By Adyant Bhavsar
Max Manolov ’26 has made Bellarmine history by becoming the first student in recent years to qualify for the USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO), earning a spot among the top 79 high schoolers in the country with a 13 on the AIME. He recently took the USAMO, a major milestone in his competitive math journey.
Max has always been drawn to problem-solving, seeing competition math as a way to challenge himself beyond the formula-based approach in school. “Unlike school math, which often relies on just memorizing formulas, competition problems actually force you to think creatively,” he says. “There’s something really satisfying about solving a problem that looks impossible at first glance, like cracking a puzzle that only a handful of people can figure out.” His curiosity led him to explore number theory and combinatorics—topics he feels are, at best, only glanced over in school.
His preparation for the AIME and USAMO focused on learning concepts deeply rather than just memorizing tricks. “There’s really no shortcut,” he says. He studied past AIME questions but didn’t just move on after trying them—if he got something wrong, he broke it down step by step to understand his mistakes. “Getting the answer is important, but real growth comes from understanding exactly why it works, and how to extend that thinking to new problems.” He relied on Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) books and forums, where he could see multiple approaches to the same problem. “Seeing different perspectives opened my mind to new ways of thinking and problem-solving.”
Max also took a strategic approach to competitions. Since he specializes in number theory, he would prioritize those problems over geometry when tackling the toughest AIME questions. “On the AIME, it doesn’t cost much time to read through all the problems first, so I always take a few minutes upfront to scan the test and identify the ones that seem most approachable.”
Balancing competitive math with robotics and school wasn’t easy, but he focused on efficiency. “Instead of grinding for hours, I focused on quality over quantity. An hour of fully engaged problem-solving is so much more effective than mindlessly staring at formula sheets for three.”
When faced with a tough problem, Max believes in breaking it down. “Most of the time, starting with small cases helps me get a feel for what’s going on. Just messing around with numbers or testing a few examples can randomly lead to a discovery I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.” He also uses a trick called engineer’s induction—assuming a pattern is correct and testing a few cases to see if it holds. “Sometimes just trusting the pattern is enough to get you there.”
Now that the USAMO is behind him, Max is setting his sights on new challenges. Next up is the Putnam Competition, one of the most difficult college-level math contests. “Instead of relying on speed or quick tricks like in computational contests, these olympiads are all about proof-based problem-solving, where every answer needs rock-solid reasoning behind it.” Beyond competitions, he’s interested in quantitative finance, where math plays a key role in decision-making. “Algorithmic trading and risk modeling are basically just high-stakes problem-solving, and the same skills from competition math apply.” Wherever he goes next, his ability to break down complex problems and think strategically will be a huge advantage.