I didn’t see any thread for PROMYS 2021, so here it is. Who else is applying, how much have you done, and what other qualifying things have you done before? This is also pretty much here for people to share information (not on problem solving of course) about their application progress and chances of getting in, etc.
I just submitted my application today! Applying for the Mehta Fellowship, any idea how competitive they are?
I know they take around 60 new & 20 returning, and considering people can apply from anywhere it’s probably a pretty low acceptance rate. I’m not sure about the actual Mehta Fellowship - I live in the US but they probably have some info on the website.
How much of the problem set did you do?
All of it. 1 or 2 of my solutions only answered the question partially though.
How long were your answers to the essay questions?
Wow. You submitted all the solutions to the problems. I only submitted 2 solutions to the problems and left the other problems blank.
Does anyone know if there is any Financial Aid opportunity for International Students without that Mehta Fellowship or those other fellowships?
Anyone not eligible for those fellowships can apply for the regular financial aid on their website, internationals too I think.
I’m almost done with my ninth problem and I’ll probably have relatively complete solutions for all of them. I haven’t actually written up the proofs/solutions and explanations of what I did yet though. How many pages were all of your work on the pdf you attached?
I haven’t written the essay responses yet either, so I have a couple busy weekends ahead of me…
Also, what were your previous experiences in terms of math and science things?
One more question and I’d rather ask you guys than emailing them - should I try to find more than one condition for question 6? I found one condition guaranteeing impossibility but I don’t know if I should look for more. It says “can you find any conditions on n that guarantee that it is possible or impossible…”
Oh, and did you guys typeset it or do it by hand?
Oh, sorry, I mean question 5.
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I handwrote my solutions, I have no idea how to use LaTeX. It came upto 14 pages, but they were a bit longer than A4 size so probably around 18-19 normal pages. I only found one condition for Q5, but it was enough to narrow it down sufficiently. There might be more, I’m not sure
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Okay, cool. I’m glad to know the pages fit into the 10 mb limit - I was worried about that. Also, I also have no idea how to use LaTeX and I was hoping I wasn’t the only one so that’s good to know.
Hey, and this is pretty unrelated, but I want to major in math hopefully at a T20 school or somewhere pretty good, but I have basically zero interest in math competitions - I would way rather spend that time doing research or at least I prefer to be in a collaborative environment. Do you think not competing in math will hurt my chances?
It won’t hurt your chances, but succeeding in competitions will obviously be a huge boost. I only discovered that math Olympiads are a thing early in my junior year, but this year was probably the worst possible time to participate since all the sub-national levels were clubbed into one due to Covid and competition skyrocketed tenfold. I got a state top 1% certificate but never qualified for nationals or anything.
So I’m basically in the same boat as you, but I’m pretty sure over 90% of math majors at T20s aren’t going to be Olympians, so its probably fine.
Okay, that’s reassuring. I’ll let you know how long my essays are when I finish them. How long were yours?
I’m still finishing writing the proofs and solutions that I’ll actually submit, though I’ve done all the work for them. I think I’ll end up having about 20-25 sides of pages, so about 10-12 actual sheets. Did you have the 14 regular pages as sides, or 14 actual sheets? Mine are not super packed since I want them to be pretty readable. I hope my stuff isn’t too short…
I have 15 sides of pages, so mine is probably on the shorter end xD. I didn’t actually count how long my essay answers were, but I think they averaged around 100-150 words each.
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Hello Everyone! I’m also applying to PROMYS 2021 and for the Mehta Fellowship!
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Cool! Good luck - also feel free to ask any questions here
Cool. Yeah my total is going to be over 30 sides so I’m worried I can’t fit it in the limit…