It is unfortunate the score distribution is so compressed. He surely has a good chance next year.

Good luck! :)

(1) No need to worry about what "level" one is at. You're really "competing" against the questions (i.e. trying to solve them). If you're >4 SD above average, and some others are >5 SD above average, just do your best, and not worry too much about what others can do. Getting a medal can help affirm feelings of belonging there (but don't say that, to avoid pressure). Also, he is still somewhat younger than many, and has another year, right? (2) This is interesting - I wonder what kind of university this is (you needn't say the exact one). I thought the "elite" U.S. ones had a strict purely needs-based financial aid policy (while admission is highly merit-based). Is there any exception to the needs-based financial aid policy, or is this a university that doesn't strictly have such a policy.

I just looked at the ANU prices - Yikes! - I had no idea. I played with a few US college Net Price Calculators a while ago, and I found that if you have modest income, then the Ivies, MIT etc were a small fraction of sticker price, and actually cheaper than most other options. The calculators are simplified and may not handle non-standard situations well.

lewelma, I'm curious what you found about the net cost of good Australian and British universities compared to NZ and USA. My regrets about going to the local "average" university, instead of a much better one in a distant place, was not the social aspect, but the academics. You'll be much more academically challenged and learn a lot more at an elite university. The local one may give a "solid" education but it really is less, and you can end up isolated and complacent. I now believe one should go to the best place possible. But costs really do matter.

I agree it's a good idea to go to the academically best universities possible, rather than something local, for undergraduate. (I didn't do this and it was a mistake.) I'm curious about the issue of costs. Some of the elite American universities have very good financial age aid packages, if applicable, (though that could still leave a residual cost that is still "big bucks"). (Edit: typo.)

Now results are (publicly) up on the website. http://www.mathkangaroo.org/mk/results.html https://www.mathkangaroo.org/MKR/faces/Results.xhtml

Now results are (publicly) up on the website. http://www.mathkangaroo.org/mk/results.html https://www.mathkangaroo.org/MKR/faces/Results.xhtml

What do you mean by "TAG forums"?

Any suggestions for this, in particular, for a kid who's finishing up the AoPS Intro level, and good at math, but not necessarily ready for higher level abstraction. (We've got several Graduate Text in Math books on our shelf. -- They're definitely not suitable.)

Results are now up on the website (if you log in).

Results are now up on the website (if you log in).

From AMC stats, about 1000 kids "grade 4 or lower" take AMC 8. (The stats don't separate the lower grades.) You can take AMC 8 any number of times (until grade 8). Since pre-algebra is typically taken in grade 8 or 7, that is surely "enough" to take AMC 8, in the sense that the topics are covered (but of course the questions are trickier than typical school course questions).

What is "college algebra" (in this context)?

It looks like the same links are good for 2017 (Monday, May 15 at 10:00 am ET).