[boxysean]

NYU team coach here writing from Russia. :)

Indeed, most of the top competitors have been practicing since high school. We were lucky to assemble a team that has been training well before.

MIT's team consists of freshmen who are still in good training since their national high school math olympiad trainings from their respective countries.

[itsnotvalid]

What puzzled me is that training for high schools varies so much that not all students interested was given some basic help.