5 th percentile on any standardized test they teach for us. • …students themselves of the continuously evolving science of standardized test construction. Sensitivity Advantage Testing has experience achieving outstanding results with students of every ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural background. Our instructors are responsive not only to their students’ individual learning styles and academic needs, but also to their personal stories, unique self-identifications, and individual perspectives. Student evaluations 93% of students have said that Advantage Testing tutors are “better or much better” compared with most of the teachers they’ve had. On a scale of 1 to 10, Advantage Testing tutors average a 9.6 rating for “overall quality,” 9.7 for “concern for students,” 9.7 for “instructor’s encouragement,” and 9.3 for “clarity of presentation.” Furthermore, 97% of Advantage Testing’s students assess their work to be “educational.” Results Our internal data suggests that our students’ average increases surpass those advertised or guaranteed by any other test preparation group in America. Reputation Almost exclusively through word-of-mouth, our message has been enthusiastically received and spread in educational communities across the nation. We are particularly proud of the many direct referrals we receive from guidance counselors, heads of schools, and university faculty. In addition, we have been favorably recognized by public figures and in the national media:

• The Honorable Mayor Michael Bloomberg wrote “Advantage Testing’s commitment to excellence and social responsibility truly represents the very best our great City has to offer,” and that “Advantage Testing has fostered intellectual growth and academic success amongst the future business, artistic, and civic leaders who will shape our City and our world.” • The New Yorker magazine has called Advantage Testing “The Institute for Advanced Study of tutoring services.” • The New York Times has referred to Advantage Testing as “perhaps the City’s premier tutoring service.” • Arun Alagappan, Advantage Testing’s President and Founder, was profiled in the Wall Street Journal’s “Donor of the Day” column for “helping to find the next generation of leaders who will bring diversity, new ideas, compassion, and a different kind of leadership to institutions.” • London’s Evening Standard called Advantage Testing “a pioneer in instituting the scrupulous standards that have elevated tutoring to the respected profession it has become in New York City.” • Arun was also one of seven educators featured in New York magazine’s cover story “The Influentials: The people whose ideas, power, and sheer will are changing New York.” • In an article on the tutoring industry Crain’s New York Business reported, “This year 900 people applied for positions at tutoring firm Advantage Testing. Five were hired.” • Mayor Bloomberg also designated December 10, 2011 to be “Advantage Testing Day,” proclaiming, “For a quarter-century, Advantage Testing has been an outstanding advocate for equal opportunity in education… The task of preparing every student for college and a career is not over yet. We are headed in the right direction, however, and thanks to the dedicated professionals and friends of Advantage Testing, we can look forward to more New Yorkers becoming life-long learners.” Locations Advantage Testing has multiple domestic locations and two international ones. • New York, NY

• Houston, TX • Austin, TX • Dallas, TX • Chicago, IL • Denver, CO • St. Louis, MO • Pittsburg, PA

• Los Angeles, CA • Silicon Valley, CA • Pasadena, CA • Portland, OR • Seattle, WA • Minneapolis, MN • Charlotte, NC

• Westport, CT • North New Jersey • Princeton, NJ • Salt Lake City, UT • New Orleans, LA

• Westchester, NY • Long Island, NY • Boston, MA • Washington, D.C. • Philadelphia, PA • Boca Raton, FL

• Paris, France • London, UK

Summary of Advantage Testing’s Public Service Initiatives

Advantage Testing has always worked hard to make high quality education available to students of every background. To that end, the group has provided pro bono instructional help and financial support to a variety of individuals and public service organizations, offered generous financial aid packages to students with demonstrable need, and donated tutoring services to charity benefits and school scholarship funds. • We hold small weekly SAT and ACT financial aid classes. Most of our students in these classes attend free of charge. • We have provided free tutoring to selected motivated students from Harlem Village Academy, the Bronx Preparatory Charter High School, and the Eleanor Roosevelt High School. • We have established the Advantage Testing Academic Enrichment Fund in support of the Princeton University Preparatory Program (PUPP), an organization that offers on-campus opportunities for academic and cultural enrichment to underprivileged New Jersey public high school students from Trenton, Newark, and Ewing. • We taught SAT students pro bono at The Point Community Development Corporation in the Bronx, a non-profit organization dedicated to youth development and the cultural and economic revitalization of the Hunts Point section of the Bronx. The students we worked with participated in The Point’s Activists Coming to Inform Our Neighborhoods (A.C.T.I.O.N.) program, a leadership workshop in which teenagers craft and implement a variety of initiatives geared to enacting social change in their community. • Many of our tutors volunteer to work one-on-one with needy families on a pro bono basis. • We donate tutoring packages to charity benefits and school scholarship funds. • Advantage Testing of New York matches the financial aid grants of other Advantage Testing locations dollar-for-dollar. • We have conducted free lectures on the college admissions process for local public high schools. • We offer reduced-rate, one-on-one tutoring to families who qualify for financial assistance. • It is our explicit goal to enroll motivated students in our programs, regardless of their ability to pay. We ask families applying for financial aid to tell us what they can reasonably afford for our services. In many cases, our financial aid grants are equal to or greater than the amount of aid requested by qualifying families.

Section 3

Correspondence & Publicity

T R I A L S Training and Recruitment Initiative for Admission to Leading Law Schools

A Partnership of NYU School of Law, Harvard Law School and the Advantage Testing Foundation

Advantage Testing Foundation 210 East 86th Street New York, NY 10028

Tel 212-744-8800 Fax 212-439-9602

New York University School of Law Harvard Law School

Advantage Testing Foundation

Dear Colleague,

We are writing to y o u regarding Trials, a residential scholarship program that helps talented and motivated undergraduates of modest means earn acceptance to leading law schools. Trials is a unique collaboration of Harvard Law School, New York University School of Law, and the Advantage Testing Foundation, the public service arm of Advantage Testing, Inc. Advantage Testing, widely regarded to be the leading private tutoring and test preparation company in America, is deeply committed to intellectual rigor, excellent teaching, and the proposition that good tests represent powerful opportunities to learn. Our institutions are mutually committed to remaining accessible to motivated students of every background, and our shared objective in Trials is to promote diversity in the field of law. Data from the first four Trials seasons indicate that the program significantly bolsters our students’ credentials. Trials alumni have been admitted to all of the nation’s top-ranked law schools. For five weeks in the summer, Trials students take residence at Harvard or New York University (the residency alternates host schools from year to year). This year, Harvard Law School will host the residen- tial component of the program and Trials students will visit the NYU School of Law for a day of lectures and seminars. Students have no expenses associated with the program and will receive a $3,000 stipend to supplement their summer income.

Students can apply online by visiting our website, http://trials.atfoundation.org.

We welcome applications from aspiring students of any background whose personal circumstances, self-identifications, and unique perspectives might place them outside the mainstream of typical law school applicants. By approaching the LSAT as an opportunity to strengthen such core analytical abilities as logical reasoning, argumentation, and critical reading, we prepare students to score competitively on the test and hone the skills they need to succeed in law school. In small lectures and mock classes, leading law school faculty provide students a wide-ranging introduction to the law and help students develop a concrete set of goals and a realistic plan for achieving them. Please post the enclosed flier prominently so your students can learn about Trials. We also encourage you to visit our website for more information and to forward the link to anyone who may benefit from this extraordinary program.

With all good wishes,

Martha Minow

Richard Revesz

Arun Alagappan

Dean

President

Harvard Law School

NYU School of Law

Advantage Testing Foundation

A DVANTAGE T ESTING F OUNDATION M ATH P RIZE FOR G IRLS

April 5, 2013

A DVANTAGE T ESTING F OUNDATION 210 E AST 86 TH S TREET S UITE 601 N EW Y ORK , NY 10028 T EL 212-744-8800 F AX 212-439-9602

Dear Student,

Math Prize for Girls Board of Advisors

The Advantage Testing Foundation will hold its annual Math Prize for Girls contest on Saturday, September 7, 2013 , at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Our contest features the largest monetary math prize for girls in the world. We will award $49,000 in cash prizes, including a top prize of $25,000. In addition, every invited contestant will receive a few gifts, including (courtesy of Wolfram Research) a copy of Mathematica for Students , a powerful computer program for performing mathematical computations. To qualify for the Math Prize, you must currently be in 11th grade or below. You must also have taken one of the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) exams given in February 201 3 : the AMC 10 or the AMC 12. You can apply to enter our contest on our web site, mathprize.atfoundation.org . You will need to type in your AMC score(s). There is no fee to apply or to participate. The application deadline is June 15. By the end of June, we will let you know whether your application to take our exam has been accepted. We will invite the top 300 applicants based on AMC scores. The Math Prize contest on September 7 will be a challenging, 2.5-hour exam, comprising 20 problems that test mathematical creativity and insight. We will announce the winners that afternoon at an awards ceremony for you and your parents or guardians. We will also invite our top 35 performers to participate in the Advantage Testing Foundation Math Prize Olympiad , a proof-based contest to be administered later in the year. We look forward to receiving your application. You might also let your friends know about this unique opportunity. For more information about the Math Prize for Girls or about us, you can visit us at mathprize.atfoundation.org .

Ravi Boppana, Ph.D. Co-Director of Mathematics Advantage Testing Ioana Dumitriu, Ph.D. Professor of Mathematics University of Washington

Maria Klawe, Ph.D. President Harvey Mudd College Richard Rusczyk President and Founder Art of Problem Solving

Michael Sipser, Ph.D. Head Department of Mathematics M.I.T. Gigliola Staffilani, Ph.D. Professor of Mathematics M.I.T. Lauren Williams, Ph.D. Professor of Mathematics University of California, Berkeley Joseph Woo, Ph.D. Co-Director of Mathematics Advantage Testing Melanie Matchett Wood, Ph.D. Professor of Mathematics University of Wisconsin

Sincerely,

Ravi Boppana

Arun Alagappan

Michael Sipser

Co-Director of Mathematics

Founder, Advantage Testing President, AT Foundation

Head, Mathematics Department

Advantage Testing

M. I. T.

mathprize.atfoundation.org

Text fromMayor’s Proclamation dated December 10, 2011

Office of the Mayor CITY OF NEW YORK Proclamation: WHEREAS:

OUR ADMINISTRATION BELIEVES STRONGLY THAT A GOOD EDUCATION IS A FUNDAMENTAL CIVIL RIGHT. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IS WHAT NEW YORK CITY IS ALL ABOUT, AND TO KEEP THAT PROMISE TO YOUNG NEW YORKERS AND FUTURE GENERATIONS, WE HAVE DEVOTED OUR RESOURCES AND EFFORTS TO CURRICULA THAT HELP STUDENTS DEVELOP BOTH A LOVE OF LEARNING AND THE SKILLS THEY NEED TO SUCCEED IN THE INCREASINGLY COMPETITIVE GLOBAL ECONOMY. AS WE CONTINUE TO TRANSFORM OUR SCHOOLS, RAISE STANDARDS, AND INSPIRE YOUNG NEW YORKERS TO MEET THEM, WE ARE PROUD TO JOIN ADVANTAGE TESTING IN CELEBRATING ITS 25 TH ANNIVERSARY. FOR A QUARTER-CENTURY, ADVANTAGE TESTING HAS BEEN AN OUTSTANDING ADVOCATE FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN EDUCATION. THROUGH THE AT FOUNDATION, IT HAS PARTNERED WITH NUMEROUS INSTITUTIONS TO PREPARE UNDERPRIVILEGED STUDENTS FOR ACCEPTANCE TO AMERICA’S TOP COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES. THE FOUNDATION HAS WORKED TO DIVERSIFY LEADING LAW SCHOOLS, PROVIDE TUTORING TO COLLEGE-AGE PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS, AND OFFER INTERNSHIPS AT THE YALE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE FOR STUDENTS OF UNDERREPRESENTED BACKGROUNDS. ALL OF THESE STUDENTS HAVE AT LEAST ONE THING IN COMMON—THEY HAVE WORKED HARD, UNDERSTANDING FROM ADVANTAGE TESTING’S COMPREHENSIVE AND LONG-TERM APPROACH TO LEARNING THAT THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS TO SUCCESS. THE TASK OF PREPARING EVERY STUDENT FOR COLLEGE AND A CAREER IS NOT OVER YET. WE ARE HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, HOWEVER, AND THANKS TO THE DEDICATED PROFESSIONALS AND FRIENDS OF ADVANTAGE TESTING, WE CAN LOOK FORWARD TO MORE NEW YORKERS BECOMING LIFE- LONG LEARNERS. TOGETHER, WE CAN BUILD A SMARTER AND STRONGER CITY, AND AS YOU CELEBRATE YOUR FIRST 25 YEARS, I JOIN YOU IN REAFFIRMING OUR COMMITMENT TO ENSURING THAT NEW YORK’S BEST DAYS ARE STILL TO COME.

WHEREAS:

NOW THEREFORE, I, MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, IN RECOGNITION OF THIS TERRIFIC LEADER IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION, DO HEREBY PROCLAIM SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2011 IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK AS:

“Advantage Testing Day”

Girls-only competitions build condence – and the ranks of women inmath

Not everyone agrees that the gender-specic contests are needed, or will endure. But the young competitors say that for now, such opportunities support and nurture them in a eld where they are underrepresented.

By Gretel Kauman , Sta

OCTOBER 27, 2017

Cambridge, Mass.

When she heard her name called, Megan Joshi couldn't quite believe it.

Earlier in the day, 266 of the brightest young minds in the country – the 16-year-old Californian among them – sat hunched over desks in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's largest classroom, silently scribbling numbers and formulas as test monitors strolled the aisles. At first glance, it could have been just another math exam at MIT. But the Advantage Testing Foundation’s Math Prize for Girls contest, held in September, had some key distinctions: Participants competed not for grades, but for $31,000 in cash. None had yet graduated high school. And, as the competition's name would suggest, all were girls.

A participant in the Advantage Testing Foundation's Math Prize for Girls contest works her way through the exam, held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Sept. 24, 2017. (Gretel Kauman/The Christian Science Monitor)

During the contest itself, Megan, a second-time participant, had felt unusually relaxed. Later in the afternoon, as she was named one of three first-prize winners at the awards ceremony, that calm feeling quickly disappeared.

“As soon as I was called, I was just freaking out and hugging my friends,” Megan, a senior at Newbury Park High School in Thousand Oaks, Calif., recalls. “I kind of remember walking up to the stage, but not really.”

A sense of both competition and camaraderie permeates throughout the annual Math Prize for Girls event, one of a number of all-girls math competitions aimed at righting the deficit of women working in math and other STEM fields.

While some critics argue that gender-segregated math contests send a message that women aren’t capable of competing with men, others say such competitions can be a crucial pipeline for young girls hoping to pursue STEM careers. They offer an opportunity to gain recognition in the field while forming a network of female friends and mentors with similar interests. “So many of our participants share the story of being the only girl on their schools’ math teams,” said Arun Alagappan, co- founder of the Math Prize for Girls, in an email to the Monitor. “We want to give these girls the opportunity to thrive in an environment in which their sense of belonging is never in question.”

Battling the gender gap

The gender gap in math and other STEM fields is well-documented. Roughly 4 in 10 undergraduate math majors are female, according to data from 2014. But women hold just 15 percent of tenure track positions in mathematics, and roughly 9 percent of all math journal editorial positions.

Ami Radunskaya, professor of mathematics at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., and president of the Association for Women in Mathematics, compares the gender ratio along the trajectory from math student to high-level mathematician to a “Pacman pie chart,” with the percentage of women diminishing as the level of difficulty and prestige rises. “[The percentage of women] cuts up in half, and half, and you look at who wins the big math prizes: it’s like zero [women]. The pie chart that completely closes up,” she says. “If you see women winning prizes at these contests, or being applauded as one of the top researchers, that might give you encouragement that you could [do] that as well.”

For aspiring young mathematicians, competitions can provide key visibility and lead to scholarships and other opportunities, Dr. Radunskaya and other observers say.

Thus, to narrow the STEM gap later in life, it’s important that girls engage in math contests early on, says Richard Rusczyk, co-author of “The Art of Problem Solving” textbook series.

“If you have an event that’s dominated by men or one ethnic group, they experience the culture earlier, they learn to navigate it sooner, they learn its mores and ways, and what obliquely stated things actually mean,” Mr. Rusczyk says. But, he adds, getting more girls involved in the world of competitive mathematics at a young age wouldn't just benefit women in STEM. “If [women] can experience this culture earlier ... they might also be able to improve it” by offering a new perspective, he suggests. “If you can bring in an outside group who comes at the problem from a different angle or help develop a group along different lines, that's really powerful.” Whether all-girls competitions are the best avenue for narrowing the STEM gap is up for debate in the math world. Events such as the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad, an international competition founded in 2012, have been criticized by some women mathematicians for promoting negative stereotypes about women in the field. Such a contest “only helps stigmatise all girls as being less talented and capable in mathematics,” argued Jana Madjarova, president of the Swedish Mathematical Contest, in an interview with The Guardian, a London-based newspaper. A better way to increase the number of women in the field, Dr. Madjarova suggested, is through sponsoring and publicizing unisex competitions.

An important tool

Megan, the first-prize winner at this year's Math Prize for Girls competition, says she understands the arguments against all-female contests, but sees them as an important tool for bringing more girls into mainstream unisex competitions, where some might feel discouraged by a lack of peers. “If you have a competition bringing 300 girls into practically the same room, then they automatically see that, 'Hey, these are a group of girls who I could hang out with,’ and that will motivate them to join the regular math competitions,” she says. “So I think that they're definitely necessary, and hopefully after girls become a bigger part of the mainstream competitions, then we won't need all-girls competitions anymore.” The social aspect of the competition was a big part of why Sara Rubin chose to participate in the first Math Prize for Girls contest as a high school senior in 2009. This year, Ms. Rubin, now a graduate student in the Health Sciences & Technology track of the MD-PhD program at MIT and Harvard University, was one of a handful of alumni who returned to offer wisdom and a helping hand.

“It was cool to be a part of something where other people like me would be getting together, and I was hoping to make some new friends,” Rubin says, noting that while she had several friends at her high school who were also interested in science and math, most of her competitors in other math contests were men. Throughout college and beyond, she says, she has crossed paths with fellow Math Prize for Girls participants.

“Science and research is such a small world,” Rubin adds. “And to have a strong support network of other people who are like-minded and are on the feminine side of it ... is really important.”

Staff writer Jessica Mendoza contributed additional reporting from Los Angeles.

For girls, a rare chance to flex math muscles at MIT Competition aims to defeat gender stereotypes

WENDY MAEDA/GLOBE STAFF More than 250 seventh through twelfth grade students from around the country took part in the annual Math Prize for Girls competition at MIT Saturday.

By Jennifer Smith GLOBE CORRESPONDENT SEPTEMBER 27 , 2014

CAMBRIDGE — Heads bowed, faces focused on the equations in front of them, hundreds of girls worked furiously on a series of math problems in an MIT lecture hall on Saturday morning.

But tens of thousands of dollars in prize money was not the only thing on the line.

Now in its sixth year, the Math Prize for Girls competition is aimed at deflating gender stereotypes that organizers say dissuade young women from entering technology- based fields. Started by the Advantage Testing Foundation in 2009, this year’s contest brought about 270 girls in grades 7 through 12 from around the United States and Canada to MIT. Zoe Feng, 18, a high school senior in Troy, N.Y., competed in the Math Prize for her second time. “It was intense, but also really fun and creative,” Feng said, adding that “the test requires you to think and approach problems from different angles.” Originally from Hangzhou, China, Feng came to the United States for high school. To her, being a girl never seemed like a disadvantage when she wanted to pursue math. “There’s not a bunch of ‘boys can do better’ in China,” Feng said. Kaiming Sun, 46, of Belmont, whose 15-year-old daughter, Stephanie Zhang, is a participant this year, said the event helps reassure girls that they can be “equally as good as boys.” A female-focused math event is needed to bridge the gap between men’s and women’s involvement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, also known as STEM, organizers said. “Girls perform as well as or better than boys in math classes in grade school, but there is an alarming drop-off in the number of young women who study math in college and pursue math-related careers,” Ravi Boppana, the competition’s cofounder and director, said in a statement.

The Math Prize was created to “debunk gender stereotypes, and to support young women who see higher-level mathematics as a pursuit that is challenging, fun, and incredibly rewarding,” he said. Behind a registration counter, young women bustled in blue T-shirts emblazoned with the symbol for pi. All were alumni from previous events, according to Maria DeVuono- Homberg, the associate director of the Advantage Testing Foundation. Girls participating in the contest are encouraged to stay in STEM fields and interact with strong role models in those areas, said DeVuono-Homberg.

Toronto native Melody Guan, 20, is a junior at Harvard studying chemistry, physics, and statistics. She competed in the Math Prize in her junior and senior years of high school, and has volunteered with the organization for the past few years. “I feel like it can be difficult for girls in math, because there are so few,” Guan said. “When you’re the only girl in a math class, it can be disconcerting,” she said. The event also facilitates networking with others in the field and building a strong community of math-oriented girls, according to Vickie Wang, 17, a freshman at MIT and former Math Prize participant.

WENDY MAEDA/GLOBE STAFF Suzy Lou of San Jose, Calif. concentrated during the competition.

Participants qualified for the Math Prize by earning a top score on the American Mathematics Competition exam in February.

While at some national competitions female contestants can feel the need to prove themselves to male peers, “at the Math Prize, we’re all girls, and we all understand what that’s like,” Wang said. After being ushered into the event hall, the participants were given 2½ hours to finish 20 challenging multistage math problems. The answers were reviewed by a panel of judges from MIT and the Advantage Testing Foundation. Celine Liang, 16, took the highest score at the competition — and the top prize of $29,300 — by correctly answering 17 out of the 20 questions. The junior at Saratoga High School in California was stunned. Liang competed in the two previous years, but “you don’t exactly come here to win,” she said. “A lot of people come here just to solve the problems. That’s what math people do, and it’s been great to meet other girls with the same interests.” At the awards ceremony, a Math Prize alumna shared her desire for female students to embrace mathematics as a creative field. Dina Katabi, an electrical engineering and computer science professor at MIT, gave the keynote speech. As the girls tapped their pencils and mouthed problems to themselves during the competition, the founder of an online school for enthusiastic mathematics students gave a presentation to parents. Richard Ruscyk, founder of the Art of Problem Solving, said showing girls interested in math that they are not alone is vital to getting them to continue in the field. For young women used to male-dominated math classes competitions, contestants said the Math Prize was a welcome change. “Most math competitions are mostly boys,” said 15-year-old Indumathi Parakash, a freshman in Sharon. “I felt like this was better. This shows that there are a lot of girls just as smart as they are.”

Jennifer Smith can be reached at jennifer.smith@globe.com.

MIT hosts Math Prize for Girls More than 250 high school girls converge on campus for competition and community. Jennifer Chu, MIT News Office September 20, 2011

On a beautiful, bright blue Saturday morning, as students soaked up the sun on lawns across campus, 276 girls from middle schools and high schools across the United States and Canada sat in buildings 4 and 10, puzzling over a set of complex math problems. The students came to compete in the

The finalists in this year’s Math Prize for Girls

Advantage Testing Foundation’s Math Prize for Girls, hosted this year by MIT. The competition, now in its third year, offers the world’s largest math prize for girls: First place carries a reward of $25,000, with another $23,000 divided among the remaining top 10 finalists. The prize money is certainly a draw for participants, some of whom have traveled thousands of miles for the chance to compete. For many others, like this year’s first-place winner, Victoria Xia, the competition is also a chance to be part of a community that they wouldn’t normally find at home. “If you look at our math team in school, the vast majority are guys,” says Xia, a high school sophomore from Vienna, Va. “It’s nice to have events like this to promote more women in the field.” MIT President Susan Hockfield echoed Xia’s thoughts in welcoming the competitors to campus. While Hockfield noted a continuing gender disparity in fields of math and science, she pointed out that MIT has made big steps toward righting that imbalance, with women now representing 45 percent of its current undergraduate body. “When you’re in high school, and particularly when you’re a girl and very, very good at math, it can be kind of a lonely experience,” Hockfield said. “If you feel lonely from time to time … remember there are lots of us out here, waiting for you to join us.” A numbers game In order to be eligible for the competition, students had to earn a qualifying score on the American Mathematics Competition exam, the first in a series of math competitions that determines who makes it on the U.S. team for the International Mathematical Olympiad. On Saturday morning, students worked their way through a set of 20 short-answer geometry, algebra and trigonometry problems during a 150-minute exam. While competitors and their families took a lunch break, judges scored each test, determining the top 10 finalists, and any ties that needed resolving. As participants gathered in Kresge Auditorium with friends and family for the final awards ceremony, there was a palpable sense of relief and celebration. Many girls wore hair clips in the shape of

chrysanthemums, which Mary O’Keefe, co-director of the Math Prize for Girls, handed out the night before. O’Keefe said the chrysanthemum is an appropriate symbol for physical and mathematical beauty — its pattern can be described in terms of trigonometry.

As competitors sat together and compared notes, it was clear that while they were relieved to have gotten through the test, they also needed closure: What was the answer to problem No. 7? As if reading their minds, Luyi Zhang, a Math Prize alumna and MIT freshman, urged her peers to put aside their angst: One small error, she said, did not reflect on one’s overall ability. “In fact, you know even more now because you will have learned how to solve the problem correctly the next time,” Zhang said. “And that’s what matters. Regardless of your score today, please know that you all have so much potential in you, and that potential will still be there for you.” Finding ‘X’ The ceremony capped off with a tie-breaking round. Eight girls were called up on stage to resolve ties among the top 10 spots. Each

First-‐prize winner Victoria Xia

participant was given the same tie-breaking question, and a pencil. As students stood behind the competitors with timers, organizers projected the question on a giant screen for the audience to see. It took four questions to finally resolve all the ties, a grueling round that would break a lesser student of math. But for junior Sheela Devadas and her “mathlete” peers, the exercise was simply what they had trained for. “She approaches a math problem like eating a piece of candy,” said her mother, Sulochana Devadas, of Lexington, Mass. “She loves her dark chocolate, and I think she loves her math almost to the same degree.” Arun Alagappan, president of the Advantage Testing Foundation, sought to describe the attraction to math by evoking a basic algebraic question: With the length of two sides of a triangle given, find the remaining side’s length, or “x.” Alagappan said that for him and many other math lovers, that simple question may be interpreted as a general quest, or “summons” to solve a mystery, unlocking a mathematical puzzle. “I submit that ‘finding x’ also means finding more women, more X chromosomes, to fill the most prestigious ranks of math and science achievement,” Alagappan added. “We need our very best people to create the next Google, the next GPS, the next Mars Rover. Who’s going to be the next Bill Gates? Who’s going to be the next Steve Jobs? What will her name be?”

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/math-‐prize-‐girls-‐0920.html

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