> Higher Math, Not Competition Math This is very true, especially now. So many families, at least in the competitive places like the Bay Area, push their kids

> Higher Math, Not Competition Math This is very true, especially now. So many families, at least in the competitive places like the Bay Area, push their kids to spend enormous amount of time on AMC, AIME, and etc. Other than viewing competition math as a way for their kids to get into elite universities, they often think that doing competition math as a way to be really good at math and they can cite many examples kids who are good at competition math also would have a bright career. Unfortunately, they got it backwards: kids who are naturally good at maths will like do well in competition math (think about Schulz or Terence Tao), but really not the other way around. For people like me, who have limited talent on maths, focusing on learning higher math and the associated essential problem-solving techniques will have a much higher return on investment.