<p>These are questions directed to those of you who are at the olympiad level (USAMO, etc.)</p>
<p>1) How do you guys study for math competitions?
2) At what age did you guys start studying for them?
3) How long do you guys study for?
4) In terms of math studying "timeline", did you guys have periods where you seemed to have encountered your limit and felt as if you couldn't get any better?</p>
<p>Thanks =)</p>
<p>study for competitions by doing problems from old competitions. Buy the books and consider the online classes at: <a href="http://www.artofproblemsolving.com%5B/url%5D">www.artofproblemsolving.com</a></p>
<p>where do you find the problems from old competitions?</p>
<p>go to the link I gave you and pick "resources". Problems are available online. You can also buy books of old problems.</p>
<ol>
<li>I just do problems I find, and work out of a text book from the site texas mentioned. And I take an online class from that website too.</li>
<li>At about 13.</li>
<li>It depends on the day and stuff. If I'm really bored, I might go up to even 4 hours a day, but if it's a really busy day, I might not do anything. So there really isn't a set time for me.</li>
<li>Well, since I've only been doing this for a year, I don't think I've reached my limit.</li>
</ol>
<p>But I don't really consider myself a math olympian yet. But hopefully, I'll make the USAMO this year.</p>
<p>I'm interested in doing these competitions. How do I get started?</p>
<p>I only know how to get started in two math contests - </p>
<p>For the AMC/AIME/USAMO, just tell whoever's in charge of the contest at your school that you want to take it. If your school doesnt offer it, just ask your math teacher, or the head of your math department to register your school at <a href="http://www.unl.edu/amc/%5B/url%5D">http://www.unl.edu/amc/</a>. Then they'll get information on it sometime later, and the actual AMC tests in February.</p>
<p>And for the USAMTS, you just go to <a href="http://www.usamts.org/%5B/url%5D">www.usamts.org/</a>, and register there. For that one, you don't need your school to offer the tests.</p>
<p>What level of math does one have to reach to do these type of problems in these competitions? </p>
<p>Do you have more info on the usamts? I'm interested in doing that one.</p>
<p>it is not that you need a high level of math particularly (none of them involve calculus or beyond, for example). It's that they are frequently tricky, puzzle-like problems that may draw from elements from multiple math courses, as well as from subjects outside the traditional math curriculum (like combinatorics). To do well, you need experience solving that type of problem. For USAMO and USAMTS in particular, you also need to be able to write a proof explaining your reasoning, rather than just come up with a correct numerical answer. That is something that most high school students have no experience with.</p>
<p>What do you mean by a proof?</p>
<p>a proof is like an explanation of your reasoning. It can be in the form of an essay, or a diagram, or mathematical symbols, but it shows clearly how you got from point A to point B. If you are interested in USAMTS, there are sample questions and solution there that will show you what they expect. <a href="http://www.usamts.org/Problems/U_ProblemsPast.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.usamts.org/Problems/U_ProblemsPast.php</a></p>
<p>Lots of info about the various competitions and how to prepare can be found at: <a href="http://www.artofproblemsolving.com%5B/url%5D">www.artofproblemsolving.com</a></p>
<p>do you guys take any "special" math classes? what math books are good for these contests? what strategies do you use on the tests inself?</p>
<p>tropical - all of your questions are answered, and much more, at the site I keep posting <a href="http://www.artofproblemsolving.com%5B/url%5D%5B/b%5D">www.artofproblemsolving.com</a></p>
<p>Thanx, Tex. The site is great. I notice a few CC members on it.</p>
<p>You know, just take texas137's advice and go to the Art of Problem Solving website. Get the books there. They are amazing.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, BTW, I made MOSP. After USAMO. Although I did poorly. Oh well...</p>
<p>You must first of all, like math. If it's your parents who are saying, get better at math so you can get a scholarship, you aren't going to learn much. You are simply wasting time. If you like math, there are so many threads on that math site it is unbelievable relating to how one should approach problem solving. Always consider problem solving enjoyable and not a responsiblity. And Shravas? Hi. :) I hope you make USAMO this year also.</p>
<p>I study, depending on the day, from 0 - 6 hours.</p>
<p>~white<em>horse</em>king88 (That's my name on AOPS...)</p>
<p>Hey, I just came over here from AoPS linked from a thread. Nice site.....
1. Books. Do AoPS Volume 1 and 2 thouroghly. And, also, practice the old tests of the math competition you are preparing for.
2. At age 15
3. Varies: mostly 4-5 hours a day. But the day before the AIME, I worked the entire time and slept at 3 AM, so I probably was worked 12+ hours that day. In retrospect, that probably contributed to my somewhat low AIME score of 4.
4. I've felt like that many times, but I like math, so I just kept doing more and more problems for fun, and eventually got over that bump.</p>
<p>Yea, I'm h<em>s</em>potter2002 on the forums.</p>
<p>haha wow, a lot of people frequent that website =P
Actually, I have those AoPS books, but I haven't really finished them (have been sooooo lazy, but am gonna finish in 10 days be4 school stats lol =P). If I finish them (both volume 1 and 2 of course), are there any other books that I should learn from? Thanks a lot people!</p>
<p>coolness - unless you are almost finished with the AOPS books already, don't count on being able to finish in 10 days. To really work on every problem and study the solutions, you should figure several months. There are lots of other books listed in the AOPS forums, but you should finish the AOPS books themselves first if you already have them. One of my students (USAMO, MOSP) went through both books twice before moving onto other books.</p>
<p>haha ok, I won't rush myself =) Right now, I've finished the first volume and have finished about 1/3 of the second volume. I will try to finish them by the end of October (which is when competitions start! woot! =P) then. Texas137, what "other" books did your student study after the AoPS? Thanks =)</p>