<p>Hi, I'm in high school right now, and my question is:</p>
<p>How important is getting into the AIME to admission into top schools (Ivy League and Stanford)?</p>
<p>Is it necessary? How much weight is given to it? </p>
<p>I ask this because I have a lot of friends who do nothing but math and insist that getting into AIME is necessary for any top college. I'm not particularly into competition math, so I would like to know whether or not this is true.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
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<p>No way! Even though qualifying for AIME is a great award/distinction, it is not a requisite to enter top colleges. As a background data: most applicants accepted at MIT [known for being one of the best science/math institutes in the US] haven’t taken AIME tests during high school. You may get distinctions in any field you are good at, not necessarily at math. There are, for instance, chemistry and physics olympiads that take place every year.</p>
<p>This is absolutely false. An AIME qualification shows strength in math and problem solving. To be honest, it doesn’t really mean much if you are not majoring in Math and if you are majoring in Math, at top schools, it means little as many top math applicants are USAMO+.</p>
<p>Also, there are many other avenues for demonstrating interest and strength in math. A major competition that I’ve never taken but seems more apt for mathematics research is USAMTS. Similarly, one can always show passion for math via taking math classes at a local college or assisting with math research at a college. </p>
<p>Overall, it is not necessary.</p>