Appendix C

Frequently asked questions

Questions that arrive often enough to be worth answering once. If you were sent this page in reply to a message, the answer is here. I was inspired to write this after reading FAQ by Samik Goyal.

Astronomy olympiads

When did you start preparing for the astronomy olympiads?: Worthless question which I'll not be answering. This doesn't help you in anyway, and comparing yourself to anyone is a waste of time. Focus on your own preparation, trust yourself and keep going. Similar reply goes for questions like "How much time did it take you?".
How do I start preparing for the astronomy olympiads?: Start with becoming proficient in physics and mathematics, then add astronomy; many olympiad problems are just mechanics, thermodynamics or geometry wearing a costume. To begin with the astronomy part, I recommend going through Roy&Clarke's book for starters, and then move on to just problem solving. Once you're comfortable with the basics, AO Guide is your friend. You can find a plethora of resources for further preparation, a whole archive of past papers, and all other relevant stuff there.
How does the Indian selection process work?: NSEA, then INAO, then the Orientation-cum-Selection Camp at HBCSE, and from there team for the IOAA is picked out. I have written a blog post on preparing for NSEA and INAO, Indian Astronomy Olympiads, which will tell you more than I can in a paragraph.
Which resources did you use?: I read multiple astronomy books and solved problems from past olympiad papers of various countries. Olympiad is 30% knowledge and 70% problem solving. You can find all the resources I've used, papers I've solved, and many more on AO Guide.
How many hours a day should I put in?: I never counted, and I do not think the number is the useful part. What mattered was working in concentrated stretches on problems slightly beyond my current level, and stopping when I'm satisfied with my progress for the day rather than when I'm tired or when the clock says so.
How do I prepare for the observational round?: You cannot read your way through it. Learn the sky by eye. Constellations, bright stars, how things move over a night and over a year, and get comfortable with a star charts. I used stellarium to learn the sky, which is probably still the best tool out there. Turn off labels, turn on constellation lines and boundaries, and start seeing where the bright stars are, where a constellation is, how its oriented relative to others, and learn star hops.
Do I need to be good at maths to do astronomy?: Yes, by that I mean be decent at it. Know how stuff is derived.
How did you balance between JEE, Olympiads, and school?: I didn't. I focused entirely on olympiads, and let the rest take care of itself. My coaching centre luckily didn't check my homework, so I never did it (I wouldn't reccommend this, but it worked for me). I did JEE prep only before tests, and paid attention in lectures. For school, I had a dummy enrollment, and thus never attended school. I only started preparing for boards exams few weeks before the exams.

Research

How did you write a paper while still at school?: By randomly scrolling through papers, coming across a paper which I can understand, and then asking myself if I can solve a similar problem the paper has already solved, but under some different constraints. It really is as easy as that. Solve the problem under the new constraints, and then write it up.
Will you co-author a paper with me?: No. Not because I don't like you, but because doing it properly takes more time than I have. If you have already started something and want a second opinion on it, that is a different question and you can ask it.

University admissions

Where are you going, and what are you studying?: Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, studying Physics and Mathematical Sciences, part of the CN Yang Scholars Programme.
What happened with your American applications?: Seven rejections out of seven.
Does an international medal get you into MIT?: Yes and no. MIT generally takes in a fixed number of students (around 5), where females get a preference. If in your cycle there are multiple international medalists applying to MIT, the admissions committee will only accept a few of them. So it depends on what medal you have and what your application cohort is like, basically.
What are the interviews like?: Less like an examination than people expect, and more like a conversation that happens to be about physics. I wrote about each of mine in Interviews.
Will you read my essays or review my application?: No. I am not qualified to, and the advice would be worth less than you would weight it. What I can do is answer a specific question about a process I have actually been through.

Getting in touch

Can I email you?: Yes. The address is in the author block on the front page. If the question is answered on this page, expect a link to this page; it is not meant unkindly, it is just faster for both of us.
Can we hop on a call?: Anything that can be asked on a call can be asked in writing, and in writing I can answer it once and point the next person at it.
Can you look at my solution and tell me what is wrong with it?: Explain your reasoning to me rather than sending the work. Where the argument breaks is almost always visible in the explanation, and often you will find it yourself while writing it out.

This site

Why does it look like a research paper?: Because I like reading papers.
How is it built?: Astro js and Claude (obviously). The font is Libertinus Serif with Inconsolata for anything numeric. The source is on GitHub.
Are the dad jokes really that bad?: I think they're quite funny, and at times I can't stop laughing at my own jokes. But sadly others have not been as appreciative.