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MIT staff blogger Matt McGann '00

World Cup Challenge by Matt McGann '00

A little admissions fun during the World Cup.

Here at MIT, with our large population of international and immigrant students, World Cup fever is in full force. I got to watch the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica on the big screen with a huge and rowdy group of MIT students, and I’m looking forward to watching many of the remaining games with such an intense group of students from around the world.

Today, I’d like to kick off the MIT Admissions World Cup Challenge. The Challenge is meant to be just for fun, and an interesting way to see just how many countries around the world come to MIT. Here’s the challenge:

In each World Cup group, name the country from which MIT received the most freshman applications this past year.

A few notes: There are no ties, and only three countries in the World Cup had zero applications submitted to MIT this year. Also, in Group E, we won’t count the USA (and not just because they played so poorly against the Czech Republic yesterday).

To recap, here are the groups:

Group A: Costa Rica, Ecuador, Germany, Poland

Group B: England, Paraguay, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago

Group C: Argentina, Cote d’Ivoire, Netherlands, Serbia and Montenegro

Group D: Angola, Iran, Mexico, Portugal

Group E: Czech Republic, Ghana, Italy, USA*

Group F: Australia, Brazil, Croatia, Japan

Group G: France, South Korea, Switzerland, Togo

Group H: Saudi Arabia, Spain, Tunisia, Ukraine

Good luck!

43 responses to “World Cup Challenge”

  1. Star says:

    from my.mit.edu

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Argentina

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Ghana/Czech Republic (Since you say no ties I’ll go with Ghana)

    Group F: Brazil

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: ? (I’ll choose… Ukraine)

  2. errhode says:

    You mean group E, not G, yes?

    I’ll play…

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Netherlands

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Italy

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Saudi Arabia

  3. Hema says:

    Let’s see

    A: Germany

    B: England

    C: Argentina

    D: Iran

    E: Italy

    F: Japan

    G: South Korea

    H: Saudi Arabia

    Just Guessing.

  4. Dominic says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Netherlands

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Italy

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Spain

  5. Zaira says:

    This is fun!

    A: Germany

    B: Sweden

    C: Netherlands

    D: Mexico

    E: Czech Republic

    F: Japan

    G: South Korea

    H: Spain

    Pure randomness!

  6. Reg says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Netherlands

    Group D: Portugal

    Group E: Italy

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: France

    Group H: Spain

  7. Caroline says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Argentina

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Italy

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Saudi Arabia

  8. Ankit '10 says:

    My picks:

    A: Costa Rica

    B: England

    C: Argentina

    D: Mexico

    E: Czech Republic

    F: Australia

    G: South Korea

    H: Saudi Arabia

  9. Dima says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Netherlands

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Czech Republic

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Ukraine

  10. S&Mer says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Argentina

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Ghana

    Group F: Brazil

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Ukraine

  11. S&Mer says:

    Totally unintentionally, my picks match the first post (by Star).

    I like this game

  12. Ismael says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: CИ•te d’Ivoire

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Ghana

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: France

    Group H: Spain

  13. l0ngL says:

    Poland

    England

    Netherlands

    Mexico

    Italy

    Australia

    South Korea

    Saudi Arabia

    send me an email of the correct answers. it’s cool that people are from all over the world come to one place to learn ^_^

  14. Kel says:

    Group A: Poland

    Group B: Sweden

    Group C: Netherlandsro

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Ghana

    Group F: Brazil

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Ukraine

  15. cristen says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Serbia and Montenegro

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Czech Republic

    Group F: Australia

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Saudi Arabia

  16. Michael R says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Netherlands

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Italy

    Group F: Australia

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Spain

  17. A: Germany

    B: Sweden

    C: Netherlands

    D: Portugal

    E: Italy

    F: Japan

    G: Switzerland

    H: Spain

  18. Arthur says:

    Group A: Poland

    Group B: Trinidad & Tobago

    Group C: Argentina

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Ghana

    Group F: Brazil

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Ukraine

  19. Christina says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: Sweden

    Group C: Argentina

    Group D: Portugal

    Group E: Italy

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Ukraine

  20. Anonymous says:

    When will the answers be revealed? I look forward to it

    Group A: Costa Rica

    Group B: Trinidad and Tobago

    Group C: Serbia and Montenegro

    Group D: Mexico (Or maybe it’s Iran….I’ll stick with Mexico)

    Group E: Ghana

    Group F: Australia

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Saudi Arabia

  21. madmatt says:

    This is great! Keep the guesses coming. I’ll reveal the answers in a couple days.

  22. R says:

    A: Germany

    B: England

    C: Netherlands

    D: Mexico

    E: Italy

    F: Japan

    G: South Korea

    H: Spain

  23. M says:

    a. Germany

    b. Paraguay

    c. Argentina

    d. Mexico

    e. Italy

    f. Japan

    g. South Korea

    h. Spain

  24. JKim says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Argentina

    Group D: Portugal

    Group E: Italy

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Spain

    (I have no idea what I’m talking about. Except maybe Group G.)

  25. Jared says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Netherlands

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Italy

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Saudi Arabia

    My guesses… some of the groups seem like they’d be pretty close, at least on the low end.

    -Jared

  26. David says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: Sweden

    Group C: Netherlands,

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Italy

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Ukraine

  27. Anonymous says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Argentina

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Italy

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: Switzerland

    Group H: Saudi Arabia

  28. Anonymous says:

    All right…my guess:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Netherlands

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Italy

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: Switzerland

    Group H: Saudi Arabia

  29. Rachelle says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Netherlands

    Group D: Iran

    Group E: Czech Republic

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Saudi Arabia

  30. User123 says:

    Group A: Poland

    Group B: Sweeden

    Group C: Argentina

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Czech Rep.

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Ukraine

  31. sumu says:

    Group A: Poland

    Group B: Trinidad and Tobago

    Group C: Serbia and Montenegro

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Ghana

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Ukraine

  32. Basel says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Serbia and Montenegro

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Italy

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Spain

  33. suho says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Netherlands

    Group D: Iran

    Group E: Czech Republic

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Spain

  34. Stan says:

    A: Germany

    B: England

    C: Serbia & Montenegro > Serbia

    D: Mexico

    E: Italy

    F: Japan

    G: South Korea

    H: Spain

  35. DdJB says:

    Might be a repeat, but…

    A. Germany

    B. England

    C. Argentina

    D. Mexico

    E. Ital

    F. Japan

    G. France

    H. Spain

  36. JRB says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Argentina

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Italy

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: France

    Group H: Spain

  37. Lily says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Argentina

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Italy

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: South Korea

    Group H: Saudi Arabia

    This is so random and fun.

  38. Anonymous says:

    so what’s the prize for winning? raspberry

  39. Jules says:

    Group A: Germany

    Group B: England

    Group C: Argentina

    Group D: Mexico

    Group E: Ghana

    Group F: Japan

    Group G: Korea

    Group H: Saudi Arabia

  40. Anonymous says:

    A: Germany

    B: England

    C: Argentina

    D: Mexico

    E: Italy

    F: Japan

    G: France

    H: Spain

  41. Jessie says:

    Heh. Matt, if you think MIT has World Cup fever…I’m living in downtown Lausanne, Switzerland, for two months. It’s nuts! *grin*

  42. Stefan says:

    I’m a romanian ,my country didn’t make it on the World Cup, and we have a tradition in football. Seems that not everyday is sunday, so my favorite teams for WC2006 are Argentina or Brasil.

    By the way McGann ,yesterday i had found something weird on algebra calculation, more exacly on the number 9. This number acts very strange on calculations. To be more clearly the rest of the numbers 0 to 8 follows a specific logic pattern whereas the 9 is more special. I will give you an example:

    I ‘v made a general identification of 9 on algebra, and it is like this: 9 X a = 9 the S of P (S=sum ,P=prod), the key of this proposition is S. To have a true proposition we say that “a” must be diferent from 0. And we can get:

    A: 9 X 1 = 9 where the sum of product is 9 + 0 =9

    B: 9 X 2 = 18 so 1 + 8 = 9

    C: 9 X 3 = 27 so 2 + 7 = 9

    D: 9 X 4 = 36 so 3 + 6 = 9

    ………………………..

    V: 9 X 345 = 3105 so 3 + 1 + 0 + 5 = 9

    Z: 9 X 8436 = 75924 doesn’t take a true value in with respect from the 9 X a = 9 the S of P (S=sum ,P=prod). So what we can say about this number how does he evolve on calculations . The number “a” on one digit seems to respect fully from 1 to 9. When appears “a” with 2 digits a 9 Sum of Product “sequence” appears, for example:

    9 X 11 = 99 9 + 9 = 18 > 1+8 = 9

    9 X 12 = 108 1 + 0 + 8 = 9

    9 X 13 = 117 1 + 1 + 7 = 9

    9 X 14 = 126 1 + 2 + 6 = 9

    …………………………

    9 X 22 = 198 1 + 9 + 8 = 18 > 1+8 = 9,

    The algebra gets very complicated so i will not go in detail because : if you are looking more deep you will see that 9 X 21 = 189 were you can say that is an nonmonotonic relation , but in my opinion is very possible to hide a interesting evolution of 9, different from other numbers. I called the 9 universal numerical order. It is also very possible not to be evolutive and be just calculations , thats way i’l ask you if you no something about this.

  43. Stefan says:

    I’m a romanian ,my country didn’t make it on the World Cup, and we have a tradition in football. Seems that not everyday is sunday, so my favorite teams for WC2006 are Argentina or Brasil.

    By the way McGann ,yesterday i had found something weird on algebra calculation, more exacly on the number 9. This number acts very strange on calculations. To be more clearly the rest of the numbers 0 to 8 follows a specific logic pattern whereas the 9 is more special. I will give you an example:

    I ‘v made a general identification of 9 on algebra, and it is like this: 9 X a = 9 the S of P (S=sum ,P=prod), the key of this proposition is S. To have a true proposition we say that “a” must be diferent from 0. And we can get:

    A: 9 X 1 = 9 where the sum of product is 9 + 0 =9

    B: 9 X 2 = 18 so 1 + 8 = 9

    C: 9 X 3 = 27 so 2 + 7 = 9

    D: 9 X 4 = 36 so 3 + 6 = 9

    ………………………..

    V: 9 X 345 = 3105 so 3 + 1 + 0 + 5 = 9

    Z: 9 X 8436 = 75924 doesn’t take a true value in with respect from the 9 X a = 9 the S of P (S=sum ,P=prod). So what we can say about this number how does he evolve on calculations . The number “a” on one digit seems to respect fully from 1 to 9. When appears “a” with 2 digits a 9 Sum of Product “sequence” appears, for example:

    9 X 11 = 99 9 + 9 = 18 > 1+8 = 9

    9 X 12 = 108 1 + 0 + 8 = 9

    9 X 13 = 117 1 + 1 + 7 = 9

    9 X 14 = 126 1 + 2 + 6 = 9

    …………………………

    9 X 22 = 198 1 + 9 + 8 = 18 > 1+8 = 9,

    The algebra gets very complicated so i will not go in detail because : if you are looking more deep you will see that 9 X 21 = 189 were you can say that is an nonmonotonic relation , but in my opinion is very possible to hide a interesting evolution of 9, different from other numbers. I called the 9 universal numerical order. It is also very possible not to be evolutive and be just calculations , thats way i’l ask you if you no something about this.

    I forgot to introduce my self , my name is Stefan Dan , i’m from Romania and this fall i will make my application for MIT.