OTIS Application Homework

Year X — OTIS 2024-2025

Evan Chen
Due: August 1, 2024, at 11:59PM PT

§1 Philosophy: this is not a test

The application problems are treated differently from what you may be used to. Many
programs have an “entrance exam” or “qualifying test” or similar, which serve as an
exam, and the highest scores get in. This is not the intention of the OTIS application;
which is not meant to compare applicants. I like the FAQ from the Euler Circle, which
I’ve adapted for OTIS:

The traditional way admissions are competitive is there are N applicants and
M  N spaces available. That is NOT the case for OTIS, where M > N
at present. We dislike the idea of depriving students of an education; we will
certainly not take any pride in doing so, and will never release statistics.

Instead, the OTIS application problems are meant mostly for a different purpose:

• It implicitly serves as your summer reading. Part I of my geometry book is basically

a pre-requisite for OTIS, so working through the geometry problems in section A
will check that you actually know the background.

• It lets me see your writing. If I have an easy time reading and understanding your
solutions, that’s usually a good sign that OTIS will work well. (This means it’s to
your advantage to write up solutions well!)

• It gives you some practice asking for help (see item 4 in instructions).

• It helps serve as a sanity check that you will have enough time to work on OTIS
during the year. This packet consists of actual olympiad-level problems, so you can
see what you are getting yourself into.

So, please treat this like homework rather than a test. In particular, you can even ask
me for help on the problems (see item 4 in instructions). I will not just grade out of 7
and sum the scores (in fact, I probably won’t even bother assigning scores). Instead, I
am looking to see whether you are someone who is willing and able to solve olympiad
problems and take the time to write them up cleanly.
Don’t be discouraged if you find the problems challenging! If you start early, work
diligently, and are willing to ask for hints, then I think you’re likely to do well.

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Evan Chen — Due: August 1, 2024, at 11:59PM PT OTIS Application Homework

§2 Instructions on solving
1. Returners: If you attended OTIS or MOP in any previous year, you do not have
to do the problems. Skip to the next section (and ignore the PDF upload).
Newcomers: Try to solve as many problems as you can.

2. You must write the solutions yourself; don’t copy-paste someone else’s work.

3. If you have seen a problem before, you may write any solution you remember, or
use any solution that you’ve written yourself in the past.

4. You can ask me for help if you’re stuck on something! Just send me an email
telling me what you’ve tried, and I’ll try to push you in the right direction.1 This
is how OTIS works for admitted students, so why not practice now?
For the geometry problems, you can also use the hints in the back of the textbook.

5. You can also use any other online or print references, e.g. searching the web. You
may also ask other people for aid. However, I ask that you reference any “outside
sources” that you used, for each problem, other than those in item 4. This is only
for my interest and does not count negatively at all.

6. Try to write your solutions clearly and completely; this matters significantly for
decisions. See https://web.evanchen.cc/handouts/english/english.pdf for
some suggestions.

§3 Instructions on submitting before August 1, 2024

7. Until August 1, 2024, at 11:59PM PT, applications may be submitted at:
https://forms.gle/Lq4BSfhmx8v1JYpK6
This form will also contain some questions for you to fill out, such as your grade
level and background.

8. Solutions to the problems should be submitted as a single PDF, which is not to

exceed 10 megabytes. Scans might exceed that limit, so LATEX is encouraged.

9. If you require financial aid, you must also fill out the separate form https://
forms.gle/UbfH7uMrzSGwfMSv6. No need to submit this form if you don’t require
financial aid.

10. The standard deadline is August 1, 2024, at 11:59PM PT. You should try to
apply by this date if at all possible.

§4 Instructions on submitting before April 30, 2025

11. You can submit late applications up until April 30, 2025. Note that you will not be
paired with an instructor, though. (If you send a late application before September
1, 2024, it could take a while to process because August is a busy month for OTIS.)

12. The cost is still $240 per semester; joining late does not decrease the cost. That
is, the cost is not pro-rated, even if you join on the last day.
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Warning: I travel for MOP/IMO over the summer, so responses then will be slower. Start early.

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Evan Chen — Due: August 1, 2024, at 11:59PM PT OTIS Application Homework

13. Late applications should be submitted by email instead of the form above. The
email should be sent to [email protected] and include:
• Full name
• Country (and state if you are from USA)
• Statement of purpose: say a couple sentences about yourself, why you want to
do OTIS, and what you’re aiming for this year.
• A single PDF attachment with your solutions, at most 10 megabytes.
• Financial aid requests, if any. In this case, please also fill out https://forms.
gle/UbfH7uMrzSGwfMSv6 in addition to stating the aid request on the email.
This is important — you MUST follow BOTH steps. If you forget to
state in the email you need financial aid, then you cannot request aid later on
in the process.
• Your answers to the reading comprehension test.

§5 Meme for your amusement

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Evan Chen — Due: August 1, 2024, at 11:59PM PT OTIS Application Homework

Homework problems
§A Geometry homework problems from my textbook
• Reading: It’s suggested to read Part I of my book as the material there is necessary
(and sufficient) to solve these problems.
• All problems are themselves from the first three chapters of my geometry book and
you can use the hints provided.
• It is not essential that you typeset diagrams for these problems.
• All problems admit synthetic solutions, but computational approaches are okay too.
Do whatever you need to.

Problem A.1 (#2.28, JMO 2012). Given a triangle ABC, let P and Q be points on
segments AB and AC, respectively, such that AP = AQ. Let S and R be distinct
points on segment BC such that S lies between B and R, ∠BP S = ∠P RS, and
∠CQR = ∠QSR. Prove that P , Q, R, S are concyclic.
Problem A.2 (#2.35, IMO 2009). Let ABC be a triangle with circumcenter O. The
points P and Q are interior points of the sides CA and AB respectively. Let K, L, M
be the midpoints of BP , CQ, P Q, respectively, and let Γ be the circumcircle of 4KLM .
Suppose that P Q is tangent to Γ. Prove that OP = OQ.
Problem A.3 (#3.25, USAMO 1993). Let ABCD be a quadrilateral whose diagonals
are perpendicular and meet at E. Prove that the reflections of E across the sides of
ABCD are concyclic.

§B Inequalities homework problems

• Reading: You should read §2.1, §2.2, §2.4 of The OTIS Excerpts as the material
there is necessary (and sufficient) to solve these problems.

Problem B.1. Suppose that a2 + b2 + c2 = 1 for positive real numbers a, b, c. Find the
minimum possible value of
ab bc ca
+ + .
c a b
Problem B.2. Let a, b, c be positive real numbers such that a2 +b2 +c2 +(a+b+c)2 ≤ 4.
Prove that
ab + 1 bc + 1 ca + 1
2
+ 2
+ ≥ 3.
(a + b) (b + c) (c + a)2
Problem B.3. Let a, b, c, d be positive reals with (a + c)(b + d) = 1. Prove that
a3 b3 c3 d3 1
+ + + ≥ .
b+c+d c+d+a d+a+b a+b+c 3

§C Additional homework problems

• Reading: If you don’t know how to code, I suggest reading up to §4.4 of
https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/index.html. If you are new to func-
tional equations, read Chapter 3 of https://web.evanchen.cc/excerpts.html.

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Evan Chen — Due: August 1, 2024, at 11:59PM PT OTIS Application Homework

Problem C.1 (Learn to code, please, I implore you). Write a computer program to find
the number of ordered pairs of prime numbers (p, q) such that when

N = p2 + q 3

is written in decimal (without leading zeros), each digit from 0 to 9 appears exactly once.
For example, (109, 1163) is one such pair because 1092 + 11633 = 1573049628.
Submit the numerical answer and the source code for the program.

Remark. Some tips for the programming problem:

• If you use C/C++, be careful of integer overflow.
• If you’re using LATEX to type your homework submission, the listings package lets
you include arbitrary code snippets.
• As a confirmation, the correct answer is 10 times a prime number.

Problem C.2. Find all functions f : R → R for which

f (xf (x) + f (y)) = f (x)2 + y

holds for all real numbers x and y.

Problem C.3. Let a, b, c, d be real numbers such that b − d ≥ 5 and all zeros x1 , x2 ,
x3 , and x4 of the polynomial P (x) = x4 + ax3 + bx2 + cx + d are real. Find the smallest
value the product (x21 + 1)(x22 + 1)(x23 + 1)(x24 + 1) can take.
Problem C.4. Ana and Banana are playing a game. First Ana picks a word, which
is defined to be a nonempty sequence of capital English letters. Then Banana picks a
nonnegative integer k and challenges Ana to supply a word with exactly k subsequences
which are equal to Ana’s word. Ana wins if she is able to supply such a word, otherwise
she loses. For example, if Ana picks the word “TST”, and Banana chooses k = 4, then
Ana can supply the word “TSTST” which has 4 subsequences which are equal to Ana’s
word. Which words can Ana pick so that she can win no matter what value of k Banana
chooses?

§D Reading comprehension
This is designed to make sure you actually read the entire OTIS syllabus before you
submit a complete application. Don’t include these answers in your solution PDF.

• If you are applying at the normal time, enter your answers in the Google form.

• If you are applying late, include your answers in the email.

Problem D.1. What was the answer in the example outline?

Problem D.2. If you have 500♣ + 300♥ + 75♠ + 40♦ then what level are you?
Problem D.3. How many of the ten practice exams are graded?

Remark. As a check, if x, y, z ∈ N are the three answers, then x+y+z

6 is prime.

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Evan Chen — Due: August 1, 2024, at 11:59PM PT OTIS Application Homework

§E Extra credit (for fun, not considered for admissions)

This section is only if you’re really bored over the summer or something and are looking
to pick up new hobbies.
Problem E.1. You’re playing a beginner game of Hanabi with Evan and Eva using
the conventions listed in https://tinyurl.com/hanabi-evan-intro. It’s the first turn
and the game looks as shown below.

(a) What are the legal moves under this convention set?

(b) Of these, which one do you think is the best and why?

If you play with higher-level conventions, you can answer for those instead.

Full image: https://web.evanchen.cc/upload/hanabi243.png

Problem E.2. Drop by https://mosp.evanchen.cc and solve as many of the puzzles

as you can.
Note for the 2021 hunt, you’ll want to have looked at the statements of the USAMO
2021 problems that year, since they are used in some of the puzzles. The 2021 hunt has
solutions available, the 2022 hunt does not.
Problem E.3. Which Dreamcatcher song is the best?