I’m currently a sophomore, and I’m planning on taking the AMC 12 next year when I’m a junior and go onto AIME if I qualify. I’ve never done any kind of math competitions before, but I’ve tried some of the AMC 12 practice tests and felt pretty good about them. I just just wondering if AIME is something that I can get a good result on with a year of self studying.
Yes if you practice consistently, time yourself and strategize.Try working on AIME and olympiad problems as well. It is definitely doable if you are dedicated. Good luck!
Okay, thank you! What would be a good way to start studying?
Why not try the AMC10 next week? Sophomore year is your last chance. The AMC10 is a bit easier than the AMC12, though there is a good deal of overlap. The questions on both the 10 and the 12 (and AIME) generally increase in rough order of difficulty. Usually, questions 5 through 25 (roughly) on the AMC10 are questions 1 through 20 on the AMC12. Every February you get two chances to take the AMC10 (so long as you are still a sophomore) and/or the 12.
That being said, you are a bit late to the competition game, but it is never too late to start. In my opinion, there is only one way to prepare over the following year: solve problems, problems and more problems. Make sure you take some tests under timed conditions. I would suggest 65 minutes, so that when you get the full 75 minutes for the real tests, you will be cruising.
Get yourself a free account on Art of Problem Solving, and start doing problems on their online system, Alcumus. Join the forum and ask questions. Plenty of kids will offer help, plus in going through the forums you will see your question has been asked many, many times. As I implied above, do every AMC8, AMC10 and AMC12 problem you can get hold of (even the old AJHSME problems). Struggle with them. Understand the solutions. Struggle some more. There are no short cuts.
Here are the links on AOPS to the problems:
https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/AMC_8_Problems_and_Solutions
https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/AMC_10_Problems_and_Solutions
https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/AMC_12_Problems_and_Solutions
Best of luck, and above all, have fun!
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Here’s a link to an older post that might be useful.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1371753-amc-12-prep-books.html
You can use the prep books like AoPS Volume 1 and 2. If you think these books are challenging, you can use the AoPS intermediate and introductions series. These are very good prep books as well but more basic.
I studied for AMC for about 1 year and I qualify for USAMO. GOOD LUCK!
For anyone interested in FREE AMC 10/12 preparation classes:
Dates: Dec 5, 2020 - Jan 30, 2021 (with a break on Dec 26, 2020)
Time: Saturdays 4-5:30 pm PST (7-8:30 pm EST)
For registration and more details: https://www.omegalearn.org/amc10-12
Some of the topics that will be covered:
* Polynomials
* Probability and Expected Value
* Modular Arithmetic
* Diophantine Equations
* Power of a Point
* …and more
You can check out the previous AMC 8 class videos at: https://www.omegalearn.org/amc8-advanced
How different / similar is prepping for AMC vs the SAT? I assume they are different. Can I assume the AMC problems are much harder than SAT? And they require more “thinking and solving”? Sorry if this is a stupid question.
They are very different and the AMC exams are much, much harder. They also cover a couple of topics not taught in a typical school curriculum - Combinatorics and Number Theory.
The AMC has 25 questions of generally increasing difficulty. The hardest SAT problems are probably similar to questions 5-7. At most.
My D’s AP Calc teacher offered bonus points for students taking it last year, the first year her school offered it. About 60 students took it, all AP students. The average score was equivalent to about 7 questions correct and 18 left blank.
(Another data point - the math teachers all took it and none scored higher than my D, who got 18 correct. She’s been on a competitive math team at a local college for 3 years)
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@RichInPitt Wow, your DD is very impressive.
My DS is also interested in math but he’s young (currently in middle school). Can you recommend how we can nurture his love for Math? E.g. competitions, clubs, books / exercises, practice, etc? TIA.
For middle schoolers, a good place to start is the book " Competition Math for Middle School", available from AoPS:
https://artofproblemsolving.com/store/item/competition-math
It’s also available on Amazon.
The Art of Problem Solving web site is certainly the place to start.
One of the beginning courses on topics not taught in school - number theory or counting/probability - is a suggestion. A student is exposed to entire areas they won’t run into in school, which someone who enjoys math typically finds quite interesting.
AoP’s Alcumus system is a good free way to get exposure, through sample problems and explanations. There’s also an active forum system where like-minded kids can discuss. There’s a specific middle school forum.
The best method would be to find a local team/math circle for middle/high school students, if available. My D is fortunate that the coaches of the US IMO team sponsor a local high school team at CMU, about 30 minutes away from us. A bit of homework and 3 hours of learning/discussion every Sunday have been tremendous. These can be hard to find - AoPS has a list somewhere on their site.
The AoPS Volume 1 book is also very useful.
Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) is really good resource for math competitions. AoPS also has the best books for math competition preparation - the Intro Series and Volume 1 would be perfect for the AMC 10 level. For AMC 12, you should also do Volume 2.
There are a lot of other free resources and online videos available. You can find a pretty comprehensive list here: https://www.omegalearn.org/high-competition-math
If you are just getting started with AMC 10/12 preparation, you can start by watching these free AMC 10/12 videos here: https://www.omegalearn.org/amc10-12
This will help you get a good idea of the most common topics. And then you should work on some AoPS books and test solve the past AMC 10/12 exams with the same timing to simulate real test conditions.