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Holy shit, I always figured that Starcraft enthusiasts were probably an intelligent bunch, but damn, I didn't expect numbers like this. No wonder my area is considered "demographically challenged" (poor and stupid). I post some of the most impressive academic stats around here and people consider me to be really smart, a label which I wholly reject; there is NO ONE like you guys within a 50 mile radius of where I live.
4.48 weighted GPA (have only had 2 semester b's), 4's and 5's on 6 AP exams (5's on BC calc, psych, english lit and comp)
SATs were mediocre. 700 verbal, 680 math, 710 writing.
740 on the Math II
Extracurriculars are awful aside from sports (4 varsity years for cross country and soccer)
Won a lot of academic awards from the school and school system, but I doubt those count for much.
Have shit for clubs and service. Only National Honor Society and a few volunteer hours.
Schools:
JMU - Accepted
Pitt - Accepted
UVA - Find out tomorrow at 5pm, but I got what is called a "likely letter", so I'm fairly confident.
Congrats to everyone in here
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On March 25 2011 09:33 ]343[ wrote:Show nested quote +On March 25 2011 09:29 DarkOptik wrote:On March 25 2011 09:21 Loser777 wrote:On March 25 2011 09:20 Z3kk wrote:On March 25 2011 09:18 Loser777 wrote:On March 25 2011 09:14 ]343[ wrote:On March 25 2011 09:00 Loser777 wrote:On March 25 2011 08:56 Z3kk wrote:On March 25 2011 08:49 chenchen wrote:On March 25 2011 08:42 Froadac wrote:
[quote]
Hmmm. Sort of eerily similar.
My extracurriculars are probably a bit better, and GPA is probably a hare better, but overall very similar.
What major are you wanting to do? Your extracurriculars are probably a bit better than intel semifinalist =O How did he get rejected from Berkeley (not saying it's an easy school of course) with those stats omg...intel semifinalist and everything solid except GPA in a pinch... Considering all the other schools that I didn't get into... I wasn't entirely shocked by this point. You win some you lose some, and by now I figured it was time for me to lose a lot. Obviously people with "lesser" stats get in--it's just a matter of which direction the wind blows. actually wait a second--are you an "international" (non-permanent resident) student? I might be reading too deeply into the "China" on your profile lol, but that would make it much harder to get into places. I live in the United States right now and had US Citizenship when I applied. I'm thankful that so many people are offering their sympathies and are trying to reason through with me... as for myself I'm trying not to read too deeply into everything. As for MIT, I know another Semifinalist at my school who was waitlisted and had a better GPA and SAT score than me--so again, you win some you lose some. My low GPA and lack of math awards sealed my fate there I think. I always wondered this: what kinds of math awards are there to obtain outside of AMC==>AIME==>USAMO etc.? I have heard of a few, but they seem mostly to be low-leveled or not particularly worthwhile. Yeah, those are pretty much the big ones... but around here you gotta make it into USAMO or MIT won't bat an eye. That's not entirely correct: approximately 500 students make it into the USAMO each year. So if we assume that you have three chances out of your applicable years (that is, you can make it as either a freshman, sophomore, or junior) that means that by the time you apply there's only 1500 possible candidates for MIT...and that's just not true. And that's assuming that there are no duplicate students in the USAMO each year. So no, while it certainly helps, it's by no means required to the extent that you seem to imply. well, I think he's referring to being admitted to MIT based on math. I'm pretty sure most (70%?) American MIT math majors have made USAMO. (Also it's now harder to make USAMO again thanks to that USAJMO thingy... lol.) Show nested quote +On March 25 2011 09:32 ghrur wrote:On March 25 2011 09:29 Z3kk wrote:
Well fml...does one have to sort of study for those competitions or take classes? Only literal geniuses can do these types of problems with an education limited to high school, right (i.e. taking calc and the like in HS can't possibly prepare one for the problem types in AMC/AIME/USAMO...correct?)?
Also, what do you mean by "here"? How much exactly, additionally, do your region (or school perhaps) matter? .__.
MIT has always been and still is my dream school, so it's really disheartening to see all of these rejections... Well, you can study for them but it's going to take a lot of work. Basically, you're going to have to do problem after problem after problem. Go through like, The Art of Problem Solving set of books, and you can raise your chances, but just keep doing problems. The idea is that eventually, you'll be able to recognize what type of problems they are, and just solve them. However, this doesn't make you any more talented at math. It's kind of just brute memorization in a way. :/ On the other hand, if you can find your own way of looking at these problems, it could really help with your mathematical understanding. But yeah, it takes a lot of effort and dedication. I never did it. T_T I suck at math.  Pretty much. Spend hundreds, thousands of hours doing problems and you'll get good 
But that's what I'm saying. If the total amount of possible USAMO students that could get into college any given year is a max of 1500, it's impossible for 70% of the people at MIT to have made USAMO. Statistically, it doesn't make sense.
First of all, the max of 1500 is ludicrous to assume in the first place, because there are certainly a good percentage of students that make it year after year. Second of all, not all USAMO qualified students go to MIT. And finally, not all USAMO qualified students get into MIT. I know this from personal experience.
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soooo competitive now. i wonder if classes are getting easier or if ppl are trying harder or if ppl are getting smarter or what. i go to ucsd right now and reading some stats of people that were rejected, makes me sad.
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On March 25 2011 09:38 Z3kk wrote:Show nested quote +On March 25 2011 09:33 ]343[ wrote:On March 25 2011 09:29 DarkOptik wrote:On March 25 2011 09:21 Loser777 wrote:On March 25 2011 09:20 Z3kk wrote:On March 25 2011 09:18 Loser777 wrote:On March 25 2011 09:14 ]343[ wrote:On March 25 2011 09:00 Loser777 wrote:On March 25 2011 08:56 Z3kk wrote:On March 25 2011 08:49 chenchen wrote:
[quote]
Your extracurriculars are probably a bit better than intel semifinalist =O
How did he get rejected from Berkeley (not saying it's an easy school of course) with those stats omg...intel semifinalist and everything solid except GPA in a pinch... Considering all the other schools that I didn't get into... I wasn't entirely shocked by this point. You win some you lose some, and by now I figured it was time for me to lose a lot. Obviously people with "lesser" stats get in--it's just a matter of which direction the wind blows. actually wait a second--are you an "international" (non-permanent resident) student? I might be reading too deeply into the "China" on your profile lol, but that would make it much harder to get into places. I live in the United States right now and had US Citizenship when I applied. I'm thankful that so many people are offering their sympathies and are trying to reason through with me... as for myself I'm trying not to read too deeply into everything. As for MIT, I know another Semifinalist at my school who was waitlisted and had a better GPA and SAT score than me--so again, you win some you lose some. My low GPA and lack of math awards sealed my fate there I think. I always wondered this: what kinds of math awards are there to obtain outside of AMC==>AIME==>USAMO etc.? I have heard of a few, but they seem mostly to be low-leveled or not particularly worthwhile. Yeah, those are pretty much the big ones... but around here you gotta make it into USAMO or MIT won't bat an eye. That's not entirely correct: approximately 500 students make it into the USAMO each year. So if we assume that you have three chances out of your applicable years (that is, you can make it as either a freshman, sophomore, or junior) that means that by the time you apply there's only 1500 possible candidates for MIT...and that's just not true. And that's assuming that there are no duplicate students in the USAMO each year. So no, while it certainly helps, it's by no means required to the extent that you seem to imply. well, I think he's referring to being admitted to MIT based on math. I'm pretty sure most (70%?) American MIT math majors have made USAMO. (Also it's now harder to make USAMO again thanks to that USAJMO thingy... lol.) On March 25 2011 09:32 ghrur wrote:On March 25 2011 09:29 Z3kk wrote:
Well fml...does one have to sort of study for those competitions or take classes? Only literal geniuses can do these types of problems with an education limited to high school, right (i.e. taking calc and the like in HS can't possibly prepare one for the problem types in AMC/AIME/USAMO...correct?)?
Also, what do you mean by "here"? How much exactly, additionally, do your region (or school perhaps) matter? .__.
MIT has always been and still is my dream school, so it's really disheartening to see all of these rejections... Well, you can study for them but it's going to take a lot of work. Basically, you're going to have to do problem after problem after problem. Go through like, The Art of Problem Solving set of books, and you can raise your chances, but just keep doing problems. The idea is that eventually, you'll be able to recognize what type of problems they are, and just solve them. However, this doesn't make you any more talented at math. It's kind of just brute memorization in a way. :/ On the other hand, if you can find your own way of looking at these problems, it could really help with your mathematical understanding. But yeah, it takes a lot of effort and dedication. I never did it. T_T I suck at math. Pretty much. Spend hundreds, thousands of hours doing problems and you'll get good So literally only way outside of being a genius is to brute-force work on problems? ._. Any suggestions besides AoPS? I know of those books but have yet to get them...well definitely do that. Show nested quote +On March 25 2011 09:26 ]343[ wrote:On March 25 2011 09:20 Z3kk wrote:On March 25 2011 09:18 Loser777 wrote:On March 25 2011 09:14 ]343[ wrote:On March 25 2011 09:00 Loser777 wrote:On March 25 2011 08:56 Z3kk wrote:On March 25 2011 08:49 chenchen wrote:On March 25 2011 08:42 Froadac wrote:On March 25 2011 08:41 Loser777 wrote:
GPA: 3.80UW -UC GPA was something shitty like 4.00
SAT: 2310
SAT IIs: 790 US 790 Physics 800 Math II
ECs: Mixture of various science clubs, competitions and fairs, marching band for four years, few community service hours (~100)
Major Awards: Intel Science Talent Search Semifinalist
UC Berkeley: Rejected
Harvey Mudd College: Rejected
MIT: Rejected
UC San Diego: Rejected
Stanford: Waiting :/
Carnegie Mellon: Waiting :/
UCLA: Accepted
UCI: Accepted
UCSB: Accepted
UCR: Accepted
UCD: Accepted
USC: Accepted
UIUC: Accepted
University of Michigan: Accepted
University of Texas Austin: Accepted
Cal Poly SLO: Accepted
Hmmm. Sort of eerily similar. My extracurriculars are probably a bit better, and GPA is probably a hare better, but overall very similar. What major are you wanting to do? Your extracurriculars are probably a bit better than intel semifinalist =O How did he get rejected from Berkeley (not saying it's an easy school of course) with those stats omg...intel semifinalist and everything solid except GPA in a pinch... Considering all the other schools that I didn't get into... I wasn't entirely shocked by this point. You win some you lose some, and by now I figured it was time for me to lose a lot. Obviously people with "lesser" stats get in--it's just a matter of which direction the wind blows. actually wait a second--are you an "international" (non-permanent resident) student? I might be reading too deeply into the "China" on your profile lol, but that would make it much harder to get into places. I live in the United States right now and had US Citizenship when I applied. I'm thankful that so many people are offering their sympathies and are trying to reason through with me... as for myself I'm trying not to read too deeply into everything. As for MIT, I know another Semifinalist at my school who was waitlisted and had a better GPA and SAT score than me--so again, you win some you lose some. My low GPA and lack of math awards sealed my fate there I think. I always wondered this: what kinds of math awards are there to obtain outside of AMC==>AIME==>USAMO etc.? I have heard of a few, but they seem mostly to be low-leveled or not particularly worthwhile. USAMO is obviously biggest; ARML is pretty big too. Harvard-MIT / Princeton / Stanford / Rice / Duke hold pretty big on-site math meets. Caltech/Harvey Mudd are just beginning their own too, I think. Many states / regions have their own math contests. Smaller ones... USAMTS and Mandelbrot are legit, the rest not so much. And then there's the research competitions (if you do math research)... but yeah it seems like making USAMO is important. (also lol @ USAJMO) also this stuff doesn't really matter in college anymore, other than bragging rights to your friends >.> Wait, so how much exactly do these matter in regard to EECS? I'm still very much open to possibilities, but do I want to enter a future in STEM and EE currently seems to appeal most to me. ._. Ugh...I think my math skills really are subpar compared to the smarter group of students and I waste ~9 hours a day online, but I really just don't know how I'm supposed to learn about/prepare for these types of things. Gotta cut my addiction, but I just find the Internet/computer so useful...I'm also a perfectionist and focus 100% of my attention on whatever I'm doing, i.e. right now I'm focusing solely on this thread and some random research, and homework has gotten literally nowhere in 1.5 hours. I don't even know where the time went wtf
Even if you're very smart, you (with a few people who are extreme exceptions) need to do a lot of contest training in order to do well at the USAMO level, but getting to the AIME level is definitely possible without devoting that sort of time to it. I also do think that results at that level matter to them. I was an MIT math major (with a good GPA there) and never qualified for the USAMO.
ARML is definitely worth looking into. USAMTS isn't a huge deal, but it's legit and something they'll notice, and I think the difficulty/reward ratio is quite good.
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Also
Ugh...I think my math skills really are subpar compared to the smarter group of students and I waste ~9 hours a day online, but I really just don't know how I'm supposed to learn about/prepare for these types of things. Gotta cut my addiction, but I just find the Internet/computer so useful...I'm also a perfectionist and focus 100% of my attention on whatever I'm doing, i.e. right now I'm focusing solely on this thread and some random research, and homework has gotten literally nowhere in 1.5 hours. I don't even know where the time went wtf
story of my life
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On March 25 2011 09:43 ]343[ wrote:Show nested quote +On March 25 2011 09:38 Z3kk wrote:On March 25 2011 09:33 ]343[ wrote:Pretty much. Spend hundreds, thousands of hours doing problems and you'll get good So literally only way outside of being a genius is to brute-force work on problems? ._. Any suggestions besides AoPS? I know of those books but have yet to get them...well definitely do that. Show nested quote +On March 25 2011 09:20? Z3kk wrote:
Wait, so how much exactly do these matter in regard to EECS? I'm still very much open to possibilities, but do I want to enter a future in STEM and EE currently seems to appeal most to me. ._.
Ugh...I think my math skills really are subpar compared to the smarter group of students and I waste ~9 hours a day online, but I really just don't know how I'm supposed to learn about/prepare for these types of things. Gotta cut my addiction, but I just find the Internet/computer so useful...I'm also a perfectionist and focus 100% of my attention on whatever I'm doing, i.e. right now I'm focusing solely on this thread and some random research, and homework has gotten literally nowhere in 1.5 hours. I don't even know where the time went wtf If you want to do EECS, you don't necessarily have to do math competitions. In fact, if you want to impress compsci-wise, try things like USACO and Topcoder, or build your own cool electrical gadgets (my temp roommate took apart a Wii and stuck it inside a Macbook... so now you can play Wii 100% portably with a built in screen on it!) If you really want to do math competitions, you really do need just a little talent and a loooooot of work. How can you be good at anything if you don't put in a lot of time?
Right, right, definitely just pure hard work then.
I suppose I'm for EE, and not comp sci, because it seems true then that anyone who hasn't been programming from an earlier age or who has considerable experience is generally screwed in that regard. I don't know any programming languages at all and likely cannot pick up enough to be particularly competitive...I took one of those pointless classes and learned a bit of C#, but I was not a particularly promising student -_-;
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why is this a thread? it should be a blog.
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GPA: 4.2
SAT: Math 700 CR 710 W 630
SAT II's: U.S. history 770 Physics 690
Classes: All AP and IB junior and senior year, my grades improved significantly from freshman/sophomore to junior/senior year
Extra curricular: XC 4 years, Model United Nations (communications officer, now VP), Haiti relief club, Internship with a congressman for a few weeks, and camp counselor, some community service
Essays + reccs: Pretty damn good
School list:
Mcgill: Accepted
St.Mary's college of Maryland: Accepted + scholarship program
College of W&M: Accepted
UVA: Accepted
JMU: Accepted
Tufts: REJECTED
Brown: REJECTED
Now time to choose....
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On March 25 2011 09:50 Z3kk wrote:Show nested quote +On March 25 2011 09:43 ]343[ wrote:On March 25 2011 09:38 Z3kk wrote:On March 25 2011 09:33 ]343[ wrote:Pretty much. Spend hundreds, thousands of hours doing problems and you'll get good So literally only way outside of being a genius is to brute-force work on problems? ._. Any suggestions besides AoPS? I know of those books but have yet to get them...well definitely do that. On March 25 2011 09:20? Z3kk wrote:
Wait, so how much exactly do these matter in regard to EECS? I'm still very much open to possibilities, but do I want to enter a future in STEM and EE currently seems to appeal most to me. ._.
Ugh...I think my math skills really are subpar compared to the smarter group of students and I waste ~9 hours a day online, but I really just don't know how I'm supposed to learn about/prepare for these types of things. Gotta cut my addiction, but I just find the Internet/computer so useful...I'm also a perfectionist and focus 100% of my attention on whatever I'm doing, i.e. right now I'm focusing solely on this thread and some random research, and homework has gotten literally nowhere in 1.5 hours. I don't even know where the time went wtf If you want to do EECS, you don't necessarily have to do math competitions. In fact, if you want to impress compsci-wise, try things like USACO and Topcoder, or build your own cool electrical gadgets (my temp roommate took apart a Wii and stuck it inside a Macbook... so now you can play Wii 100% portably with a built in screen on it!) If you really want to do math competitions, you really do need just a little talent and a loooooot of work. How can you be good at anything if you don't put in a lot of time? Right, right, definitely just pure hard work then. I suppose I'm for EE, and not comp sci, because it seems true then that anyone who hasn't been programming from an earlier age or who has considerable experience is generally screwed in that regard. I don't know any programming languages at all and likely cannot pick up enough to be particularly competitive...I took one of those pointless classes and learned a bit of C#, but I was not a particularly promising student -_-;
If you don't have a knack for programming when you take your first classes in the subject, then it's a much better option to do EE, I think. From what I have seen, it's not something that you can really pursue unless you're already madly in love with writing code and thinking about it in your spare time.
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On March 25 2011 09:50 Z3kk wrote:Show nested quote +On March 25 2011 09:43 ]343[ wrote:On March 25 2011 09:38 Z3kk wrote:On March 25 2011 09:33 ]343[ wrote:Pretty much. Spend hundreds, thousands of hours doing problems and you'll get good So literally only way outside of being a genius is to brute-force work on problems? ._. Any suggestions besides AoPS? I know of those books but have yet to get them...well definitely do that. On March 25 2011 09:20? Z3kk wrote:
Wait, so how much exactly do these matter in regard to EECS? I'm still very much open to possibilities, but do I want to enter a future in STEM and EE currently seems to appeal most to me. ._.
Ugh...I think my math skills really are subpar compared to the smarter group of students and I waste ~9 hours a day online, but I really just don't know how I'm supposed to learn about/prepare for these types of things. Gotta cut my addiction, but I just find the Internet/computer so useful...I'm also a perfectionist and focus 100% of my attention on whatever I'm doing, i.e. right now I'm focusing solely on this thread and some random research, and homework has gotten literally nowhere in 1.5 hours. I don't even know where the time went wtf If you want to do EECS, you don't necessarily have to do math competitions. In fact, if you want to impress compsci-wise, try things like USACO and Topcoder, or build your own cool electrical gadgets (my temp roommate took apart a Wii and stuck it inside a Macbook... so now you can play Wii 100% portably with a built in screen on it!) If you really want to do math competitions, you really do need just a little talent and a loooooot of work. How can you be good at anything if you don't put in a lot of time? Right, right, definitely just pure hard work then. I suppose I'm for EE, and not comp sci, because it seems true then that anyone who hasn't been programming from an earlier age or who has considerable experience is generally screwed in that regard. I don't know any programming languages at all and likely cannot pick up enough to be particularly competitive...I took one of those pointless classes and learned a bit of C#, but I was not a particularly promising student -_-;
Don't worry that much about what you'll study yet. I don't think they pay much attention to your intended major during admissions, and you're in no way bound to it. Lots of people have very little specific background in their major before they pick it. The admissions people are just looking for something that proves you're smart and that you work hard.
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On March 25 2011 09:45 xoreyy wrote:
Holy shit, I always figured that Starcraft enthusiasts were probably an intelligent bunch, but damn, I didn't expect numbers like this. No wonder my area is considered "demographically challenged" (poor and stupid). I post some of the most impressive academic stats around here and people consider me to be really smart, a label which I wholly reject; there is NO ONE like you guys within a 50 mile radius of where I live.
4.48 weighted GPA (have only had 2 semester b's), 4's and 5's on 6 AP exams (5's on BC calc, psych, english lit and comp)
SATs were mediocre. 700 verbal, 680 math, 710 writing.
740 on the Math II
Extracurriculars are awful aside from sports (4 varsity years for cross country and soccer)
Won a lot of academic awards from the school and school system, but I doubt those count for much.
Have shit for clubs and service. Only National Honor Society and a few volunteer hours.
Schools:
JMU - Accepted
Pitt - Accepted
UVA - Find out tomorrow at 5pm, but I got what is called a "likely letter", so I'm fairly confident.
Congrats to everyone in here
Dude likely letter = in. They send it out to like the top 5% of their applicants, to keep them interested in UVA. congrats! I may see you there, depending on whether I get in or not....
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On March 25 2011 09:53 FrostyTreats wrote:
why is this a thread? it should be a blog.
If Manifesto can make it a thread in General then I'm assuming that it can be a thread and doesn't have to be a blog.
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Looking forward to april 1st!
4.0 GPA unweighted, 6.04* weighted
*(I think florida does it differently considering everyone else's GPA is 4.5 ish. basically, i've taken honors classes and will graduate with 7 AP classes and 2 college classes dual enrolled, all As so far)
770 math SAT, 750 reading, 620 writing (blegh)
770 math II sat2, 800 chemistry sat2
AP calc AB 5, AP chemistry 5, AP english lang 4 for the AP exams I've taken thus far
applied everywhere for chemistry major
schools:
University of Florida - Accepted
Rensselaer Polytech - Accepted (but where am I going to get 40 grand a year?)
Northeastern University - Waitlisted (was my top choice too, because the co-op program made it more affordable :/ )
waiting on:
Boston college, boston U, Carnegie Mellon U, Carleton College
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Got offered and I accepted my MA at University of Waterloo ... also on a waiting list for a Law School but Liquid'Tyler said he's glad he's not in law school and I'm starting to agree with him. I don't really wanna go to Law School.
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On March 25 2011 09:53 FrostyTreats wrote:
why is this a thread? it should be a blog.
This thread is made every year. Read the OP please.
Accepted:
UCLA
UCI
UCSD
Rejected
Berkeley
Waiting:
Harvard
NYU - Accepted (Stern School of Business)
Pomona - Rejected
Claremont McKenna - Waitlisted
Yale
Princeton
Columbia
Brown
Cornell
Stanford
Yeah. I know. I applied to a shit ton of schools.
4.21 GPA
2230 SAT --> Superscore is 2310
SAT II Math: 750
SAT II US History 770
AP Bio: 5, AP US History 5, AP Calc: 4, AP Comp Sci: 4
Former captain of the tennis team (we won our first sectionals that year!), captain of the speech and debate team, vice president of literary anthology club, section editor of the school newspaper, 150+ hours of volunteer service, piano player (got to level 10 or something).
Semifinalist at the NFL (speech) national tournament in 2010. Placed 8th.
I would list the other awards I got from Speech but....that might take a while.
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On March 25 2011 09:54 Hikko wrote:Show nested quote +On March 25 2011 09:50 Z3kk wrote:On March 25 2011 09:43 ]343[ wrote:On March 25 2011 09:38 Z3kk wrote:On March 25 2011 09:33 ]343[ wrote:Pretty much. Spend hundreds, thousands of hours doing problems and you'll get good So literally only way outside of being a genius is to brute-force work on problems? ._. Any suggestions besides AoPS? I know of those books but have yet to get them...well definitely do that. On March 25 2011 09:20? Z3kk wrote:
Wait, so how much exactly do these matter in regard to EECS? I'm still very much open to possibilities, but do I want to enter a future in STEM and EE currently seems to appeal most to me. ._.
Ugh...I think my math skills really are subpar compared to the smarter group of students and I waste ~9 hours a day online, but I really just don't know how I'm supposed to learn about/prepare for these types of things. Gotta cut my addiction, but I just find the Internet/computer so useful...I'm also a perfectionist and focus 100% of my attention on whatever I'm doing, i.e. right now I'm focusing solely on this thread and some random research, and homework has gotten literally nowhere in 1.5 hours. I don't even know where the time went wtf If you want to do EECS, you don't necessarily have to do math competitions. In fact, if you want to impress compsci-wise, try things like USACO and Topcoder, or build your own cool electrical gadgets (my temp roommate took apart a Wii and stuck it inside a Macbook... so now you can play Wii 100% portably with a built in screen on it!) If you really want to do math competitions, you really do need just a little talent and a loooooot of work. How can you be good at anything if you don't put in a lot of time? Right, right, definitely just pure hard work then. I suppose I'm for EE, and not comp sci, because it seems true then that anyone who hasn't been programming from an earlier age or who has considerable experience is generally screwed in that regard. I don't know any programming languages at all and likely cannot pick up enough to be particularly competitive...I took one of those pointless classes and learned a bit of C#, but I was not a particularly promising student -_-; If you don't have a knack for programming when you take your first classes in the subject, then it's a much better option to do EE, I think. From what I have seen, it's not something that you can really pursue unless you're already madly in love with writing code and thinking about it in your spare time.
On March 25 2011 09:54 aristarchus wrote:Show nested quote +On March 25 2011 09:50 Z3kk wrote:On March 25 2011 09:43 ]343[ wrote:On March 25 2011 09:38 Z3kk wrote:On March 25 2011 09:33 ]343[ wrote:Pretty much. Spend hundreds, thousands of hours doing problems and you'll get good So literally only way outside of being a genius is to brute-force work on problems? ._. Any suggestions besides AoPS? I know of those books but have yet to get them...well definitely do that. On March 25 2011 09:20? Z3kk wrote:
Wait, so how much exactly do these matter in regard to EECS? I'm still very much open to possibilities, but do I want to enter a future in STEM and EE currently seems to appeal most to me. ._.
Ugh...I think my math skills really are subpar compared to the smarter group of students and I waste ~9 hours a day online, but I really just don't know how I'm supposed to learn about/prepare for these types of things. Gotta cut my addiction, but I just find the Internet/computer so useful...I'm also a perfectionist and focus 100% of my attention on whatever I'm doing, i.e. right now I'm focusing solely on this thread and some random research, and homework has gotten literally nowhere in 1.5 hours. I don't even know where the time went wtf If you want to do EECS, you don't necessarily have to do math competitions. In fact, if you want to impress compsci-wise, try things like USACO and Topcoder, or build your own cool electrical gadgets (my temp roommate took apart a Wii and stuck it inside a Macbook... so now you can play Wii 100% portably with a built in screen on it!) If you really want to do math competitions, you really do need just a little talent and a loooooot of work. How can you be good at anything if you don't put in a lot of time? Right, right, definitely just pure hard work then. I suppose I'm for EE, and not comp sci, because it seems true then that anyone who hasn't been programming from an earlier age or who has considerable experience is generally screwed in that regard. I don't know any programming languages at all and likely cannot pick up enough to be particularly competitive...I took one of those pointless classes and learned a bit of C#, but I was not a particularly promising student -_-; Don't worry that much about what you'll study yet. I don't think they pay much attention to your intended major during admissions, and you're in no way bound to it. Lots of people have very little specific background in their major before they pick it. The admissions people are just looking for something that proves you're smart and that you work hard.
Both points noted, thanks! My issue is that I don't know where to look/go to learn...I've applied to 3 summer programs, but I had to turn down acceptance from JHU engineering (4.3k, worst out of 3, 90% refund if I decide to cancel later, I have to send in decision this week and other programs' notification come out later), SAMS@CMU doesn't seem particularly edifying, and YSP@UCD just seems impossible to get into, since it's bio-oriented and I don't have much in the way of extracurriculars right now (and desperately want to get more involved).
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United States10328 Posts
On March 25 2011 09:46 DarkOptik wrote:Show nested quote +On March 25 2011 09:33 ]343[ wrote:
well, I think he's referring to being admitted to MIT based on math. I'm pretty sure most (70%?) American MIT math majors have made USAMO. (Also it's now harder to make USAMO again thanks to that USAJMO thingy... lol.)
But that's what I'm saying. If the total amount of possible USAMO students that could get into college any given year is a max of 1500, it's impossible for 70% of the people at MIT to have made USAMO. Statistically, it doesn't make sense. First of all, the max of 1500 is ludicrous to assume in the first place, because there are certainly a good percentage of students that make it year after year. Second of all, not all USAMO qualified students go to MIT. And finally, not all USAMO qualified students get into MIT. I know this from personal experience.
Sorry if I didn't make it clear... "most (70%?) American MIT math majors have made USAMO." And in aristarchus' case, it was certainly more difficult to get into USAMO pre-expansion, though they've halved the number of USAMO qualifiers again due to the junior olympiad.
Though I might be overestimating, since there are definitely a people majoring in "general math" who are math majors just because it's easy (8 math classes and you get a degree!) So maybe it's better to say "70% of MIT pure math majors made USAMO." I'm talking about my own class and the few above mine, to be precise.
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On March 25 2011 10:07 ]343[ wrote:Show nested quote +On March 25 2011 09:46 DarkOptik wrote:On March 25 2011 09:33 ]343[ wrote:
well, I think he's referring to being admitted to MIT based on math. I'm pretty sure most (70%?) American MIT math majors have made USAMO. (Also it's now harder to make USAMO again thanks to that USAJMO thingy... lol.)
But that's what I'm saying. If the total amount of possible USAMO students that could get into college any given year is a max of 1500, it's impossible for 70% of the people at MIT to have made USAMO. Statistically, it doesn't make sense. First of all, the max of 1500 is ludicrous to assume in the first place, because there are certainly a good percentage of students that make it year after year. Second of all, not all USAMO qualified students go to MIT. And finally, not all USAMO qualified students get into MIT. I know this from personal experience. Sorry if I didn't make it clear... "most (70%?) American MIT math majors have made USAMO." And in aristarchus' case, it was certainly more difficult to get into USAMO pre-expansion, though they've halved the number of USAMO qualifiers again due to the junior olympiad. Though I might be overestimating, since there are definitely a people majoring in "general math" who are math majors just because it's easy (8 math classes and you get a degree!) So maybe it's better to say "70% of MIT pure math majors made USAMO." I'm talking about my own class and the few above mine, to be precise.
Oh my bad. I completely read it wrong. Apologies.
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I hate you kids from California so much... So many great in state schools all with good name recognition. Side note, for every poster who's like "wow tl is so smart you guys must be lying" you have to consider what kind of people are gonna post in this thread. Obviously your littler fishes are gonna pass, its an if you got it wave it kind of thing
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On March 25 2011 10:01 rocky13 wrote:
Got offered and I accepted my MA at University of Waterloo ... also on a waiting list for a Law School but Liquid'Tyler said he's glad he's not in law school and I'm starting to agree with him. I don't really wanna go to Law School.
Hey grats!
Started in MSc at York but dropped it cause....well a lot of things sucked.
I did recently find out I got into Optometry at Waterloo (only school in the country for English speakers!) so mebbe I'll see you there!
:D
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EPT
