I got a 3!!!

[dag12]

Re: I got a 3!!!

I did mathcounts too! Countdown rounds were my favorite back in the day. :3
I did the standard AMC 10/12, AIME, USAMO, and made the IMO selection camp (MOP) back in high school.
Haven't done much math since going to college though.
womp.
The occassional AIME problem for a brain teaser is still fun thoough!

[Reincarnate]

Re: I got a 3!!!

What are you majoring in again dag12? Chemistry, right?

[dag12]

Re: I got a 3!!!

What are you majoring in again dag12? Chemistry, right?

... and history lol.

I get strange looks when I tell people I'm double majoring in those fields!

[Reincarnate]

Re: I got a 3!!!

... and history lol.

I get strange looks when I tell people I'm double majoring in those fields!

Not nearly as weird as one kid from NYU who majored in Evil from Gallatin. XD

[hi19hi19]

Re: I got a 3!!!

I did mathcounts too! Countdown rounds were my favorite back in the day. :3
I did the standard AMC 10/12, AIME, USAMO, and made the IMO selection camp (MOP) back in high school.
Haven't done much math since going to college though.
womp.
The occassional AIME problem for a brain teaser is still fun thoough!

lol I'm just jokin' with ya, that's really awesome that you did that well in USAMO!
The concentration required over nearly a whole day to do those long tests is just as impressive as the math skills, at least to me.

Also I used to hate the countdown rounds because I have trouble convincing myself I know the answer until I like, triple-check things.
So glad that they did not count for scoring until you get to the nationals level, or I wouldn't have done nearly as well.

[iironiic]

Re: I got a 3!!!

Countdown rounds were so nerve-wrecking for me hahaha. There was so much pressure in the room xD

[Reincarnate]

Re: I got a 3!!!

[dag12]

Re: I got a 3!!!

I still watch the national countdown round on ESPN (I think?) every year haha. Those kids are INSANELY fast.

Oh, also, for anyone who doesn't know what the countdown round is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathcounts#Countdown_Round

"Two contestants compete face to face in the countdown round. A problem is posted on a projector, and the two contestants race to finish the problem (with pencil and paper). Upon finishing the problem, a contestant is expected to press his/her buzzer. The first person to buzz in with the correct answer gains a point. It is not uncommon for a contestant to press their buzzer before actually solving the problem, in some cases well before solving it, intending to make use of the allotted 3 seconds to finish solving the problem. For obvious reasons, this is a risky strategy."

It's not just some kids counting down from 10 to 0 as quickly as possible or something, despite the name

[Reincarnate]

Re: I got a 3!!!

It is not uncommon for a contestant to press their buzzer before actually solving the problem, in some cases well before solving it, intending to make use of the allotted 3 seconds to finish solving the problem. For obvious reasons, this is a risky strategy.

Now that's just awesome

[igotrhythm]

Re: I got a 3!!!

Ah, taking me back to the days of quiz bowl, where answering a question before the mod got to a certain point nabbed bonus points depending on the whim of the guys who organized the event.

[hi19hi19]

Re: I got a 3!!!

In the nationals countdown rounds, some problems the emcee is lucky to say the first word of the problem before someone buzzes in.

I remember the year I was at nationals a guy (who ended up getting 1st) buzzed in literally as the problem went up, kinda stared at the problem for 3 seconds, then said "Oops. I don't know." On national TV.
It was hilarious. Risky strategy indeed.

[Reincarnate]

Re: I got a 3!!!

In the nationals countdown rounds, some problems the emcee is lucky to say the first word of the problem before someone buzzes in.

I remember the year I was at nationals a guy (who ended up getting 1st) buzzed in literally as the problem went up, kinda stared at the problem for 3 seconds, then said "Oops. I don't know." On national TV.
It was hilarious. Risky strategy indeed.

Another example (from the wiki):
"It backfired against, among others, David Yang in the finals of the 2009 Countdown round, in which he correctly answered but just outside of the 3-second allotment."

[dag12]

Re: I got a 3!!!

"It backfired against, among others, David Yang in the finals of the 2009 Countdown round, in which he correctly answered but just outside of the 3-second allotment."

Ugggghhh he is a douche. I was lucky to never run into him because of the age difference, but I saw him when I was proctoring the exam for the state competition.
He kept saying "this is so easy; mathcounts is trivial," making everyone feel bad.
Anyway, that was my rant about him haha. Hopefully he's not on these forums :P

[Reincarnate]

Re: I got a 3!!!

That is indeed rather douchetastic

[hi19hi19]

Re: I got a 3!!!

I remember I used to make practice Mathcounts sprint rounds for our coach. I would either make my own problems entirely, or look at existing problems from old sets, change a few things, and then re-solve it.
If we were focusing on like, combinatorics, I would come up with 30 combinatorics problems then everyone could do them for practice when we met.
I wound up working with my coach to make them, and I learned a lot from doing this, a lot more than simply studying. Making the problems was a challenge, but it was cool.
Wonder if I still have a few of those saved on my old computer.


Always liked producing content more than consuming it...
/makes 500 more stepfiles