<p>How much does qualifying to take USAMO or CMO count in applications? Or getting a really high score in the AMC12/Euclid contests?</p>
<p>I'm really concerned as a junior whether or not I should spend so much of my spare time preparing for these contests. Well, in truth, I would spend that time anyways because I do them b/c I really enjoy them :D I just wanted to know how much math contests count for</p>
<p>oh, and my preferred major is economics</p>
<p>I'm also interested in knowing what Yale thinks of USAMO/MOP. I know it's valued very highly at some schools (MIT especially) but I don't know about Yale.</p>
<p>On my application, I stated that I qualified for the AIME, and my admissions officer emailed me specifically about my scores. That being said, I got in without particularly amazing numbers.</p>
<p>Yale does ask for AMC and AIME scores on its supplement, so I'm guessing it does matter. I qualified for USAMO and got in early.</p>
<p>If you're hedging your bets on math/science aptitude, take whatever steps you can with these contests and research competitions. An essay and interview can allow the more humanities-inclined person to flourish, but there is no such equivalent for math/science people firmly embedded in the application. As a result you need to pursue other means of demonstrating your intelligence. You can't just show off A's in hard high school courses and high scores on math/science SATs and expect to wow too many people once you get to HYPMS.</p>
<p>I really wish I took the AMC. My math teacher gave the class the wrong date and we missed it, which sucked. I probs would have qualified for the AIME. I got in early, but you can't lose putting some hours into those contests.</p>
<p>Best of luck in '10!</p>