I just found out I bombed the AMC 12A exam yesterday, and I doubt I could make USAMO with my 12A score. I can’t take the B exam since my school doesn’t offer it and I have a field trip next week. Regardless, I’m 99.9% sure I’ve qualified for AIME this year, and I’m hoping to get at least an 11 or 12 (once again, this likely wouldn’t be enough for USAMO). How impressive is getting an 11 or 12 on AIME in the application process for top STEM colleges like MIT and Caltech? Of course, this itself wouldn’t be a guaranteed admission.
P.S. Before anyone starts talking about how I shouldn’t do these just to go to a top college, I DON’T do these to get into a top college. Math is my passion, and even if I don’t make USAMO, I will continue to do math competitions for fun. The only reason for this post is my curiosity.
Did you qualify for USAMO before?
@ktong777
As a USAMO qualifier, I would say it definitely looks good for STEM majors. AIME is pretty average although it is worth putting down.
Yeah, this year’s papers were pretty WACK, although I didn’t see a big change in my scores.
11 or 12 on AIME is going to be a big plus. With typical corresponding AMC12 scores, that’s virtually a lock on USAMO qualification. So, you sillied a few problems on the 12 this year and wind up missing the cutoff? Don’t worry about it. Get a 12 on AIME and hold your head high!
@Mastercode No I have not. This was my first year taking the 12. I missed JMO cutoffs last year with mediocre AIME score.
@GoBears2023 Honestly I’m very surprised by my performance on the 12A this year. Looking at it now, none of the first 20 seemed that bad. There were a few new types of problems (such as the mean, median, mode one), but they weren’t difficult. I don’t know how I managed to make 6 calculation mistakes in the first 20 (I noticed and fixed 2 of them and left 1 blank). At least I’m confident I’ll make USAMO my senior year at worst 
@SatchelSF I scored 100.5 this year. I’m guessing cutoffs are going to be around 93 like last year, and given a similar AIME to last year’s, I’m going to need at least a 12 to qualify for USAMO. I did a few past AIMEs last week and got a 10 on 2018 AIME I, 12 on 2017 AIME I, and 11 on 2017 AIME II, so it’s going to be pretty difficult for me to get a 12 on the AIME. Hopefully I could pull through though.
@GoBears2023 “AIME is pretty average although it is worth putting down.”
178 students total had an 11 or higher on last year’s AIME’s combined. Only 91 had a 12 or higher. Worldwide
To call that “pretty average” is preposterous/insulting/condescending.
^In fairness, I read that comment to mean just qualifying for AIME is pretty average, and it is for a boy. Everyone in the math world knows actually getting an 11+ on AIME is a big deal, especially @GoBears2023 , as I think he is USAMO level.
@RichInPitt
As @SatchelSF said, I meant just qualifying is average. Basically you can guess your way in. I didn’t mean to be condescending about AIME scores at all. Sorry for the misunderstanding!
@ktong777
I hope you qualify for the USAMO! Best of luck 