#Mathlete problems how to#
#Mathlete problems series#

(These programs are also nice if you don’t know where to start on your own). How comfortable are you with proof writing? If it’s something you feel you need work on, it could be useful to enroll in a program where you can get feedback on your work, for instance, WOOT or ~AwesomeMath Year-Round. Do identify what areas of math you need to work on the most, and find resources to target those. Take a look at some of them, and then just choose one or a few that’s compatible with your current level. You can do some from one book and some from another, and/or choose one book to focus on at a time. It’s less important which book you choose as that you spend the time working on the problems. (There are a lot more books out there now, these are just the books I personally found most useful when I was in high school.)

Problems from the Book - more advanced, and probably goes beyond the scope of what you’d need for Olympiads, but it’s beautiful math.

IMO Compendium - contains all the previous IMO’s and shortlists with complete solutions.

10x Problems from the training of the USA IMO team (series).

Competitions have changed a little since then though, so do supplement with more recent material. This can keep you occupied for a long time. There’s a lot of problems here (a lot of them seem short but can be quite tricky).

Problem Solving Strategies, by Engel - still a classic.

#Mathlete problems series#

Art of Problem Solving series - good for making sure you have all the basics down in the subjects.

you keep forgetting a proof of something), then slow down and learn it more completely (ex.

If you find yourself constantly forgetting math you learn (ex. Write or at least outline solutions nicely so you can remind yourself of the solution anytime note particular techniques that work, pitfalls, etc. Keep track of problems you’ve solved so you can find them again. Is there a simpler or more natural solution? How could you apply what you learned to other problems?Īs in learning anything you should organize your work. Ask yourself how you could have come up with it faster. Compare your solution and the official solution if there is one. When you solve it, reflect a little bit (though not in the middle of competition). When you get stuck on one, jump to another. Maintain a set of problems that you can think of at any one time. When you read solutions, asking yourself how you could have come up with them yourself - and then make sure you are able to! - perhaps some time later. Do NOT passively read solutions - you do not learn anything this way. Regularly practice under test conditions, but also think more about the problems you didn’t solve. You can find them online on Art of Problem Solving or the AMC website.

The best way to practice for math competitions is by working through past tests (under Olympiad conditions). What matters is your ability to tackle challenging math problems, and the ONLY way is to actually do challenging problems. What do I do?Ī: In addition to stuff most people learn in high school classes there is some more material you need to know (number theory, inequalities, geometry (e.g. read Geometry Revisited by Coxeter), combinatorics).

Q: I want to do well on math competitions (ex. (It’s fine also to just focus on math in high school - but it’s important not to inertially have the attitude that “there’s nothing else worth doing.”) 2 Math competition advice Like many other people, I went into math competitions because it was the only challenging thing where I found very interesting and offered a road forward - and I’m glad for it. (Paul Graham’s is a good read.) It’s good to figure out why different things are interesting, and what makes people want to do those things for a living.Įvery subject has a reason for being interesting the problem is that most of the time classes don’t move you into thinking that, and you’re not exposed to the interesting stuff. High school is a good time to explore a lot of different interests (college is good for that too), so don’t feel like you have to spend all your time on math. Especially don’t just do math if you have other interests too.

#Mathlete problems how to#

Interests can change, and if you’re not sure, you don’t want to be in a position where you only know how to do math and not anything else. Q: Why should I care about other stuff besides math competitions? I just want to focus on math.Ī: At this point it may be too early to know exactly what you want to do for a living (especially if you think that you want to do math for a living because you like math competitions – a mathematician’s job is very different from the picture of “doing math” that comes with math competitions). (Note: I’d be happy to talk if you still have questions just shoot me an email.) 1 Advice for high-schoolers (including, but not limited to, mathletes)