• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 01:38
CET 06:38
KST 14:38
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL22] Finals Preview: Sweet Victory!12[ASL22] Ro4 Preview: Mirror Mirror6[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: Within Reach5[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: In A Tizzy11[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Holy Diver5
Community News
Weekly Cups (October 19-25): Clem triples first in 5.0.171Evil Geniuses - shutting down16ISSL (IntoTheTV x SOOP SC2 League): Premier5Weekly Cups (October 12-18): 5.0.17 era begins1[$1250] International ShieldBattery League83
StarCraft 2
General
Weekly Cups (October 19-25): Clem triples first in 5.0.17 REPORT: StarCraft 2: Remastered In Development Evil Geniuses - shutting down How do you feel about the mass reverts in the 5.0.17 PTR? Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners
Tourneys
RSL goes to London! 2026 Offline Finals Nov 21-22 ScienceCraft (October 24-25) - Live Event Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament ISSL (IntoTheTV x SOOP SC2 League): Premier WORTEX Challenger Series — Open SC2 LAN in Budapes
Strategy
[H] ZvP Mid-Late Game: Stalkers Collossi HT
Custom Maps
[G] How to playtest arcade maps [A] Nemrods 1/4 players [M] (2) Sweltering Sands
External Content
Mutation # 549 Endless Sparkles The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 548 Shining Bright Mutation # 547 Temple Of Terror
Brood War
General
[BW] Looking for Clan Thread! [ASL22] Finals Preview: Sweet Victory! Recent recommended BW games [Megathread] Daily Funny Videos Hands of Pluto
Tourneys
[$1250] International ShieldBattery League [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL22] Grand Finals [BSL23] RO24 Group C
Strategy
50,000-Word Terran Builds Memo 2026-10-22 Cliff Jump Revisited (1 in a 1000 strategy) Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Armies of Exigo - YesYes? General RTS Discussion Thread
Dota 2
Dota 2 Champions League Season 3 Begins April 25!
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Canadian Politics Mega-thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread
Fan Clubs
Reynor Fan Club The Flash Fan Club Serral Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
Innovate or Game Over?
TrAiDoS
ShieldBattery on Mac
Kraekkling
[ASL22] Ro4 Day1 Ticket Giv…
bITt.mAN
Can Bots Beat Pros?? Starcr…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 9381 users

College and a math problem

Blogs > Muirhead
Post a Reply
Muirhead
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
United States557 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-09-04 02:13:52
April 03 2008 23:13 GMT
#1
Harvard waitlisted me... It seems they rejected or waitlisted many of the top US mathematics students of the year (based on math competitions and Westinghouse). 9 of us are going to MIT . I can't help but think Harvard shot itself in the foot.

Here's a problem easier than the last few I've posted:
Given a 1000x1000 chessboard, n squares are colored red and the rest are colored blue. I am not able to pick 3 red squares such that two of them are in different columns and (a possibly different) two of them are in different rows. What is the maximum possible value of n, with proof?

****
starleague.mit.edu
micronesia
Profile Blog Joined July 2006
United States24805 Posts
April 03 2008 23:20 GMT
#2
How long would it take a computer program to calculate that by brute force? For me that would probably be the easier way haha.
ModeratorThere are animal crackers for people and there are people crackers for animals.
Myxomatosis
Profile Blog Joined July 2006
United States2392 Posts
April 03 2008 23:30 GMT
#3
is this an induction problem?
clazziquai
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
6685 Posts
April 03 2008 23:35 GMT
#4
On April 04 2008 08:13 Muirhead wrote:
Harvard waitlisted me... It seems they rejected or waitlisted 7 of the top 10 US mathematics students of the year (based on math competitions and Westinghouse). 9 of us are going to MIT . I can't help but think Harvard shot itself in the foot.

Here's a problem easier than the last few I've posted:
Given a 1000x1000 chessboard, n squares are colored red and the rest are colored blue. I am not able to pick 3 red squares such that two of them are in different columns and (a possibly different) two of them are in different rows. What is the maximum possible value of n, with proof?


Maximum possible value is OVER 9000! Proof? It's over 9000.....

WAIT

so you're one of the top 10 mathematicians in the USA? For high school students?


#1 Sea.Really Fan / #1 Nesh Fan / Terran Forever~
letsbefree
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
Canada123 Posts
April 04 2008 00:12 GMT
#5
wow on Harvard waitlist...thats pretty fucking impressive
hehe...
Daveed
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
United States236 Posts
April 04 2008 00:19 GMT
#6
MIT math is better anyway =P
il0seonpurpose
Profile Blog Joined January 2007
Korea (South)5638 Posts
April 04 2008 00:19 GMT
#7
Hey, its good to know you're smart but you don't have to be all cocky about how you're waitlisted and how harvard screwed up.
B1nary
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
Canada1267 Posts
April 04 2008 00:27 GMT
#8
Congrats on getting into MIT. Even you don't go to Harvard, you can take courses there since the two are so close.

solution to problem?
+ Show Spoiler +
1000, all in one row or column. Suppose n=1001. By the pigeonhole thing, two rows must contain red squares and 2 columns must contain red squares. This allows you to pick 2 from different columns and 2 from different rows and it's gg. I suck at presenting proofs XD. I lost so many points in high school contests from crappy presentation, lol.
Zalfor
Profile Blog Joined October 2005
United States1035 Posts
April 04 2008 01:48 GMT
#9
+ Show Spoiler +
the stupid answer seems like 1000. i don't see a better solution
555, kthxbai
raiame
Profile Joined December 2007
United States421 Posts
April 04 2008 02:23 GMT
#10
I can't seem to find a different answer, but it seems too simple... >.< I suck at math.
Who would you say are the top 10? I'd like to say Haitao and Jacob Steinhardt are some <.< >.>
Slithe
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
United States985 Posts
April 04 2008 02:25 GMT
#11
I'm really surprised that Harvard is rejecting/waitlisting so many of the top math students. Then again, the college admissions process has always seemed quite mysterious to me. MIT's cooler anyway.
Muirhead
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
United States557 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-04-04 02:56:05
April 04 2008 02:54 GMT
#12
B1nary the point is that there must be 3 squares such that 2 are in the same row and 2 are in the same column. Your proof just shows that out of all the (much more than 3) red squares, two are in the same row and two are in the same column. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding something?

Raiame are you from TJ? Haitao and Jacob are both really really good and hardworkers too. I think Alex Zhai is the best in the class though. Haha you're not Haitao are you?
starleague.mit.edu
raiame
Profile Joined December 2007
United States421 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-04-04 02:58:06
April 04 2008 02:56 GMT
#13
Yeah I am. Bah, I remember a time when I was better than Jacob at math <.< Haitao was always better than me although I beat him in state mathcounts >< Also, I never got into proofs, still short answer =[
Yeah Zhai's probably best.
Jacob's going to MIT, but I'm under the impression that Haitao's not sure yet.
Dromar
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States2145 Posts
April 04 2008 03:20 GMT
#14
+ Show Spoiler +
1000 ez.
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
IntoTheTV X SOOP
11:00
Replaycast Group C
PiGosaur Cup
09:30
#105
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
SortOf 48
StarCraft: Brood War
Rain 3819
GuemChi 1481
Leta 715
Mong 271
ZergMaN 61
910 52
Noble 25
Creator 18
Shine 18
Icarus 10
[ Show more ]
NotJumperer 7
Dota 2
LuMiX1
League of Legends
Doublelift5128
Counter-Strike
Coldzera 1324
Other Games
summit1g11580
WinterStarcraft396
C9.Mang0262
Livibee41
Sick2
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick862
[ Show 14 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• practicex 35
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• Azhi_Dahaki91
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• lizZardDota2192
League of Legends
• Rush908
• Stunt432
Other Games
• Shiphtur395
Upcoming Events
The PondCast
4h 22m
Kung Fu Cup
5h 22m
IntoTheTV X SOOP
1d 5h
SHIN vs GuMiho
Clem vs Classic
OSC
1d 16h
WardiTV Invitational
2 days
GSL
2 days
Epic.LAN
2 days
Replay Cast
2 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
3 days
Epic.LAN
3 days
[ Show More ]
AI Arena Tournament
3 days
Yamato Cup
4 days
Map Test Tournament
4 days
WardiTV Weekly
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Rogue vs Classic
Patches Events
6 days
PiGosaur Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-10-27
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
HCC Season 3

Ongoing

Acropolis #5
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 4
International ShieldBattery League
BSL Season 23
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
1win Private Club #2
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026

Upcoming

IPSL Winter 2026-27
SC4ALL II: Brood War
BSL 23: Non-Korean Championship
HSC XXX
Stellar Fest 2: Lunar Cup
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
eXTREMESLAND 2026
PGL Major Singapore 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 6
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
IEM Beijing 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.