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While IMO gold medal is one bar, a lot of people could qualify for the USAMO without "cracking open" a math textbook, just coasting through school and doing hom
by SamReidHughes 8y ago
While IMO gold medal is one bar, a lot of people could qualify for the USAMO without "cracking open" a math textbook, just coasting through school and doing homeworks (or not doing them). Of course, 9-12 years of math training is a lot more than never having picked up a tennis racket.
- chongli 8y agoQuoth Wikipedia: Since 2002, the USAMO has been a six-question, nine-hour mathematical proof examination spread out over two days. (The IMO uses the same format.) On each day, four and a half hours are given for three questions. Maybe the high school math curriculum is way different in the US, but as a Canadian in second year of university studying math, I had never written a single proof until my first year calculus and algebra courses. I have a hard time believing any kid, no matter how smart, could qualify through that exam without opening a math textbook and only doing homework on normal math problems from high school.
- SamReidHughes 8y agoQualifying for the USAMO doesn't involve proof-based mathematics. It involves the AMC and AIME. At least in the early 2000's, a bunch of people would just get told by their teachers they're taking the AMC math contest one day, and do well on it, then do well enough on the AIME to qualify.