Freshmen compete well at BAMO

Several freshmen competed well during the annual 2013 Bay Area Mathematical Olympiad (BAMO). 

Freshman Brendan Ney, Celine Liang and Kristine Zhang achieved honorable mentions, while Sean Shi tied for third.

“The BAMO is different from other competitions because you have to come up with proofs for problems, not just solutions,” Ney said. “You need to be good at problem solving and figuring out how to prove something you have never seen before and just know different techniques to figure it out.”

The test consists of four to five proof-based questions to be solved in under four hours. 

"I think BAMO is challenging because the contest format requires you to ‘prove’ something, so you have to know how to explain your thinking process along with actually solving the problem,” Liang said.

All four of the school’s representatives at the BAMO were freshmen. Math teacher PJ Yim said results from competitions such as the BAMO are likely indicative of the school’s future success.

In the recent American Math Competition (AMC), eight freshmen out of a total 20 students qualified for the next level. According to Yim, Liang,  Ney, Ney, Shi and Zhang are particularly among the “elite of the elite” in the country. 

“If they improve as they have been, I think a good five of them have a good chance to qualify for [more national math competitions] and maybe even the [international math competitions],” Yim said. “The current freshmen are very competitive. We have a strong class for math club at the competition level.”