Ayan Nath

FAQs

(Warning: possibly outdated)

These FAQs, intended for people preparing for Indian math olympiads, were originally written for Ganit Bikash, a local English-Assamese bilingual magazine. Because so many people have asked me these questions, I figured I'd just post them on my website. Of course, my responses are skewed toward my own personal experiences.

I just got to know about olympiads, how do I get started?

Well, first of all, welcome to the club!

Is it too late to start in class $x$?

If you are in class $x$ where $x\le 11,$ then definitely no, it's not late. You have plenty of time. Though, starting as early as possible is always better. Class 12 guys, don't get demotivated, I know a few people who started preparation for INMO in class 12 and succeeded. So, if you are in class 12, I won't tell you to not prepare, instead, I would suggest you also consider studying for ISI (Indian Statistical Institute) and CMI (Chennai Mathematical Institute) entrances, which are way easier than RMO/IOQM or INMO. Unfortunately, I have never prepared for these entrances so I won't be able to say much; but yes, look at past papers, get the book called TOMATO, research online, and figure out what you need to do.

How did I manage to get so much time for math contests?

The short answer is: by dropping activities that are not important to me. I had low attendance in school from childhood, and this just aggravated from the time I started studying for olympiads. All of my past class teachers complained about my low attendance. Fortunately, I cleared INMO in class 10, so my direct selection at ISI, CMI and IIT Bombay was (somewhat) confirmed. Hence, I could afford to freely study math and not prepare for any kind of exams like JEE (or NEET) in my higher-secondary years; I wasn't interested in anything other than math anyway. And by the way, matriculation and higher school leaving exams are massively overrated; I got more than 95% in both of them by just preparing for one month each. I understand that not everybody can afford to make the decisions I made and I am not saying you should do the same as me. Let my story not mislead you into thinking that it is not possible to prepare for INMO together with another contest. I know many people who achieved a sub 100 rank in JEE Advanced in addition to clearing INMO. But I'd like to stress on the advice that drop activities that are not important to you. School curriculum is not designed for exceptional students. Not to say anything about the atrocious math curriculum in higher secondary school.

Why should I study for olympiads? What are the benefits?

I don't know how to answer this question satisfactorily, perhaps because I have never asked it myself. If you like math, you shouldn't need an answer. If you are into math, I suggest that you start your olympiad journey and see if you like it. Once you love what you do, you don't need an answer. To name some byproducts of succeeding in INMO: direct selection in CMI, ISI, eligibility for IIT Bombay BS in Math entrance, and a huge head start in higher mathematics. I am not saying it is wrong to study for olympiads with a goal in mind, but if that's your only motivation, it's an issue.

I can solve a few RMO problems. How do I prepare for INMO?

Congratulations! Only a few people can solve RMO problems. You always have to keep upping your level. Do past INMO question papers. Solve hard problems. Try problems from the following sources.

Am I guaranteed to succeed in $X$ contest by doing $Y$ books and $Z$ problems and devoting $W$ hours daily?

No.

Book recommendations

Most of your time is going to be spent trying problems. The amount of time you are going to spend learning theory is negligible.

Beginner

The following books are meant to be introductions to olympiad mathematics. I don't expect you to complete any of these books. Even doing 3-4 chapters as a beginner is impressive.

Intermediate

This is the learning + solving phase, hence the number of books. You should have a good understanding of common methods, basic heuristics, and have developed some intuition. For example,

Advanced

At this stage, you'd most likely know what to do. Just for completeness, here's a list of things you can look up. More than doing books, you would be spending most of your time on problems now, especially IMO Shortlists.

Websites