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@Anarch,</p>
<p>Is your friend at Princeton now? I might have met him over break =) Small world.
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He is not at Princeton; he's actually a senior this year. All the more amazing that he got a 15 in his junior year (and he's two years younger than the rest of his class because of grade-skipping).</p>
<p>I've got a question. All honors level math kids take the AMC 10 or 12. Do I have to win anything or do amazingly well to write on my resume/college apps that I took the AMC?</p>
<p>well, i suppose that u should get to AIME before you write it on your apps....anyone can say that they ""took the AMC"</p>
<p>and yes, i too did get an 800 on the SAT I math, but i have yet to break even 80 on the AMC (i think....i took it last year, pretty sure i didnt break 80). think about that xD</p>
<p>I doubt anyone believes that. If you are able to get a 150 on AMC 12, there is just no way that you can miss that many questions on the math test. 1 question is already questionable, but 2-3 is just stupid. There is no way a math genius can miss SAT I math problems.</p>
<p>yeah, i'm going to call BS on nargzel's statement as well.</p>
<p>i got 800 on satI math in 8th grade and 800 on satII math last year, sophomore year, and i just barely managed to get 120 on the AMC10 paired with a 5 on the AIME.
and i think you can miss like 4 questions and still get an 800 on satII math,
so you'd have to miss like, 6, 7 questions. </p>
<p>also, out of the many HYPSM people i know, only one has gotten a perfect AMC12-- and he also got a perfect AIME-- but i couldn't possibly imagine him missing a single SAT math question, period.</p>
<p>AMC12 is easy, AIME is easy, USAMO is moderate.</p>
<p>Okay, but seriously, the first 13-15 problems on the AMC12 are SAT level or slightly above. The last 10-12 require some experience with more problem solving strategies and some elementary maths not usually covered in class, but if you've done a whole stack of AMC12s and read AoPS you'll see all the same tricks come up throughout the entire 25.</p>
<p>There are always 1 or 2 problems on the AIME that are hard-SAT level, but AIME problems are generally a noticeable step above AMC12. Not even experienced problem solvers can consistently get perfect 15's, especially under test pressure. At MOP '06 I found only one or two 15's.</p>
<p>USAMO is pretty decently difficult (edit: sarcasm doesn't come across well on the internet, so THAT WAS AN INTENTIONAL UNDERSTATEMENT), unless your name is Alex Zhai. Lately the #1's and #4's have had difficulties not that far above an AIME #14-15, but they are more generalized and therefore require more exploration -> takes longer. (That said, I thought 2007 #4 was freaking hard.)</p>
<p>So this is the first time I'm taking the AMC..</p>
<p>I just read about it on the website earlier to find out what exactly it is but how is it graded? </p>
<p>I'm pretty confused about this whole thing because I've never even heard of it until like last month.
Does calculus help with AMC at all or is it like extremely hard SAT problems where you know everything you need to solve the problem but you have to apply that knowledge and take a few turns here and there to get to the answer and use all these strategies? Or is it more straightforward than that?</p>
<p>Do you guys suggest taking some practice AMC problems? Would that help a bunch? Or should I just go in and try it just for the heck of it since it's not like I have much time to prepare..</p>
<p>Lol i took the AMC last year. I got frustrated midway through, bubbled in some random answers, and skipped out to go to White Castle</p>
<p>Actually, if you'll read what Mr. Richard Rucksyz (sp?) wrote in one of his articles, he talked about how he basically used a ton of formula sheets to know all the "tricks" to the exams and managed to qualify for MOP in his 10th grade year. At MOP, he was totally blown away because he did not understand the ideas behind the mathematics and thus wasted his time there. </p>
<p>Basically, AMC and AIME are manageable if you're used to solving those kinds of problems. Every exam can be studied for, and although when you get to USAMO it will be virtually impossible without a thorough understanding of math, a multiple choice exam like the AMC or a grid in exam like the AIME can be done if you know all the tricks and strategies along with a good mathematical mind. The real challenge comes near the later AIME problems, later AMC problems, and all the USAMO problems, where tricks won't save you.</p>
<p>Hi Smile614! You don't need calculus for the AMC (although that doesn't mean that you might not use it). I would say to surf on over to any sites with AMC problems (or try any that whoever is giving the test has from prior years). Don't sweat too much since, unlike the SATs, doing badly has absolutely no affect on college admissions.</p>
<p>I simply do not see how anyone can say that it is easy to score high on the AMC 12. That kind of math is beyond my abilities. Also, how does the first half of the test even compare to the SATs? The one I took today had around 7 or 8 easy questions, and then jumped to much harder questions. Even if you were able to use a calculator, the difficulty level is still completely different from that of the basic math in the SAT math.</p>
<p>Please do not discuss about today's Feb 10, 2009 test. Thanks.</p>
<p>yo arach~~</p>
<p>AMC is definitely alot harder than SAT math. I think the first 5 problems are like SAT lvl, the rest is alot more difficult than SAT's.
i havn't taken it last yr cuz school didn't administer it, for some reason.
but i pretty much bombed it with super low scores in 9th and 10th grade. haha. but meh,idk wat i'll get if i take it today~
and the higher lvl ones like AIME, idk....</p>
<p>i'm taking the AMC for the first time this year as a senior. is there anything i should do in advance to prepare? i love doing hard problems just for fun, but i don't want to be in a situation where i don't know the basic math to use the creative side for problem solving, you know?
i'm a competent math student (790 on SAT I and 800 on SAT II.) but i don't think that means anything in terms of AMC/AIME etc.</p>
<p>Hi Guys,
Im taking the AMC 12 B soon, and I wanted some advice on preparation. I have the AOPS Volume 1 and 2, but I heard reading 1 is sufficient? Are there any places where I can learn tricks or receive more practice with these kinds of problems. Some people on this thread mentioned there are formulas and strategies needed to solve the last few difficult problems for the test? Any advice on that?
This is my school's first year of doing this, so everyone here is pretty clueless.</p>
<p>Thank you</p>
<p>PS sorry for all the questions lol</p>
<p>It doesn't seem like it will be impossible to study for it, but AMC takes a bit of innate ability for solving math problems. And by a bit, I mean a lot.</p>
<p>Oh. My. God. I took AMC 12 A...that was the hardest, most challenging math test I've ever taken.</p>
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I took AMC 12 A...that was the hardest, most challenging math test I've ever taken.
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<p>The AIME is even more enjoyable.</p>
<p>personal experience.</p>
<p>i took the AMC 10 last year, i did not get invited for the AIME, but on the reasoning test, i got 800 on math,</p>
<p>I barely qualified for AIME...I took a couple of AMC practice tests before, but this was much more difficult IMO. Also, people who think that the AMC 12 is "easy" should take a full practice test under time pressure. I think this one was particularly hard because it had a lot of advanced geometry/ polynomials and no combinatorics/probability. </p>
<p>Oh, and I think anyone whose taken both knows the SAT is a complete joke in comparison.</p>