>>8124198
>If you like math so much, why don't own a gold medal from IMO, anon ?
cuz i can barely qualify for the USAMO and even then i score like a 10

>>8124198
Mathematical contests are more about how well you can apply trivial knowledge in convoluted ways - it has nothing to do with how good of a mathematician you are.
That said, you should definitely feel good if you do well in them, but if you don't do well, you shouldn't feel bad either because it says nothing about how good you are at maths.
I enjoyed the preliminaries to the IMO when I was a kid but I didn't have much time to prepare for it since I wasn't told that I was being entered.
I scored highly enough in the senior maths challenge (gold+) to qualify for the first round of the BMO, but with a day of practice I barely did half of the questions.
The small amount that I practiced was fun though, and it was my first 3 hour long maths anything.

>>8124225
Yeah.

But, it's always welcome a gold medal. You know, if you want to study at a good uni like MIT, Harvard, Pricenton, ....

>>8124198
I'd rather study real math and do real math than spend time on awards that inherently have no mathematical value.

>>8124266
Gold medals are indeed always welcome but not necessary. You most certainly don't need a gold medal to study at world class universities, but some places like Cambridge allow you to skip doing STEP if you've even participated in an IMO.

>>8124198

Is there a trick to IMO? A way to study? Problems with similar flavor? Does it help to do lots of problems from old competitions?

I majored in math in college, did pretty well. But I can't do any of those IMO final problems. The math is supposedly high-school level, i.e. no calculus, abstract algebra, etc. But very tough!

I know a guy doing a math PhD who did very well in IMO and Putnam. He says it's surprisingly non-relevant, like IMO and graduate-level math are complementary skills.

>>8124228
I am not sure I really understand why the favorite sushi part matters? This is just a circle permutation with a symmetry, right? What am I missing?

>>8124311
if you take out the favorite sushi constraint, you're obviously missing the favorite sushi constraint.

>>8124316
This.

>>8124316
Well duh. But I am asking how that changes the ways in which we can arrange the sushi, you fucking retard.