5 ms·
USAMO and IMO problems are about the same difficulty. Try some of the easier ones first - they are in order of difficulty, so the first ones are generally easie
by lacker 18y ago
USAMO and IMO problems are about the same difficulty. Try some of the easier ones first - they are in order of difficulty, so the first ones are generally easier. In general geometry is more likely to require specialized knowledge; go for the problems that sound "programmy". Putnam problems are about the same average level of difficulty but there is more of a gradient from A1-A6 and B1-B6.
- mark-t 18y agoI strongly disagree. USAMO problems range in difficulty quite a bit. I can solve some but certainly not all. Not so for IMO. And nowadays I generally solve all of the Putnam problems in the time allotted. By the way, the early years of the IMO were very easy, by today's standards (only a few countries were involved at that point). They would probably be approachable to people comfortable with the AIME problems.