What does it take to win a medal at the International Math Olympiad?Are all these kids gifted and exceptional at puzzles? Or are there normal kids who just like math?
The asian kids are probably just normal asian kids. The european ones are exceptionally gifted.
they are coached. its totally useless waste of time other than to get into elite undergraduate programs.
>>16985748Good for getting jobs as well.Really isn't indicative of mathematical talent though. There's plenty of medalists who did not succeed in math, and a huge proportion of renowned mathematicians who wouldn't have stood a chance at Olympiads even if they did try to compete.
>>16985735Why the hell would you want to compete in ANY of these STEM competitions? They are just there for sponsor companies to steal ideas or convince the winner to become a middle manager for them. You are literally giving your life's gift to some grifter.>>16985758>good for getting jobsSee? This is what I'm talking about. Maths will never be a sport. They want you to be their whore.
I was recently at a camp selection for a final round for an international olympiad which had a someone selected for this year's IMO as well as someone who competed last year at the IMOAnd I spoke to them about it, and yes like 70% of the people who qualify go to top private school but the other 30% literally just do questions. Some of them said they spend about a hour everyday for the last 2 years or so. They all recommend 1 book which I can't remember now but it was something to do with geometry. The difference with the IMO is that it is extremely abstract compared to anything you learn in school. For example, I managed to get into the top 10 in my country for this other Olympiad (I wasn't selected) but for the national maths Olympiad, I got top in my school but I didn't even make it to the second round out of 3 rounds. I go to a public school with no tutoring btw. I'm planning on taking a gap year so I'll be able to compete again and hopefully compete internationally, and maybe make it further in the maths Olympiad. But it is extremely extremely competitive. Mathchan had a good thread on this but it's dead now. I should have a archive of the thread if anyone is interested
>>16985825The book was probably Euclidean Geometry in Mathematical Olympiads by Evan Chen.
>>16985848Sounds familiar
>>16985735being above IQ130 and going to a private school/going to one of the best schools in your country/being trained by your mathematician parents is usually enough.of course if you are a one in a million talent you might not need the latter, but some amount of dedication is still necessary
>>16985772>why would you want to participate in any of these competitionswell if you take pride in your intelligence an IMO/IOI gold is a way to signal it expeditiously
