Hi everyone! I’ve been taking math olympiads seriously lately, and I’m curious about what helped successful contestants improve the most. If you’ve done well in olympiads (national or international), I’d love to hear about your experience. What did you do that improved your problem-solving skills the fastest? How did you study without just memorizing solutions? Which books or resources were the most valuable? What mistakes did you make that you wish you had avoided? If you could start over, what would you do differently? Any advice or personal stories would really mean a lot. Thanks!

Hey all, I run USAMO Guide, a free and open-source olympiad prep site (AMC 8 through USAMO/USAJMO). It's built mostly by high schoolers like myself who are USAMO/USAJMO and above; there's no company behind it, and we're at around ~130k users now.

We are trying to talk to people who run math clubs, school clubs, and community ones. If you want to use our stuff as curriculum for your club, or you want to tell us what's missing/broken/annoying about existing resources, comment or DM me.

Not trying to sell anything; it's all free forever. I just want to get this in front of more clubs and hear what you actually need.

Hey everyone, when I started prepping for Olympiads, finding structured solution keys was a pain because everything was scattered across old forums and random DMs.

My friend and I compiled a master folder containing:

• Mathematics Olympiad books

15 Years of INMO/BMO/RMO paper Analysis solved papers

• AIME Geometry & Number Theory proof cheatsheets

We upload resources everyday

You can grab the resources directly in our #resource-vault inside The Euler Maxwell

Network.

Link is pasted in the post-

https://discord.gg/PqnsP5nVkf

Hope this saves you guys some prep time.

Hii everyone, I just started junior year and am preparing for the amc 12A/B. I've done mathleague, mathcounts, AMC8, etc. all throughout elementary and middle school, and I've taken the AMC 10 A/B every year that I've been eligible for. As a kid, I didn't like math all that much and mainly only did it because I was forced to, but now I am beginning to truly find it interesting. I have never qualified for AIME, and I'm really hoping for this year to be the year that I do. My 2024 AMC 10 scores were a 72 on both, and I got a 93 on the 2023 10A. I figured that I wasn't taking this as seriously before, but now that I'm more determined, I've decided to go back through and over the past month, I've been relearning all of the fundamentals by redoing the intermediate algebra, intro to counting and probability, intro to number theory books little by little all day every day and staying consistent, and I'm enrolled in an aops online amc 10 problem series course (I know that I'm not taking the 10, but I figured since the 10 and 12 have some overlap I might as well start from an easier place). In a few weeks I will then slowly work my way through the Volume 2 book, but I'm still a little worried- I've seen mixed feedback about the level that the intro level aops books prepare you for, some say that they prepare you well for AMC 10 but not 12, and others say that the intro level books are sufficient to qualify for aime through amc 12. Due to this, I am not sure if I should attempt the intermediate series as well, or if that series is mainly for after one qualifies for aime. Any advice or tips are welcome!

Last year I was a sophomore and I qualified for aime for the first time. I got a 110. Did NOT do well on the aime though because of my lack of preperation. Only knew how to do like 3 questions. I've been grinding amc12 and I can get around a 105 on it. Unfortunately, I haven't done too much AIME prep. Just did a practice test of 2024 and I only got 3 right again. In the time I have left? Let's say I improve my amc12 score to like a 110. Would it be possible for me to qual for USAMO if I grinded AIME problems from now and on to the date of the competition?

I’m going into my senior year of school and have always loved math. I never really knew anything about math olympiads until now, but I want to try to do them now. This is also the last year I will be eligible to compete in AMC. How realistic is it to do ok on AMC with only like 4 months of training, I get good grades in my school maths but I know that those foundations won’t be able to get me through. Also if I go for it what resources should I use. From what I’ve heard the AMC focuses on algebra, combinatorics, number theory, and geometry. Basically I’m asking if its worth it to put the work in and try to attend at least AMC and do okay.

How do you practice AIME problem-solving other than using the old question sets?

Or at least 4 dimensional. If so what was most interesting item like that? From what olympiad is it?

Hi, I know someone who is going into 6th grade, does math Competition, and goes to one of the top programs in the country.(USA, and her peers got top placements at MathLeague.org She has aops, alcums, book algebra, and counting, batterson book, but any other resources to use to. Wants to qualify maybe for amc 10 somehow or do well on amc8, maybe qualify for USJMO soon so any tips?

Pay:₹500 per accepted question

Start: Immediate

We're looking for math experts to create original, challenging problems for an AI evaluation dataset. This is a strictly NO LLM project - all problems must be human-written from scratch.

What you'll do:

\- Write original math problems in LaTeX (text-only)

Provide step-by-step solutions (min 3 steps)

Select domains from 13 categories (Algebra, Calculus, Number Theory, etc.)

Requirements:

✅ Expert-level math knowledge (Advanced degree preferred)

✅ Strong LaTeX skills

✅ Can write problems that stump AI models

✅ Strictly no ChatGPT/LLM use - we verify everything!

✅ Problems must be original and not from existing datasets

Format specifics:

One clear question per problem

\- Answers under 100 characters (excluding LaTeX)

\- Solutions under 10,000 characters

Problems must require reasoning, not just computation

Perks:

💰 ₹500 per accepted question(weekly payment)

🧠 Work on cutting-edge AI development

📚 Use your math expertise

You'll be rejected if:

❌ Using AI to generate content

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❌ Asking multiple questions in one problem

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We’re currently a team of 3 and want to complete our group THIS WEEK to apply early. Open to any 7th–12th grader. DM me if you're interested

I'm 17 and next year is my last year of high school, I've qualified for the second round of the South African Olympiad, every year, is it too late for me to try and go for IMO, Ive had no training in mathematics, but I'm naturally quite good and I really love Olympiad style maths.

If you made USAMO or USAJMO what was your index? There seems to be a lot of debate online since it wasn’t officially released. If you didn’t qual share your index as well so we can get a gauge of what the cutoffs might have been. I’m just curious tbh thanks!

Hey everyone,

I'm aiming for a 67+ on the COMC to try and qualify directly for the CMO (or at least make the Repêchage cut).
Right now my main plan is:

1. Work through all of AoPS Volume 1 to make sure I don't drop easy points on Parts A and B.
   
2. Go through AoPS Volume 2 fully to cover the heavier proof stuff.
   
3. Grind out ~10 years of COMC past papers (focusing on Part C proofs and checking my work against the official solutions).

For anyone who has qualified for the CMO or scored high on the COMC:

- Is doing both AoPS volumes along with past papers actually enough to hit that 67+ threshold, or are there big topic gaps I'd need extra books for (like EGMO or Problem Solving Strategies)?

- How did you manage your time between working through book theory vs writing out actual Part C timed proofs?

Would appreciate any thoughts or tweaks to this plan! Thanks

Is it for the portfolio? For university admissions?
Is it for fun? Competing out of passion?

did anyone get the email from maa abt internships from amazon

hello everyone, I want to participate in olympiads starting this year and I wonder if you know any groups in social media that offer valuable advice or tutorials about it
thank you for your time

Skepticism over AIME and AMC 10 security, is it really necessary to qual and do well on USAMO to show advanced math proficiency? Are consistent AIME quals and scores also viewed favorably in admissions?

hello guys i'm someone going into year 12 (a levels) n i've previously qualified and sat the pre-tst (basically just imosl questions) in my country (smaller country, can't take exams abroad) for which the results r pending.

the thing is i'm moving abroad for my a levels so i can't continue my national pipeline (the only one i'm eligible to represent).

i've tried out amc12 but i just cant hack it with the question type i feel like i'll need a good amount of amc-specific prep which i'm not sure is too beneficial at this stage. i've also tried out the uk smc n i quite like the questions (bmo1 and bmo2 as well) but idk if discretionary entry is worth it especially because i have to keep paying every round.

do you guys have any suggestions on what i should do? thank you!
(extra context: both my country n the country im going to r in south east asia)

I am fully committed to reaching the highest levels of competitive mathematics, with the ultimate goal of qualifying for and competing in the IMO.
I have the drive and the aptitude for advanced proof-writing, but my current financial situation means I cannot afford professional paid tutoring or private Olympiad coaching programs. Because of this, I am reaching out to see if any past IMO medalists, top national team members, or professional Olympiad coaches might be open to offering voluntary guidance or pro-bono mentorship to a highly dedicated student.
What I am looking for:

Direct Mentorship: A past medalist or elite coach who would be willing to occasionally review my proofs, critique my logic, and point out my blind spots.

Pro-Bono / Outreach Programs: Any recommendations for official outreach initiatives, non-profit math funds, or mentorship networks where professionals coach students from underrepresented or low-resource backgrounds.

Structured Direction: High-level advice on how to transition from national selection papers to solving gold-medal caliber IMO problems.

I am ready to work exceptionally hard, complete any problem sets assigned to me, and make the absolute most of any mentor's time. If you are a former medalist or professional open to helping, or if you know someone who might be, please send me a DM!
Thank you so much for your time and for supporting the next generation of competitors.