Difference between revisions of "ELMO"

(Details: Contest names updated, facts fixed.)
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== Details ==
 
== Details ==
The ELMO is a student-written contest similar in format to the [[IMO]] (that is, 6 problems over two days with 4.5 hours per day); it is a tradition for all new students not in Black (and occasionally a couple returning ones) to take the ELMO during a weekend of [[MOP]].
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The ELMO is a student-written contest identical in format to the [[IMO]] (that is, 6 problems over two days with 4.5 hours per day); it is a tradition for the new students to take the ELMO during the first 2 weekends of [[MOP]].
 +
=== Related contests ===
 +
In 2012 the ELSMO (a variant of ELMO) was introduced for "the misguided souls who unfortunately pronounce MOP as 'MOSP', with an additional 'S' "*, having the same problems as the ELMO but with a new appearance to make it hard to read. However, in recent years, the ELSMO has been also given to some others deviating from the answer of "MOP" to "What program are you attending?" in more creative ways, e.g. "Girls Together Math Program" aka G2.
  
Every year, the ELMO committee, consisting of most of the returning MOPpers as well as the Black group, create a new name for the ELMO based on these initials. Names in past years have included "Eric Larsen Math Olympiad"(2008?), " Entirely Legitimate (Junior) Math Olympiad"(2009), and "Exceedingly Luck-Based Math Olympiad" (2010), Ex-experimental Math Olympiad, Easy Little Math Olympiad, Extremely Last-Minute Olympiad, e^log Math Olympiad, End Letter Missing, Exceedingly Loquacious Math Olympiad, English Language Master's Open (2011), Everyone Lives at Most Once (2013), Ego Loss May Occur (2014), Ex-Lincoln Math Olympiad (2015), and The vEry badLy naMed cOntest (2017).  
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Beginning in 2022, due to questionable choices in ELMO, the newcomers (and certain disgruntled others) have started a new tradition called the Revenge ELMO (RELMO), which is so-called since the newcomers, by posing questionable-quality problems to the returners, get their "revenge". It is believed to have been spurred by the presence of ELMO 4 and TSTST 1 that year.
  
Part of this finite simple group (usually in Black) make up the grading committee, and previous MOPpers submit problems to be included on the test. (The head organizer for the ELMO is called the Supreme Grand Ayatollah, a tradition started By [[David B. Rush]] in 2009.) All returning students then vote on the [[problems]] that the grading committee decides to put on the shortlist, to determine what 6 problems will be on the test. Problems are voted on in pairs, rather than individually; for example, someone would say, "I want G1/N1 to be problems 1 and 4, all in favor?" rather than "G1 should be problem 1". They also vote on what a rubric for grading these problems will be, especially how many points would be gained by making partial progress on the problem and how much lost for certain common mistakes (often this rubric only includes the most common solution; unique ideas are determined on a case-by-case basis). The sheer amount of ideas that need to be voted down often cause these coordination meetings to devolve into [[chaos]], shouting matches, and thrown insults.
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=== Acronym ===
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ELMO is an amorphous acronym. Thus the ELMO jury (see below sections) has to invent a new one each year. Names in recent years have included vEry badLy naMed cOntest (2017), "Eyy LMaO (2018), Exclusively carL-Made Olympiad (2019), Elmo Literally Moved Online (2020), Olympians Enjoy Mixed-up Letters (2021), Elmo, Let Me Out (2022), and ELMOnade/waterELMOn (2023).
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=== Making the contest ===
 +
As of 2023-4, the ELMO bureaucracy includes the jury, consisting of all MOP alums from before the relevant ELMO (even those in college are invited), and the PSC (problem selection committee), which consists of all the senior jurors.  
 +
As suggested by the names, the PSC holds all power, relegating the jury to a purely advisory role. This system may appear oligarchic, but ensures each MOP alum gets to take part in ELMO selection once.
 +
===During MOP ===
 +
In the opening days of MOP, the returners fit into three categories: team leaders, graders, and PSC (which is effectively the IMO team members who are seniors). During these days, the acronym / flavor text are decided, as well as the teams. Generally, people volunteer to be team leaders, while the remainder grade.
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====Participation====
 +
The team leaders pick students to serve on their team in a "draft" sense. Picking order is supposedly random but has often consisted of team leaders with higher test scores picking first in the first round, with every other round reversed so it seems fair. Throughout all this, the ELMO room is kept securely locked so that no one not involved in ELMO coordination can see any potential test problems, and more importantly, team picking order. The team leaders are responsible for voting on problems they feel their team would be strong at, reading solutions of their team members, and attending coordination sessions to argue with the graders about how many points their team members' solutions are worth.  
  
The people not on grading committee (this usually includes all Blue and Green returnees, and occasionally a Black or two) act as "team leaders" for their "country" (each country gets 1 or 2 leaders), and each picks students to serve on their team (where  is a variable depending on number of willing team leaders and number of returning MOPpers). Picking order is supposedly random but has often consisted of team leaders with higher test scores picking first in the first round, with every other round reversed so it seems fair. Throughout all this, the ELMO room is kept securely locked so that no one not involved in ELMO coordination can see any potential test problems, and more importantly, team picking order. The team leaders are responsible for voting on problems they feel their team would be strong at, reading solutions of their team members, and attending coordination sessions to argue with the graders about how many points their team members' solutions are worth. After ELMO is finished, "medals" are awarded, with medal distribution percentages similar to those at IMO; i.e. 10% receive Gold, etc. Approximately 70%(?) of ELMO participants receive some sort of award or medal.
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Online participants may take ELMO unofficially and are graded separately.
 +
====Results====
 +
After ELMO is finished, "medals" are awarded, with medal distribution percentages similar to those at IMO; i.e. 10% receive Gold, etc. Approximately 70%(?) of ELMO participants receive some sort of award or medal. Also, the top online participants are listed on the site as well.
  
 
Shortlist problems are publicly released after ELMO on their forum page.
 
Shortlist problems are publicly released after ELMO on their forum page.
  
== Results ==
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=== RELMO ===
The winning team in 2010 was "Kanto", consisting of Youkow Homma, Thomas Swayze, Archit Kulkarni, and Gil Goldschlager, with team leaders Brian Wai and Thomas Lu. Due to the experimental nature of Green Group, this particular year had many co-captaining teams. The team "Yang Dominion", led by Dai and Patrick Yang, placed second. The winning individual score was 33, and the winning team score was 80.
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The RELMO is generally held near the end of MOP, and some returning MOPpers may be peer pressured into taking it. The problems "possess a particular quality" (Evan Chang).
  
The individual top 5 in 2010 were:
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_______________________
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*source: https://web.evanchen.cc/elmo/general.html
  
1. Thomas Swayze
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== Results ==
2. Bowei Liu
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In 2023, Hannah Fox from Battery ("AAA") won a resounding 1st place!
3. Eric Schneider
 
Silver:
 
4. Bobby Shen
 
5. Reed LaFleche
 
  
 
== Resources ==
 
== Resources ==
  
 
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20030805142824/www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~gcarroll/math/mop99/elmo99.tex The first ELMO, in .tex format] [[1999 ELMO|Added to the wiki]]
 
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20030805142824/www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~gcarroll/math/mop99/elmo99.tex The first ELMO, in .tex format] [[1999 ELMO|Added to the wiki]]

Latest revision as of 23:56, 8 June 2024

Summary

The ELMO is an annual math olympiad that happens at MOP. Its initials have stood for many things over time, originating from a backronym originally called the "Experimental Lincoln Math Olympiad". The black MOPpers and returning MOPpers write and organize the test, and lead the teams of competitors, which consist of rookie MOPpers. The team leaders present their teams' solutions to the graders, imitating the grading process of the IMO. The ELMO began in 1999.

Details

The ELMO is a student-written contest identical in format to the IMO (that is, 6 problems over two days with 4.5 hours per day); it is a tradition for the new students to take the ELMO during the first 2 weekends of MOP.

Related contests

In 2012 the ELSMO (a variant of ELMO) was introduced for "the misguided souls who unfortunately pronounce MOP as 'MOSP', with an additional 'S' "*, having the same problems as the ELMO but with a new appearance to make it hard to read. However, in recent years, the ELSMO has been also given to some others deviating from the answer of "MOP" to "What program are you attending?" in more creative ways, e.g. "Girls Together Math Program" aka G2.

Beginning in 2022, due to questionable choices in ELMO, the newcomers (and certain disgruntled others) have started a new tradition called the Revenge ELMO (RELMO), which is so-called since the newcomers, by posing questionable-quality problems to the returners, get their "revenge". It is believed to have been spurred by the presence of ELMO 4 and TSTST 1 that year.

Acronym

ELMO is an amorphous acronym. Thus the ELMO jury (see below sections) has to invent a new one each year. Names in recent years have included vEry badLy naMed cOntest (2017), "Eyy LMaO (2018), Exclusively carL-Made Olympiad (2019), Elmo Literally Moved Online (2020), Olympians Enjoy Mixed-up Letters (2021), Elmo, Let Me Out (2022), and ELMOnade/waterELMOn (2023).

Making the contest

As of 2023-4, the ELMO bureaucracy includes the jury, consisting of all MOP alums from before the relevant ELMO (even those in college are invited), and the PSC (problem selection committee), which consists of all the senior jurors. As suggested by the names, the PSC holds all power, relegating the jury to a purely advisory role. This system may appear oligarchic, but ensures each MOP alum gets to take part in ELMO selection once.

During MOP

In the opening days of MOP, the returners fit into three categories: team leaders, graders, and PSC (which is effectively the IMO team members who are seniors). During these days, the acronym / flavor text are decided, as well as the teams. Generally, people volunteer to be team leaders, while the remainder grade.

Participation

The team leaders pick students to serve on their team in a "draft" sense. Picking order is supposedly random but has often consisted of team leaders with higher test scores picking first in the first round, with every other round reversed so it seems fair. Throughout all this, the ELMO room is kept securely locked so that no one not involved in ELMO coordination can see any potential test problems, and more importantly, team picking order. The team leaders are responsible for voting on problems they feel their team would be strong at, reading solutions of their team members, and attending coordination sessions to argue with the graders about how many points their team members' solutions are worth.

Online participants may take ELMO unofficially and are graded separately.

Results

After ELMO is finished, "medals" are awarded, with medal distribution percentages similar to those at IMO; i.e. 10% receive Gold, etc. Approximately 70%(?) of ELMO participants receive some sort of award or medal. Also, the top online participants are listed on the site as well.

Shortlist problems are publicly released after ELMO on their forum page.

RELMO

The RELMO is generally held near the end of MOP, and some returning MOPpers may be peer pressured into taking it. The problems "possess a particular quality" (Evan Chang).

_______________________

Results

In 2023, Hannah Fox from Battery ("AAA") won a resounding 1st place!

Resources