How is the BEAM Pathway Program different from BEAM Discovery?
During your first summer with the BEAM Pathway Program, you will get to experience an environment unlike any other. You will live in college dorms on a campus outside the city, surrounded by nature, as you study interesting mathematics, meet friends who are studying with you, and explore a new place with activities, hiking, and trips.
The summer program is three weeks, and like BEAM Discovery, it is free for all participants. This includes food, lodging, transportation, activities, and field trips. This year, the BEAM Pathway Program will be held in Upstate New York and Southern California. Our New York program will take place from July 7th to July 28th, 2024 and will serve residents of New York City. Our Southern California Program will take place from June 23 to July 14, 2024 in Southern California, and serves residents of Los Angeles.
Admission is highly competitive: Only 80 seventh-graders from New York City and 40 seventh-graders from Los Angeles will be chosen. We look for students who like math and solving puzzles, and who want to challenge themselves to do more.
BEAM is an accepting and inclusive environment, and we seek to be a safe space for everyone. We want to welcome you as you are, and bring you to somewhere you can be yourself.
COUNSELORS
Your counselors will be college students from around the United States. They will be your teaching assistants in the classes, as well as the “residential advisors,” helping you adjust to life on campus and running activities to help you meet everyone. The counselors will live in the dorms with you and be around at all hours to help with anything you need.
FACULTY
The teachers will also be on campus with you, eating meals with you in the cafeteria and always available to talk about math or anything else. They will also run some activities and games.
We call our teachers “faculty,” which is the word you will use in college. Many of the faculty are college professors or excellent middle and high school teachers from all over the country. Some are working on very advanced degrees (like a PhD, which is also called a doctoral degree).
CLASSES
At BEAM, you will learn to think in new ways, to reason about what is true and what isn’t, and to solve harder problems than you thought possible. It will open up new worlds!
Classes of all types will be held in college classrooms. You will get to choose what you learn, with 3-4 choices for your main topic each week. You will also take a class in which you will work in groups to solve challenge problems. In addition, each evening there will be some time set aside for everyone to gather and work on problems together. In total, you will be working on math for about 7 hours each weekday, with breaks for meals, activities, and free time.
The courses are different each year, and many of the class topics may be things you have never heard of before. There will be classes like “Number Theory,” “Incidence Geometry,” and “Logic.” There will also be courses about how math is used in the world, like “Astrophysics” and “Computer Programming.”
RECREATION
The counselors will run various organized activities, some of which will be familiar to you and some new. Common choices include sports (like basketball, soccer, or frisbee), quiet activities (like arts and crafts or board games), and more unusual activities (like math origami or slam poetry). In the evenings there will be free time for you to hang out or do what you like. On the weekends there will be field trips and activities on campus.
THE DORMS
The dorms are typical college dorms. Most of the rooms are doubles, so you will probably share your room with one other person. Genders will be divided by hall, so there will be halls for boys and halls for girls, each with their own residential counselors. Each hall has shared bathrooms. The dorm also has a large lounge with books, games, and couches where you can hang out with friends during free time.
STUDENT SAFETY POLICY
We take student safety very seriously. There are 40 students and 18 staff members at each campus, and students are supervised by staff at all times. We have a nurse on-call and a guidance counselor to help students work through any challenges adjusting to their new environment. Parents are welcome to visit during the summer. If your child is admitted, we will send more information and you will be invited to a family lunch where you can talk to past students and parents. Until then, feel free to contact us with any questions!
AFTER Your Summer BEAM Experience
The BEAM Pathway Program is not just a 7th grade summer program. It is a 9-year program that is committed to helping you continue to challenge yourself as you prepare for college, and support during college with academic and career advising! Events are held throughout the year and we stay in touch through mail and email.
In the BEAM Pathway Program, you continue to receive free support such as:
An Algebra 1 course and help applying to great high schools in 8th grade,
Support during 9th and 10th grade through the BEAM Next Saturday program,
Assistance with applying to future summer programs,
Field trips to places like Google or STEM Labs
Free SAT/ACT prep courses,
Advising to assist with getting college scholarships, and
Dedicated support for college students majoring in STEM fields.
HEAR FROM BEAM PARENTS
What does BEAM offer to families? Hear from our parents to find out!
HOW TO APPLY
The BEAM Pathway Program is a program for students who are ready for advanced math. Most students admitted to the BEAM Pathway Program complete BEAM Discovery the year before. However, we also accept applications from seventh-graders who did not complete BEAM Discovery.
BEAM's application window for Summer 2024 is officially closed. See below to access your city’s admissions information, including next steps to apply:
Learn More About Eligibility:
The BEAM Pathway is currently only available to residents of Los Angeles and New York City. BEAM is looking for 7th graders who have the level of math readiness comparable to someone who completed BEAM Discovery and who demonstrate financial eligibility for BEAM’s programs.
BEAM is designed to support students who are underrepresented in STEM careers. Our primary admissions criteria are mathematical (are you ready for BEAM’s programs?) with priority given to those who come from lower-income families or who wouldn’t otherwise have access to similar programs.
BEAM is committed to serving all eligible students regardless of immigration status. BEAM will not ask questions about the immigration status of either a student or their family in the admissions process. If you choose to provide information about immigration status, BEAM will keep all such information private and only use it to recommend appropriate next steps for a student and their family.
Historically, the median family income for students attending BEAM is $28,000 per year. As a rough guideline, a student from a family of 4 with income above $64,000 would be unlikely to be admitted without other special circumstances. BEAM does consider extenuating circumstances when making eligibility decisions. Please include this information in the financial eligibility form.
HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT The Beam Pathway program?
BEAM Pathway Program California Flyer (in English or in Spanish)
BEAM Pathway Program New York Flyer (in English or in Spanish)
You are also welcome to get in touch with us with any questions you may have:
Email: nycadmissions@beammath.org or LAinfo@beammath.org
Phone: (NYC) 646-777-2045 or (LA) 323-430-9456
