Where have the IMO gold medallists ended up? Part three of three (opens in new tab)

(xquant.substack.com)

29 pointsnb_quant1y ago7 comments

7 comments

I think MIT has been specifically trying to recruit IMO winners - if you look at the Putnam winners recently MIT has been dominating. This wasn't the case until the past few years though.

For example see:

https://news.mit.edu/2024/four-peat-mit-students-first-place...

daveed1y ago

The recent MIT period of dominance correlates very well with professor who is coaching the team there.

nb_quantOP1y ago

It seemed like things began to change in the early nineties. I'm trying to track down who in the admissions office instigated it. I don't suppose you know?

singhrac1y ago

At least when I was involved with math contests (early 2010s) it was more that there were a lot of ex-campers at MIT/Harvard, and that did a lot to convince me.

Po Shen did a lot to recruit students directly to CMU, but I'm not sure there was a similar direct line at MIT.

madcaptenor1y ago

I'd also be interested to see this for Putnam fellows. It looks like there's been a start from Joe Gallian (https://www.d.umn.edu/~jgallian/PutnamCareer.pdf) which "part one" of this series links to.

nb_quantOP1y ago

I'll see what I can do!

sebg1y ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

7 comments

lacker1y ago

I think MIT has been specifically trying to recruit IMO winners - if you look at the Putnam winners recently MIT has been dominating. This wasn't the case until the past few years though.

For example see:

https://news.mit.edu/2024/four-peat-mit-students-first-place...

daveed1y ago

The recent MIT period of dominance correlates very well with professor who is coaching the team there.

nb_quantOP1y ago

It seemed like things began to change in the early nineties. I'm trying to track down who in the admissions office instigated it. I don't suppose you know?

singhrac1y ago

At least when I was involved with math contests (early 2010s) it was more that there were a lot of ex-campers at MIT/Harvard, and that did a lot to convince me.

Po Shen did a lot to recruit students directly to CMU, but I'm not sure there was a similar direct line at MIT.

madcaptenor1y ago

I'd also be interested to see this for Putnam fellows. It looks like there's been a start from Joe Gallian (https://www.d.umn.edu/~jgallian/PutnamCareer.pdf) which "part one" of this series links to.

nb_quantOP1y ago

I'll see what I can do!

sebg1y ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse