<p>I’m an MIT student, and most, if not all, of my math classes have had USAMO qualifiers in them. In my experience, USAMO qualification by itself does not seem to correspond well with doing well in math classes here - that is there are non-USAMO qualifiers that do well, but there are also USAMO qualifiers that struggle in the same classes. Not to say that these students shouldn’t be here, they’re doing perfectly fine. But I would be extremely uncomfortable with auto-admitting USAMO qualifiers here.</p>
<p>We’re not talking about whether USAMO qualifiers are “smart enough.” We’re talking about the fact that it’s an opportunity that largely correlates with attending one of a relative handful of schools in this country. Out of the 30,000 high schools in this country, does anyone seriously believe that more than (say) 300 of them have ANY knowledge of USAMO, much less the ability to prep / coach students accordingly?</p>
<p>I read something recently - and I wish I could find the link - which talked about the roughly 217 “elite” high schools in this country - basically defined as the old-school prep schools (Andover, Choate, etc.), the major magnet schools (Stuy, TJ, etc.) and then the affluent-suburban public schools (New Trier, etc.).</p>
<p>Ha, PG, you’re one of a few saying it’s not equally available. Others are still smitten by it. I was surprised to find the MIT CDS thread is still running- another big woe about MIT selections.</p>
<p>shravas, thanks for weighing in from the student perspective. </p>
<p>I remember when my youngest first started club soccer, there were always a few kids (early on) who mystified the kids as to why they made the team. The coaches chose them because they had great speed, hoping they would learn the game. By the time it all shook out and kids were going to play on the national teams and in the regional pools, not one of those kids were still playing.</p>
<p>My husband always said he thought that if you just put a group of 9 year olds out there and let them choose up teams, they would pick the right kids. In the end, I think he was probably right. I like that caltech asks for student evals, for this reason.</p>
<p>My son led his school’s math team in competition and still didn’t have access to AME/USAMO; Chicago uses its own separate system (CCML). Seems a little unfair to eliminate all of Chicago and other independent-minded regions, even if we are located in fly-over country.</p>
<p>AMC/USAMO is the most open and well known academic competition in the US. It has been in existence for over 60 years.</p>
<p>Nobody is excluded from it. All it takes is for a student or a parent to ask a math teacher to download and fill a registration form. It costs something like $50 per school.</p>
<p>That is assuming that the student even knows about AMC/USAMO in the first place. I don’t know about others, but I had a very difficult time getting my high school to offer the AMC. My freshman year, I ended up asking one of the English teachers at my school to proctor and run the AMC because I wasn’t able to get anywhere with any of my math teachers.</p>
<p>I went to a school with a high number of USAMO qualifiers, and there was no coaching for it. People studied on their own, perhaps from old tests. Not sure. This was the 90’s, so maybe people have figured out how to train for it with the advent of the Art of Problem Solving books. However, the number of USAMO qualifiers coming out of TJ and my school hasn’t changed, so I’m guessing the level of coaching hasn’t changed.</p>
<p>The curriculum improved the AMC score, maybe as much as 10-15 points, but didn’t help for USAMO really in my opinion. There are a lot of smart people at TJ; only 6 made USAMO last year.</p>
<p>It’s not too much to expect students to show some curiosity and initiative. Someone who Googled “math contest” or browsed this board or the Davidson Gifted forum would soon learn about the AMC. The lack of interest of teachers in helping students participate, even when they are asked, is disturbing.</p>
<p>You really don’t get it. The culture of most high schools means that USAMO isn’t even on radar screens, anywhere. It’s a special kind of insularity to pretend that a highly-affluent or highly-Silicon Valley-influenced high school is in any way typical of what most students have access to.</p>
<p>And if your school already has a math team in a different competition circle, are you as a lone student going to tell your coach he’s in the wrong competition? That the whole group should drive for an extra hour into the far suburbs for each competition just so that you’ll look better to MIT when you apply?</p>
<p>Most of the world does not know how to qualify for the Olympics. But it does not mean that Usain Bolt and Micheal Phelps aren’t the best athletes in the world.</p>
<p>My son found out about the AMC online - his school did not offer the test or prep students. After he told his math teacher about it, the school ordered the test and he and several other students took it (I paid for it to expedite things - about $75 for multiple copies including shipping). My son and the other students prepared by themselves with online resources. Interested students must have access to a computer and the internet, but otherwise, it’s not an elite activity.</p>
<p>Is it possible that the USAMO qualifiers that struggle in class were those who prepared for USAMO for years and barely made it?</p>
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<p>It still needs an academic environment for students to participate. Our high school takes AMC tests but no one prepares for it, and only a few make to AIME. Still no one prepares for it and no one made above 10 or 120, I don’t know which is which.</p>
<p>So you take the test. Then what? The point is to be part of a team and show leadership, not to do yet another self-study project.</p>
<p>My son looked at old AMC12 questions online with the hope of better preparing for local competitions. The questions were far too easy, relative to what he was getting in competition, not to mention being handed multiple-choice answers that might be reverse-engineered. The USAMO questions, on the other hand, were too hard without mentor guidance; Google is not all that great for helping you learn how to handle exotic math problems.</p>
<p>Your son is definitely a very impressive young man. The last 5 questions on AMC12 are generally considered quite challenging, especially in a timed environment. Of the several hundred thousand students, including some IMO gold and silver medalists, no more than 2 or 3 students get a perfect score on AMC12 each year.</p>