<p>I was just wondering how many Princeton EDers made the USAMO. Is this a "hook"? How does this rank among accomplishments?</p>
<p>lol wats the USAMO? anyone care to elaborate?</p>
<p>USA Mathematical Olympiads...</p>
<p>USAMO isn't hook unless you made it to the IMO.</p>
<p>It is, however, a very good addition to a great application. If you made it to the USAMO and have solid stats/grades/SATs, you have a fairly decent shot.</p>
<p>On the contrary, I think USAMO is quite a hook.</p>
<p>An ex-senior in my school made USAMO and had a 1570 on the old SAT. Other than that, he has no ECs and only wrote pretty decent essays. He was accepted to every school he applied to (except Harvard), including MIT, Caltech, and Stanford.</p>
<p>Do you know how many people make the USAMO every year? About 200.</p>
<p>A hook is something that's unique.. something that not a lot of other people have accomplished.</p>
<p>I am not attempting to denigrate the USAMO in any way -- making it to the USAMO is truly a feat and will add a lot to an application, but is not a hook in my opinion.</p>
<p>Also, note the schools he was accepted at -- technical schools. These do tend to heavily recruit USAMO students who have decent scores and grades, while the Ivies are a different ball game.</p>
<p>A good example of a hook would be that 13 year old girl who single handedly raised (I think) $13,000 for Katrina victims. When she applies to schools, thats a hook for her. </p>
<p>USAMO is pretty sweet though. I think a general rule would be if you can name someone else you personally know who did the thing question, its not a hook.</p>
<p>that's not true. what if you became a siemens finalist? it's only natural that you would know other finalists after you meet. or if you qualified for the olympics, you would know others in your sport who also qualified.</p>
<p>I would guess that there are usually around 50 to 75 USAMO qualifiers in a given class. It is definitely good for schools like MIT and Caltech. Personally, I only got an 8 on the AIME for my highest score, so I never made USAMO. However, I think if you made USAMO, it will definitely look good to the admissions office.</p>
<p>gxing, I should've clarified I meant personally as in NOT through the activity but through friends, family, etc. Obviously you'll meet others at your level at the extreme ends of competition, but the point is that the more others there are to meet, the less unique it is.</p>