<p>Well I'm a rising senior and I only just found out about and qualified for AIME this year so I wasn't aware of the necessary preparations and the like. So I've been having fun going through AIME problems from past competitions (yay for nerdness!) and I was wondering, if I were to qualify for USAMO my senior year, would it matter at all in college decisions, since my applications will have been sent already by the time I qualify?</p>
<p>Same goes for other post-application awards.</p>
<p>Eh, it would matter for waitlists.</p>
<p>Barely. At that late in the game, colleges hardly consider anything you send them because lots of other students could have accomplished a lot in the past 4 months (Jan-Apr) but wouldn't report it because they weren't asked for it. Thus, if you just updated the applications of people who sent stuff in for waitlist decisions, then those people would seem better than actually are relative to the applicants who didn't send stuff in.</p>
<p>Typically, they will consider stuff that you send in if it's close to Jan 1st, and especialy if you said on your application that you're going to send it in. For example, I had a pending publication and Intel STS to find out about in January, so as soon as I found out about both of those, I faxed a letter to my colleges.</p>
<p>It would matter for bragging rights. :D
Plus, qualifying for USAMO is fun.</p>
<p>Yeah if you're gonna major in Math/Science it does give you some street cred. Plus professors recognize it and it's good for getting some research positions.</p>
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Plus professors recognize it and it's good for getting some research positions.
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<p>They recognize it? Interesting. Doesn't it depend on the professor and the institution? Professors from state institutions might not recognize it - and professors from foreign countries might not recognize it either.</p>
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<p>On a side note - I'd say that for college admissions specifically - the USAMO doesn't matter THAT much for most students. Most students with USAMO who get into top colleges will probably get into top colleges irrespective of whether they make USAMO or not. However, there are some students who will benefit tremendously from USAMO (students with nothing else - I know a few). MIT does reject a number of USAMO qualifiers, as do most of the Ivies.</p>
<p>Well the OP seems to be interested in going to an elite-type college. At MIT, there's a class that you have to have done well on the USAMO just to qualify to take it, and for your first two years or so, math professors will use it as a measure to qualify you (after that they can use coursework and stuff since you'll have enough).</p>