Winter break/PSAT score/Contest goals/School/2 years on AoPS
by shiningsunnyday, Dec 13, 2016, 3:44 PM
The following was written by me last Thursday. I originally intended to post it but got too tired to press the submit button.
As of now, I have one final (also most important) AP Physics exam tomorrow, which will also determine my grade for the semester. Exam week was at least somewhat relaxing, with me having more time to do math wherever I want, whether at school or home. In addition, my PSAT score
My dad has also confirmed a contest venue for me in Singapore for AMC 12A, which will be backup if Hong Kong doesn't work out. USAMO seems faraway but I really do hope I will at least qualify and not get swept.
Math-wise, over the winter break, really just a short 3-weeks spent under the eye of the storm, I mainly hope to attempt all 1/2/4/5s of post-1995 USAMOs and IMOs, briefly review all past AMC 12s and AIMEs to make sure my bag of tricks is full, and to keep up in WOOT as well as attempt all the past POTDs.
SAT-wise, I hope to do one reading and one writing test per day and hopefully score 1530 on the January SAT, which is a pretty reasonable goal for my first SAT.
School-wise, I hope to reread the entirety of the American Pageant, so I can start devoting a bit of time each week to preparing for the AP exam after winter.
Finally, I hope to make nontrivial progress on cj and I's ISEF project, which is on bounding a certain quantity about a certain type of graphs (purposely ambiguous).
After winter also begins the season of math camp application! I'm applying to all the major ones - ROSS, PROMYS, Math Camp and SUMAC considering that I probably won't make MOP. More realistically, I'm aiming for one solve per day (assuming I qualify), which already seems like a long shot (also considering I will have to take it at the ungodliest hours of the night).
Also, my 2-year anniversary of joining AoPS (and being introduced to AMC) is in 6 days. Maybe I should just compile some of my favorite problems along my 2-year journey thus far?
Me 5 days ago wrote:
The past 10 days have felt like a death to me. In total, I did somewhere around 15-20 tests/projects (including huge ones like a AP CS JavaScript game that took me 8+ hours to code, debug, and video record and a AP Phys 3-week balloon cart engineering project that I can’t even begin to talk about). The past 3 days esp. felt like balancing one foot on a sole rock in a sea of lava - esp. as I have 4 borderline As or A-’s and those were where most of the 17 tests/projects came from. On Tues, with 3 final but HUGE English, AP CS, and AP Phys end-of-semester projects due on Wed, I worked from 3 PM to 11 PM, decided to take a nap on my study desk and a blink of eye later it was 3 AM. I woke up, chugged down 2 cups of coffee, worked nonstop till 7: 30 AM, went to school, chugged down a red bull, worked every inch of time I had (including time pooping) during my classes till 3 PM, climbed up the stairs with my body leaning on the rails, turned all 3 projects, went home, did an NT problem, and kind of turned insane (like running around the house for no apparent reason, prob to try to release all the stress and emotions oops). Those 12 hours were the most intense half-day of my life.
…Then I realized today is the first day of exams, and I have four: AP Stats (today), AP Chem (Mon), Chinese (Tues) and AP Phys (Wed). Though honestly the exams are quite trivial compared to the projects (as they simply require you to know the content, unlike projects where I have to try predict what the teachers want, something I’ve always had trouble doing). So I guess… I’m free?
Honestly, I quite enjoyed the past 10 days — everyone around me hyper-competitive and working towards a common goal — G.P.A. Even though the goal itself is kind of pointless, the atmosphere was certainly something that helped me push through my difficulties and get things done. Hopefully, in college, this atmosphere will only get more intense — with others around me working towards a common goal. It was fun, honestly.
…Then I realized today is the first day of exams, and I have four: AP Stats (today), AP Chem (Mon), Chinese (Tues) and AP Phys (Wed). Though honestly the exams are quite trivial compared to the projects (as they simply require you to know the content, unlike projects where I have to try predict what the teachers want, something I’ve always had trouble doing). So I guess… I’m free?
Honestly, I quite enjoyed the past 10 days — everyone around me hyper-competitive and working towards a common goal — G.P.A. Even though the goal itself is kind of pointless, the atmosphere was certainly something that helped me push through my difficulties and get things done. Hopefully, in college, this atmosphere will only get more intense — with others around me working towards a common goal. It was fun, honestly.
As of now, I have one final (also most important) AP Physics exam tomorrow, which will also determine my grade for the semester. Exam week was at least somewhat relaxing, with me having more time to do math wherever I want, whether at school or home. In addition, my PSAT score
1490... will probably not make National Merit as international schools have insane cutoffs - even higher than the education powerhouses of California and Massachusetts. To put it in perspective, almost everyone whose scores I know in my school got above ~1430.
and Canadian Senior Math Contest (CSMC) resultdefended my title of school champion from last year!
were at least somewhat of a morale-boost.My dad has also confirmed a contest venue for me in Singapore for AMC 12A, which will be backup if Hong Kong doesn't work out. USAMO seems faraway but I really do hope I will at least qualify and not get swept.
Math-wise, over the winter break, really just a short 3-weeks spent under the eye of the storm, I mainly hope to attempt all 1/2/4/5s of post-1995 USAMOs and IMOs, briefly review all past AMC 12s and AIMEs to make sure my bag of tricks is full, and to keep up in WOOT as well as attempt all the past POTDs.
SAT-wise, I hope to do one reading and one writing test per day and hopefully score 1530 on the January SAT, which is a pretty reasonable goal for my first SAT.
School-wise, I hope to reread the entirety of the American Pageant, so I can start devoting a bit of time each week to preparing for the AP exam after winter.
Finally, I hope to make nontrivial progress on cj and I's ISEF project, which is on bounding a certain quantity about a certain type of graphs (purposely ambiguous).
After winter also begins the season of math camp application! I'm applying to all the major ones - ROSS, PROMYS, Math Camp and SUMAC considering that I probably won't make MOP. More realistically, I'm aiming for one solve per day (assuming I qualify), which already seems like a long shot (also considering I will have to take it at the ungodliest hours of the night).
Also, my 2-year anniversary of joining AoPS (and being introduced to AMC) is in 6 days. Maybe I should just compile some of my favorite problems along my 2-year journey thus far?
May 2018
April 2018