This may be true, but participating in a math contest is about more than showing achievement. It's about developing skills that can be crucial to success in college. I only ever made it to AIME my senior year in high school, just early enough to include on my applications. Yes, the AIME helped my application, but learning to solve hard math problems helped me succeed in college.

This is something I hear time and again and it really strikes me. I have no idea what your ethnic background is or if you are an immigrant. But I find that White people who are at least a few generations in the US are completely clueless about most academic opportunities. In contrast, the recent immigrants know more about how US academics works before they even arrive in the US. They use online social networks in languages other than English to share their information. I wanted to join such a list, until I found out the parents there communicate in Mandarin. I get new immigrant parents asking me weirdly specific questions about MathCounts and AMC. My White parents are asking me questions like "What is MathCounts?"

Now that I think about it, even with my low GPA, the reputation of my school carried me into a top 5 med school, so no regrets.

I'm pretty sure I was nowhere near the top half of my class. I actually have no idea because we weren't ranked in college, but I didn't make tau beta pi or the other honor societies, so I know I wasn't all that great. I was a little sad, but I don't carry this around like some sort of burden your DH does. I'm not sure if this says more about your DH or about Duke.

I also scratch my head when people complain about how time consuming AP classes are because my dd's never found this to be the case. No busy work, learned a lot, and got to take a fun test at the end. Plus there are the post exam reddit and twitter threads to enjoy!

That's interesting. I found the students on CC to be rather kind and respectful, though honest. However, I didn't think there was much info I could use. Weird.

I think we're also missing the social capital here. My kids were not very involved with science fairs, so if anyone else has I'd love to hear their inside story. But my sense is that you need connections to people in academia who are willing to let a high school student pass through, do a little work, and take credit for something. Maybe I'm wrong, but I've often wondered if this was true?

Math contests gave me the skills I needed to survive an undergraduate engineering program. I don't think I could have passed my classes without having participated. Also, my performance on math contests catapulted from the boonies into a wider world of high achievement, that I was completely ignorant of. So while I don't think everyone needs a contest to be successful, for me it was crucial.

Wow, that's Stanford's and Harvard's loss. And it's really telling with respect to how MIT values merit, versus Stanford and Harvard.

I can't believe I missed that opportunity to milk more humor from this. I'm going to steal it for my next cocktail party, lol.

Were you approved? How quickly? (I want to make sure my advice is accurate.)

Is your mom a lawyer? Can you afford a lawyer? Are you savvy with Nolo Press? We know a kid admitted to Stanford who supposedly had multiple patents. The thing is, patents are publicly searchable. We could only independently confirm one patent, which was basically for an object indistinguishable from bicycle training wheels. Yes, the recent grads who populate admissions committees are easy to fool.

Unit circles were a huge part of my sophomore year of high school. Also, purple mimeograph ink.

I think you are doing fine. If you want to take the most expedient path to College Board approval, then you should adopt one of their sample syllabi. (They provide you with around 3 samples, as you proceed through the College Board audit.) Here are the guidelines for your use of an approved syllabus: What does it mean to “adopt” the AP Unit Guides or a pre-approved syllabus? This simply means that the teacher has reviewed the material, is aware of the content and skills colleges expected to see in any course labeled “AP,” and will use the document as the starting point for their own course plan, adapting and modifying it over time as the teacher determines what will best enable his/her students to develop the knowledge and skills required for college credit and placement. Note that you don't need to follow the syllabus to the letter. You can modify and adapt it as you go along. If you are comfortable with that, then I recommend you submit a pre-approved syllabus because then your approval will be automatic, like you will be notified of approval within minutes. If you create your own syllabus you will be waiting weeks or months for approval. I made that mistake and was on edge for quite a while and kicking myself for not just choosing one of their syllabi.

I should mention also that for every hour I'm meeting with a student, I'm on average spending an hour preparing for that meeting. DH tells me I should charge for the hour of prep, but I don't think that's really done with tutoring. Not only do my families take me seriously when I charge more, but I take them more seriously. I want them to get their money's worth, so I show up totally prepared and ready to go, and I try to give each student more than an hour so everyone feels like it's a good deal. If my parents are offended by high prices, I don't see it; I just don't hear back from them. It makes no difference to me. I set my prices at a point where I am indifferent between having the money or having the time. Also, the first time I ever heard of CC was on the WTM forum, and the thread title included the word "cult" so I figure I dodged that bullet. I don't know anyone who uses it. (Waldorf is a bigger deal where I am.) It's good to know that if I ever fall on hard times, starting an MLM is more lucrative than tutoring.

I hate it when my guillotines do that.

My DH enjoys reminding me that I still make less than a plumber. Or an interior decorator.

Thanks for bringing this up! I was annoyed a few weeks ago to read on a local homeschooling list this complaint: I was angry, but couldn't bring myself to respond and fortunately no one else responded and the topic died a hasty well-deserved death. I left a co-op I was teaching at because I was only clearing $80/hour. Now, on my own I'm earning $150 as a math tutor. Yes, it's a labor of love, but I find that: People take me seriously when they are paying me significant money. People equate price with quality. The more money I make the better I feel about myself. My DH in retirement still earns orders of magnitude more than me just for having a conversation with a hedge fund. Also short selling.

We school year round to accommodate things like this. Even with multiple interruptions, vacations, etc., we still manage to come out ahead.

I think in non pandemic years all APUSH students are invited.

First of all, don't drink and post. You could be putting us all at risk or an emotional collision. 😉 If it makes you feel better, your accomplishments count very much with me! I was aghast when you mentioned that the parents of your students have no idea who you are. To put it into terms Americans can understand, it's like not knowing your kid's basketball coach is Shaquille ONeal. Or something. I'm not as accomplished as you, but I also feel the sting that I haven't accomplished more. We can only take one path! You can take satisfaction in knowing the sacrifices of others who entrusted their kid's education to misogynists and incompetents. I'm at a much lower level than you all, but I also hear contest skills denigrated as learning "tricks" that are of little use in the real world.

Do you suppose it's true that the students who achieve USAMO and IMO level are not the ones who take classes and attend camps and work with tutors, but rather are the ones who study independently?

There are some USAMO, IMO and Putnam problems in AoPS textbooks.

https://ateamhomeschool.com/ a la carte classes operating out of 2 locations. I can put you in touch with the gal who runs it all if you DM me.

This shows a lot of foresight and is reassuring. Coincidentally, I just read today about another women's college that was struggling even before the pandemic and is shutting down, Mills College. It sounds like Mills attempted to make some partnerships, but it was too little too late. "Facing a $3 million deficit against a $50 million budget, Hillman said it had become clear that “we can’t actually continue to fulfill Mills’ mission in its current form.” But Hillman said the decision to stop admitting new students won’t lead to Mills closing its picturesque 135-acre Oakland Hills campus — home to the college since 1871 — anytime soon. "Mills declared a “financial emergency” in 2017 with a $9 million deficit, eliminating such majors as philosophy and Latin American studies and laying off even tenured faculty. The college also slashed the cost of its undergraduate tuition by 36 percent — from $44,765 to $28,765 in the 2018-19 year — to make Mills more affordable. "But Hillman acknowledged that the tuition reduction didn’t attract enough new students. A program to partner with UC Berkeley to share degrees and student housing also was undermined by the pandemic, Hillman added."