Does the medal hold the same weight for graduate school as it does for undergrad, if not is the difference negligible?
What are you talking about? Gold medal in what?
OP said - International Math Olympiad
Anyway, for grad school admission, high school achievements diminish in importance. One would assume that as an undergrad, the applicant has some Putnam competitions under their belt, in addition to research.
1 Like
I would guess it helps for both although more for undergrad. For grad school it is more distant in time. Still people notice that imo golds are more productive in life time research adjusting for other things.
1 Like
Ah…that’s what IMO stands for. Thank you.
If you have other accomplishments to highlight in your resume for the 4 years in college, then your IMO gold medal will be noted for the consistency of your performance. Otherwise, the answer is no.
5 Likes
If the story is “Applicant got an IMO Gold and then fizzled out”, that will not be good for grad school. It’s also important to realize contest math is not real math. A story “good at contest math but not so good at real math” is also not good for grad school.
7 Likes
Thank you for the reply.
I am also from Europe, meaning I cant participate in the Putnam, unless I do undergrad in the US.
But I really wish to come to the US at some point. Doing undergrad in the US just seems like a hassle. This is a different question now, but assuming I do my undergrad in Europe, get good grades and keep up the hard work, would that be nearly as good as doing the same in the US and participating in the Putnam and hopefully getting a nice score there too?
Yes it will be recognized. I’d note that US graduate programs tend to look for things like undergrad research that are harder to find in Europe. Math is also quite prestige sensitive and so a lower ranked institution without much undergrad research might make admission more difficult. While that may not be a concern for you, if it is then doing something like Cambridge’s Mmath before applying to the US might provide a boost.
1 Like
Thank you very much for the reply.
The university I would be studying at for my undergrad would be top 100.
As I haven’t decided yet I’m unsure if I would have the opportunity to do research in undergrad.
Taking this into consideration, do you suggest I put a lot of effort into learning about the US application process and trying to go there for undergrad, or will doing my bachelors in Europe suffice?
Top graduate programs in US should be well aware of the research opportunities you may or may not have as an undergraduate at a top European university, so they will surely take it into consideration when you apply to their programs. If you don’t have such opportunities, your recommendations (ideally from professors known to them) will become even more critical.
1 Like
I’m biased because I did my undergrad and PhD in the UK and the 3 year undergrad course went well beyond what a US math major would cover in 4 years. Part of the reason US undergrads do research is that at most colleges the math courses themselves aren’t hugely advanced.
So I would focus on Europe and do well there, especially if it’s going to be much cheaper, unless you see yourself wanting to get a well paying finance job at graduation instead of doing a PhD. That’s where a top US college would help most.
1 Like
Good to hear, I would also much rather study in Europe
Yeah it will certainly be much cheaper and easier in terms of application. I can take grad courses if I want in the undergrad, maybe that could compensate?
Even if you aren’t keen on going to the US right now, if you are applying this coming year for undergrad admission in fall 2023 then it might be worth considering other prestigious institutions in Europe too. Trinity College Cambridge (who train the British team) has said in the past that IMO qualification is for all intents and purposes an automatic admit.
2 Likes
I would like to study in the UK, the problem is the cost as I am not from the UK it’s something like 30 000 pounds yearly, and I can’t get a loan for it either (not that I would because it’s much cheaper in my country)
You can do ETH Zurich if you know German. It is very cheap
1 Like
Yeah that’s also unfortunate I’m not fluent in German. I’m from Denmark 