<p>Hope this is the right forum...</p>
<p>I'm a high school senior, and I'm looking to buy one or a couple of the Art of Problem Solving books. I'm taking the AMC12 in February, and want to prepare for it, but also I just kind of want to practice these sorts of reasoning abilities. </p>
<p>I went to the Art of Problem Solving site to look at the books, and I see that there are several, i.e. Algebra, Probability, and then the general Volumes 1 and 2. </p>
<p>Volume 2 is described as "A classic problem solving textbook for students in grades 9-12 who are preparing for advanced high school contests like the AMC 12, AIME, and the Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament."</p>
<p>Volume one is about the same, but it says its targeted at 6-8th graders or whatever. I obviously fit the category of volume 2, but then again the description for it also says that it is intended for people who have mastered the concepts in Volume 1.</p>
<p>The books are like 40 dollars, so if I can just get V2, I'd rather do that. I have 2 semesters of Calc + MV calc and linear algebra under my belt. I'm pretty good with reasoning (high Sat Math and Math II scores), so should I be able to skip to V2, or would you guys recommend a different book?</p>
<p>Thanks!
-Michael</p>
<p>Contact them and see what they say. They are very helpful over there. Also, if you go over to the classes section, there are 2 quizzes for each class (that correspond to the book) to see if you’re ready for a level or if you can do it. It may be helpful for you to try those.</p>
<p>Personally, I’d say Volume 1 has some good stuff in there. It really sets up the foundation for Volume #2, and it present simple ideas in a different way. Since the exposure you have had to math so far is pretty much just how to do problems, and not necessarily how or why they work, I would buy both volumes.</p>
<p>Volume 2 is heavily proof based.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t bank on SAT scores and calc/linear algebra classes to be a good indicator of how good you are at contest math. Why don’t you do a previous year’s AMC as a practice and see how you do on it. If you solve a decent amount, then take V2, otherwise start with the basics, V1.</p>
<p>I’d echo the sentiments from above. If you’re relying on only knowledge from in-school mathematics, you probably should get Volume I. Contest mathematics require a completely different mentality that advancing yourself in conventional school mathematics doesn’t provide</p>
<p>I believe AoPS has the ToC of their books available online. Look through it and see if you’ve mastered all the concepts. Skim through some AMC-8 and AMC-10 problems. If you can solve most of them, get Volume II. Otherwise, get Volume I. </p>
<p>Volume 2 is really targeting the later half of the AMC-12, AIME, and beyond.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies, fellas. I emailed the guy from AoPS as 2collegewego recommended, and he said that if I’m scoring in the 70-80 range, I should get Volume 1. That was spot on, so I went with the Vol1+2 bundle. </p>
<p>Since dirty dirty FAFSA is gunna take half the money in my savings account anyway, seemed like a sensible way to spend 80 bucks. 
</p>
<p>thanks guys,
-Michael</p>