Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (also known as IMSA) is located in Aurora, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. IMSA is a public high school that houses its student body (which is comprised of sophomores, juniors, and seniors) in dorms on the Aurora campus. Students who are eligible to apply must have achieved at least one year of ninth-grade science and Algebra.
IMSA prides itself on being one of the top-ranked math and science academies in Illinois and retains its academic vigor by teaching with an honors-level curriculum for all its students beginning in their first year. IMSA’s academic programming includes college preparatory courses in mathematics, science, arts, and humanities. Because the school’s teaching philosophy aims to arm their students with knowledge that emphasizes application over memorization, they do not offer AP classes. Instead, IMSA chooses to focus on how to best educate its students without having to teach to the specific standardization of Advanced Placement. However, students are still welcome to and often do take AP exams in order to earn college credit.
IMSA is unlike other schools of its caliber in the Chicagoland area because it provides the unique opportunity of offering dorms on campus to its students. IMSA highly encourages students to remain on campus for all years that they attend. In doing so, students get to participate in extracurricular opportunities that focus on various types of real-life learning strategies such as budgeting and conflict resolution. Beyond this, IMSA offers a vast curriculum of activities available to their students during the evenings or on weekends; including clubs, athletics, service, and research opportunities.
To find more information for Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, please IMSA’s website: https://www.imsa.edu/
Written by former Tutoring Coordinator, Ramisha Ejaz
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