<p>How much of a boost does participating in the AIME give? I figure not a lot, given the fact that it's Harvard. But it doesn't hurt to ask, does it?</p>
<p>Hmm. It all depends on how you score I guess. A 9 or 10 on AIME looks pretty damn good. Merely qualifying though.. im not too sure. This year we had 40 people qualify for AIME. I attend a large public school.</p>
<p>Hm. I don't actually know my score. Would the school administration know for sure?</p>
<p>You can ask them or call AMC headquarters. They know. :] If you qualify for USAMO its good; otherwise, unless specifically asked (by certain college like the one in New Haven), its just "AIME qualifier."</p>
<p>Even Usamo isn't that special for harvard...</p>
<p>Its better than simply qualifying for AIME.</p>
<p>qualifying for USAMO is hard. Out of 40 AIME qualifiers only one from my school qualified for USAMO. Even if you are capable of answering 11 or 12 on AIME the chances are still against you simply because not making a dumb mistake and answering enough is so difficult.</p>
<p>I made the Usamo twice...correct me if I'm wrong, but I think USAMO helps alot more for more science/mathy schools (read: MIT or Caltech) than it does Harvard.</p>
<p>Harvard is reasonably well impressed by high scores on math competitions. There is a math professor on Harvard's faculty each year who advises the admissions committee about math stars--Harvard definitely wants to admit its share of math stars to its strong math department. </p>
<p>One issue to bear in mind is that Harvard gets applicants from all over the world, and the strong math applicants are particularly aware of that. I have heard stories of Harvard not admitting students who got gold medals in the International Mathematical Olympiad, although it certainly has admitted quite a few of those over the years. </p>
<p>Besides competition math, one can also show math ability through very advanced standard curriculum coursework, through participating in selective summer programs, and through math research projects. A lot of math-likers do ALL these things, and also broaden out their verbal and artistic sides, so you can see why admissions are still competitive even for the few who score high on the AIME by junior year. </p>
<p>Good luck in your applications.</p>
<p>Can Canadians register for the AMC/AIME? Are there other math competitions like this?</p>
<p>Canadians definitely can register, and they tend to do quite well on the AMC tests. </p>
<p>Canada has its own series of math contests, which Canadian colleges surely all know about.</p>
<p>This is completely anedoctal, but I have observed that, in my highly competitive area, the high achieving math students accepted by Harvard are those who also have excellent language skills. The superstar math students who are weaker in verbal skills tend not to be as desirable to Harvard. More often they go to MIT. It may be different for legacy, URM or recruited athletes.</p>