Because you have a PDF (searchable), do not print the whole book. Instead:
| Pros | Cons | | :--- | :--- | | Cost-effective (often freely shared by alumni) | Legality issues – many PDFs circulating are unauthorized scans. | | Searchable text (if OCR'd) for quick lemma lookup | Missing pages or poor formatting from low-quality scans. | | Portable – study on a tablet during commutes | No physical copy – flipping between chapters is harder. | | Immediate download | Ethical concern – authors and publishers rely on sales to produce more volumes. | Because you have a PDF (searchable), do not
Since the book reads like lecture notes, pretend you are in class. | | Portable – study on a tablet
There is a notorious gap between "AMC 10/12" level and "AIME/IMO" level. Volume 1 of the senior section is the perfect bridge. It introduces advanced lemmas (like LTE - Lifting The Exponent Lemma) without assuming you have a PhD. There is a notorious gap between "AMC 10/12"