How Classes Work

Since 2003, the AoPS online school has provided a unique learning experience carefully designed for outstanding students studying online. We offer a full math curriculum for middle and high school, introductory programming courses, and specialty courses to prepare students for particular math and science competitions. Most of our courses meet weekly for live sessions, and have a variety of types of weekly homework. Read more below about what makes our school so special.
The Art of Problem Solving Online School is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Features

Instructors

Testimonials

School FAQs

Accomplished Faculty

Our teachers were outstanding math students themselves. Many won major math awards and earned degrees from schools like MIT, Harvard, Stanford, and Princeton. They understand from personal experience what our students need, and they serve as role models for students who aspire to similar success.

David Patrick

MIT PhD
Putnam Top 10
USAMO Winner
Richard Rusczyk

AoPS Founder
USAMO Winner
Perfect AIME
Ashley Ahlin

UChicago PhD
Westinghouse Winner
MATHCOUNTS Top 3
Sam Elder

MIT PhD candidate
Putnam Fellow
USAMO Winner
Olena Blumberg

Stanford PhD
IMO Gold
Putnam Top 15
Josh Zucker

Stanford MS in Math
Putnam Top 10
US Physics Team
Justin Bae

Harvard Math & Chem
2-time USAMO winner
Putnam Top 10
Paul H. Ryu

ISEF Prize Winner
MATHCOUNTS Top 3
2-time Perfect AMC12
Yasha Berchenko-Kogan

MIT PhD candidate
USAMO Winner
Putnam Top 10
Austin Shapiro

UMichigan PhD
MOSP Participant
MATHCOUNTS Top 3
Palmer Mebane

US Puzzle Champion
MOSP Participant
Putnam Top 15
Naoki Sato

Yale Master's in Math
CMO First Place
IMO Silver
Mark Chen

MIT Math & CS
China Olympiad Silver
Perfect AMC12, AIME
Davie Rolnick

MIT PhD Candidate
USAMO Winner
RSI Participant
Miles Dillon Edwards

MOSP participant
RSI participant
Putnam Top 25
Sam Watson

MIT PhD Candidate
Gates Scholarship
USAMO Participant
Maria Monks Gillespie

Berkeley PhD Cand.
MOSP Participant
US CGMO Coach
Sean Markan

MIT Physics
Mandelbrot Winner
US Physics Team
Brian Lee

Harvard Chemistry
IChO Silver
USAMO Participant
Scott Weiss

CMU Math & CS
John Hopkins MS
Jeopardy! Champion

Amazing Students

Our school draws top math students from thousands of schools, giving students a peer group like they'd find at top-tier colleges and prestigious summer programs. For example, the 12 winners of the 2014 USA Mathematical Olympiad have collectively taken over 80 online courses at AoPS. But students don't have to be contest winners, or even care about math competitions, to benefit from our classes. Each year we have hundreds, possibly thousands, of our past students earn admission to highly selective colleges like MIT, Harvard, and Stanford. Their work in AoPS classes helps prepare them for the competitive, challenging environment they'll find in these schools. Moreover, students develop interests and draw inspiration from their peers, so our students are very valuable resources for each other.

Live Instruction

The weekly class sessions are lively interactive discussions. Our online classroom allows all students to answer any instructor question and lets students ask questions at any time. Instructors decide which of these comments and questions to share with everyone and which to address privately. This flexibility allows teachers to guide public discussion while addressing individual student misconceptions as they occur.

Multiple Learning Avenues

Students learn in many different ways, so we make a variety of resources available. In addition to the live classes and weekly homework, each course employs some or all of the following:

Course message board for questions and discussions outside class time
Full transcript of each class session, for review and for students who miss class
AoPS textbooks
Supplementary videos
Instructional handouts
Practice contests
Classroom access outside class time for student-organized study sessions

See snapshots of many AoPS class features below. (Note: Some features below are only available in select courses.)

Class Sessions

Work with instructors and classmates in real-time, receiving one-on-one help as needed.
Class Transcripts

Review class sessions and ask questions outside of class time about classroom discussions.
Class Message Board

Share your thoughts with classmates and post questions about course materials.
Message Board Instruction

Solve extra challenging problems and study supplementary content posted by course instructors.
Weekly Homework

Hone your skills with weekly problem sets. Receive instant feedback on short-answer questions.
Writing Problems

Develop mathematical writing skills by receiving detailed feedback on weekly open-answer problems.
Alcumus

Fine-tune your skills with our adaptive online learning system, Alcumus.
Textbooks

Prepare for classes by reading AoPS textbooks. Available online and in paperback.
Handouts and Mock Tests

Learn fundamentals, get extra tips, and practice your contest-taking skills with additional course material.
Videos

Watch supplementary videos to reinforce your understanding of the material.
Flexible Communication Tools

Attach questions to nearly any aspect of the course to receive help from AoPS instructors.

Focus on Challenging Problems

A generation ago, there were many intellectual careers that required repeatedly solving routine problems. Most of those jobs are performed by computers now. Successful people in the next generation will need to develop new skills throughout their careers as their older skills become obsolete. Therefore, we go well beyond the basics, showing students how to apply fundamentals to problems that are not replicas of problems they've already seen. This teaches students how to learn, so they'll be ready for the rigors of top-tier colleges and internationally competitive careers.

Active Learning

Students best learn how to solve hard problems by tackling the problems themselves, not by watching passively as others do the work. In our classroom, students solve each problem, with instructors asking motivating questions as guidance. Only after the students have solved a problem does the instructor provide direct commentary reinforcing key insights.

Thorough Progress Tracking

Each course homepage includes a detailed report of student progress. Our diligent team of Classbots sends reminders of upcoming classes, reading assignments, and homework. Parents can also sign up for on-demand reporting. At the end of each subject course, we can provide a course grade upon request, as well as a summary of student performance.

Course Homepage Overview

Students have a broad overview of their progress and upcoming assignments on their course homepage.
Week-By-Week Breakdown

Students find a week-by-week breakdown of their performance on their Report page.
Component-by-Component Breakdown

By interacting with the Report page, students learn more about their results in each component of the course.
Alcumus Details

In courses containing Alcumus, students have topic-by-topic tracking.
Email Reminders

Students receive weekly reminders of upcoming classes, readings, and assignments.
Grade Reports

On request in subject courses, students can receive a formal letter grade and instructor feedback.
Printable Progress Reports

Parents can access a printable synopsis of their children's performance.
Online Student Reports

Parents can also access more detailed week-by-week and problem-by-problem reports.
Parental Access to Writing Problems

Parents can access their children's solutions and resulting instructor feedback on weekly Writing Problems.