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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote] Doing math competition for qualifying for USJMO or USAMO[/quote]

Fewer than 250 students per grade level, nationwide.

[quote]and even MOP[/quote]

Fewer than 20 students per grade level, nationwide

[quote]which can be counted as a significant achievement for college application, the kid has to excel from a very young age[/quote]

This is not merely "a significant achievement for college application". This is world-class excellence, who barely even need to go to college. There are far more elite college seats in math + related fields, than there are students at this level.

These are students who pull back from school coursework and other pursuits to focus on math competition study several hours per day, like people in the more-famous Olympics. A significant fraction them are home-schooled. You do not need to achieve anything near this level in order to get into a competitive/"elite" school.

[/quote]

This might be true 10 years ago, but not the case these days, especially for certain race and gender. My kid is among one of them at this level, and math occupies only 1/10 - 1/5 of their freetime. They have to work their ass off to achieve a balance in every aspect, including but not limited to literacy, leadership, research (publishing journal papers as a co-author), one dedicted EC in sports or music or art, volunteering, etc. I often feel sad but can understand that's the only way to make them standing out from their peer groups during college application. [/quote]

Check out Math Daily Challenge.  The IMO competitor started a program to help top math kids get into good colleges other than MIT, by working on their communication skills.[/quote]

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