<p>I've seen a lot of posts on CC about AMC. I know for certain that my school doesn't sponsor it (as much as I wish it would), but I'd love to participate. I want to do at least a little more with math and science. I'm applying to MIT and CalTech, and while I know it won't help with admissions, I want to keep up my math skills. I'll be taking AP Stats (I finished Calc BC last year) so I won't be doing math that continues along my Calc path. </p>
<p>Is there any way for me to be involved in AMC? Or am I out of luck since my skill doesn't sponsor it?</p>
<p>Check if a local school/university sponsors it. There are two test dates (A & B) so you should hopefully find someone that sponsors at least one of those dates.</p>
<p>Is it usually a team thing or individual thing? </p>
<p>The AMC FAQ addresses the question. You can buy the test for your school (for example) and have a teacher administer it. If you do well enough, in top 3% - it can help with college admissions at places like MIT (AIME is a big deal - the qualifier for the Math Olympiad)</p>
<p>See <a href=“FAQs | Mathematical Association of America”>http://www.maa.org/math-competitions/faqs</a></p>
<p>AMC is individual, and it is focused on problem solving ability, so it’s actually pretty tough. You would be taking the AMC 12 as a senior, and while it only goes through algebra II (maybe precalc, no calc) plus logs and trig, it is extremely tough to qualify to the AIME (for which you will need a maximum of 100/150).</p>
<p>@2018RiceParent - OP mentioned he/she is a rising senior; since the AMC 12 is in February, there is no benefit to college admissions.</p>
<p>If you live near one of the colleges and universities on [this</a> list](<a href=“American Mathematics Competitions”>American Mathematics Competitions), you should be able to take it there. Just email the contact person they have listed. </p>
<p>AMC 12 covers some pre-calculus (trig, logarithms) but not too much. However some other topics, such as number theory, geometry that is not covered in the standard curriculum, and inequalities are useful.</p>
<p>I’m not too concerned about the topics (since I’ve made it through Calculus BC and will take Stats next year). I’ll need to practice matrices though. I never learned how to do those properly…</p>
<p>@halcyonheather. Thank you for the list! I live somewhat near one of them (probably about half an hour to 45 minutes drive from it), so I’ll see what I can do. My school has a math team and we do competitions, but the team isn’t good at all, and we never win anything…it’s mainly full of freshmen and sophomores who think they’re good at math. So I want some more individual.</p>
<p>AMC 12/AIME very rarely test anything on matrices. There was one AIME problem involving determinants, but it explained how to find a determinant. The majority of the test is problem-solving ability. The later problems (usually around #15-25) may be more difficult than most math problems you’ve seen in school.</p>
<p>Edit: It was 2011 AIME II #11.</p>
<p>@MITer94 how would you suggest getting better at number theory and conic sections? I just find number theory to be tricky overall, and I’m convinced I never learned much about conic sections ever…</p>
<p>All of this will help with the other competitions I do, also. The one for my math team along with another STEM competition I do in the spring.</p>
<p>There are books on number theory, e.g. AoPS “Introduction to Number Theory.”</p>
<p>@rkepp12 - The Art of Problem Solving series is your best bet. Check out their website at <a href=“http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/”>http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/</a>.</p>