NEXT 30 DAYS for TARGET ISI+OLYMPIAD '12 - a minimalistic strategy

What to study and how much to study is a relative question (depends much on the student). We present here a minimalistic strategy which is good for someone who has a fair idea about high school math (and who is interested to crack I.S.I. or C.M.I. undergraduate math/stat entrance in 2012). The strategy is minimalistic because we suggest the must-do stuff only. The more work the better you are off.

Regular (problems that you must to every day, every season)

• I.S.I. 10+2 - subjective 100 problems and objective 300 problems (that is just 13 problems per day)
• Geometry - Challenges and Thrills of pre college math - 10 riders + theorems per day
• Calculus - TMH IIT math - 10 problems per day

Specialization (special topics that you may cover in the upcoming 30 days given that you have 1 year to prepare for the entrance)

• High School centric topic - Trigonometry - TMH IIT math + Loney (Height and Distance harder + Properties of triangle harder) - 10 problems per day
• Olympiad centric topic - Inequalities + Functional Equation + RMO (4 papers), INMO (2 papers) + IMO (2 papers) =  300 problems i.e. about 10 problems per day.

That is about 50 problems per day. Earlier we suggested in a post that you should work on 100 problems per day. That is very much true. However in this post we have suggested the bare minimum work that you must do in order to crack I.S.I. For support and further discussion you may call us at 9804005499. If you are outside Kolkata add '0' in the beginning. If you are outside India add 091 in the beginning.

So you have got a year?!!

That is a good start. And a demanding one. All good starts are demanding by birth-right. They ask you to do more in the subsequent days. This article is mainly targeted at class 12 pass-outs who are targeting I.S.I. 2012 (or those 12th graders who are able to devote some serious time to mathematics).
Target to solve 100 problems a day (no less). You DO NOT HAVE 365 DAYS. Actually it's about 360 days (counting 2012 to be a leap year and assuming I.S.I. entrance to be held in first week of May). So really we are looking at some 36000 problems in the coming year and trust me that is sufficient to get you there.
Wake up at 5 in the morning. Do about 5 hrs of mathematics. In the afternoon devote 2-3 hours. Same in the evening. That is sufficient for 100 problems a day. That is sufficient as far as time management is concerned.
The books you need to solve->

1. TMH IIT Math and M.L. Khanna IIT Math books make about 20000 problems together. They are important because they are comprehensive.
2. I.S.I. 10+2 Test of Mathematics has about 1500 problems (along with Test Papers)
3. Excursion in Mathematics + Challenges and Thrills in Pre college mathematics together have about 2000 problems.
4. Algebra - Hall and Knight (or better Barnard Child), Complex Numbers from A to Z, (2000 problems)
5. Trigonometry - Loney (about 1000 problems)
6. Coordinate Geometry - Loney (about 1000 problems)
7. Calculus - A combined effort of Apostle, Maron, Piscunov, Tarasov (about 4000 problems)
8. Mathematical Circles, Combinatorics by Brualdi, Selected Problems by yaglom, Problem Solving Strategies by Arthur Engel, IMO compendium, Functional Equation by Venkatchala, Inequalities of Little Mathematical Library and Venkatchala, Number Theory by Burton or Zuckermann should account for the rest 4000-5000 problems.

Note that some problems will need superb intellectual effort, some will ask for tidy computation. So the key is to distribute all kinds of problems in a day. Try about 20 challenging problems per day. Rest 80 should be normal (or subnormal) stuff.

All the best and keep working!