How to prepare for International CREST Mathematics Olympiad (CMO)?

Maths itself is a subject that is very difficult and boring and sets jitters for all the students. Qualifying and getting good marks in the CREST Mathematics Olympiad (CMO) requires a lot of hard work, dedication, hours of practice and efforts with disciplined study pattern to achieve the top rank. This is majorly because a student needs to put all their time and energy to understand and solve the Olympiad Maths problems.

Often students are seen worried and confused about how to start preparing for the CMO exam. The first and initial requirement is to always be ready with the right mindset and attitude. Also, along with hard work, most importantly a good amount of smart work is necessary to make it to the top.

In this article we brought together a few tricks to score in the International Maths Olympiad.

Maths Olympiad Tips And Tricks

Know the syllabus correctly

The Olympiad exams design their question paper based on the respective classes' school curriculum. This is the biggest plus point for the students while preparing for the exams. They will be well aware of the area of expertise from where they can expect to be questioned. Therefore it is very crucial that the students have a proper insight of the complete syllabus in detail of their current curriculum. You can check syllabus for CREST Mathematics Olympiad for classes Prep/KG to 10 by visiting here.

Get the right book

Once you are aware of the complete syllabus, the next and foremost step would be to choose the right study material. Unlike the regular school exams, the Olympiads do not expect you to gulp all the study material, even though they have the same syllabus playing.

Identifying the right kind of book based on your comprehension style is necessary. The books you choose for studying must cover all the content and topics relevant to the CREST International Mathematics syllabus. It must cover mostly all Mathematics Olympiad questions for practice to help you to up your game.

The study materials you choose must also contain Previous years papers, Workbooks, Mock Test Series, etc. to prepare for CREST Olympiads.

CREST Olympiads has specially designed CREST Workbooks for students to practice topic-wise questions and get an understanding of each topic in a nice manner. These workbooks are available for grades Prep/KG to class 10 for Reasoning Olympiads, Mathematics Olympiad, English Olympiad & Science Olympiad.

Strategic Planning

As the saying goes ‘if you fail to plan, then you're planning to fail’, this is what applies when you prepare for Maths Olympiad exams. You must have a strong study plan as it is one of the most important aspects of scoring well in the examination.

Prepare an accurate time-table or study schedule for your CREST Mathematics Olympiad exam preparation which you must maintain throughout your preparation period.

On the other hand this does not mean you cram your study session with non-stop hours filled with mathematical Olympiad challenges. Ensure you are spending enough time for your everyday regular academics.

Students must also get enough resting time to calm your mind for better concentration. However, this can only work if you stick to your schedule and planning with utmost discipline.

Practice leads to perfection

There is no shortcut when it comes to studying and preparing for this aspect of examination. The one and only way to get the top rank is to work immensely hard and pour a large amount of time into practice sessions.

Ensure that you put yourself in a place that is comfortable, calm and quiet without any disturbance and practice with as many problems as possible. This will help you to concentrate on your problems and to enable you to think outside the box for gaining the most accurate answers.

Understand the concepts

The International Mathematics Olympiad are exams that have only concept-oriented objective type questions. As Mathematics itself is an application subject, just learning the concepts of the problem-solving methods is of no use to the students.

Students should have plenty of time to learn and strengthen their mathematical concepts by revising everything thoroughly they had even learnt in their previous years. Students can also visit various Math olympiad question sites to get an insight of different kinds of questions that might be asked in the exam and solve the same.

Mock tests and Practice paper

Once students start understanding the concepts and learn to solve different problems, the next best advised step is to take up the mock papers and solve enormous amounts of sample papers. Practicing as many sample papers and previous years’ Olympiad question papers will help to be more confident and make you smooth in solving questions.

Practicing these question papers will boost your problem-solving skills, analytical skills along with accuracy and speed. It also builds your confidence in order to take up the actual exam.

Also, these tests and practice sessions are mainly for assessing yourself. It will help you to identify your weak areas and strengthen your preparation levels of the entire syllabus along with analyzing your strong and weak points. Knowing them will be of great help for your revision session. Knowing your weak areas will help you work more hard and concentrate more on them, allowing you to convert them to your strengths for better performance.

You can check sample papers on this link: https://www.crestolympiads.com/maths-olympiad-cmo-sample-papers

Have the right attitude

Having the right attitude is equally important and plays a major role as much as preparation for the competitive exams. If you're a student and you are taking the examination for the first time or you would have taken it before, having the right amount of confidence is very important for better performance in the exam.

You should never be overconfident about your preparation or just terrified by the exam, as this would directly affect your answering abilities in the exam.

Students must read blogs on tips and tricks for the exam, be positive, and practice meditation before examination to reduce stress and increase your concentration level. Do not panic and stay relaxed before the examination.

A healthy lifestyle with plenty of sleep

Students must not indulge themselves in late-night study as much as possible. Students should get plenty of sleep of about 6-7 hours. It is very much necessary in order to have a clear mind.

Above pointers would surely help you during your Mathematics Olympiad preparation not only for CREST Olympiads exams but for exams conducted by other organizations as well like Unicus etc.

Related Articles: