<p>Hi, guys! Do any of you know if I can just report my AIME score instead of both AIME and AMC scores? I got a reasonably high AIME score, but I was sick on the AMC12 test day.</p>
<p>Yes, you can report or not report either of those scores – reporting isn’t mandatory.</p>
<p>Thank you for the reply!</p>
<p>mollie’s advice is obviously considerably more authoritative than mine, but I would say that you should go ahead and report both scores. Even if the AMC12 score was not nearly as high as you’d like, it was obviously good enough to qualify you to take the AIME. The admissions people will know that you must have taken the AMC12. </p>
<p>Your strong performance on the AIME, which is not multiple choice, will outweigh the performance on the AMC12, which is multiple choice. I’ve read quite a lot of assorted posts on the official MIT site and here on CC. I think that MIT is uncomfortable with applicants who are uncomfortable with “failure.” A qualifying score on the AMC12 is not a failure, but hiding it probably is.</p>
<p>mollie can correct my opinion if I am wrong about this.</p>
<p>^QM has a good point about not wanting to look like you are hiding a 100+ AMC score as that may be interpreted as being afraid to fail. We’re all psychoanalyzing the adcoms a bit, so there is no clear-cut right or wrong on this. Putting the AMC score won’t hurt you, withholding it might sway them a tiny bit–whether they admit it or not.</p>
<p>One correction: if it is still done the same way, the AIME is, in fact, multiple choice. It’s just that the number of possible answers for each question are 10^n where n is the number of bubbles you mark. You grid in each digit of the answer. Of course, an answer with 10^5 possible answers is harder to guess on that one with 5 choices to grid.</p>
<p>Oh, right, collegealum314! Technically, so it is!</p>
<p>
I would absolutely also advise this – I don’t think even a low AMC12 score would really hurt an applicant, unless that applicant was trying to present him/herself as some sort of otherworldly math genius. So, in general, since not all applicants take the tests, I think they are always worth reporting.</p>
<p>I was only answering the question asked: an applicant can choose to report or not report any of these contest scores. But speaking for myself, I would almost always advise reporting them.</p>
<p>Hi mollie! Thanks for returning to this thread. The thing is that “low” is in the eye of the beholder. One has to do quite well on the AMC12 in order to qualify to take the AIME–that is, to score at least 100 or rank in the top 5%, if that cut-line goes lower than 100. The people who even take the AMC12 tend to be among the strongest mathematicians in the school, in most places. For example, in QMP’s high school of 1500+, the students taking the AMC12 filled a single classroom. There may be a few places where students in a broader swath take the AMC12 (e.g., Phillips Exeter), but I think they are unusual.</p>
<p>The top score on the AMC12 is 150, and in many years, I think there are about a dozen students who score at that level. Locally, the people that I think are really gifted mathematicians have tended to score about 130. So if a student was gunning for 130-150, then a score of 110 could be viewed as “low” and disappointing, when it is actually very good. </p>
<p>I think that scores on reasonably challenging timed tests such as the AMC12 are more likely to drop when someone is ill than scores on an easier test, such as a typical classroom exam.</p>
<p>My advice was based on the fact that these are sequential tests, and not separate ones. If the AIME score is listed, the admissions rep will know that the AMC12 must have been taken (or AMC10, for younger students). So, in his/her shoes, I’d wonder why the AMC12 score wasn’t listed. (You tryin’ ta hide somethin’, kid?) Any AMC12 score that qualifies a student to take the AIME is respectable, even if disappointing to a particular person.</p>
<p>My goodness…just saw this. I have already submitted the application with my amc score blank. I am definitely not a maths genius. I did not report it because on that day I was really not in a good condition. Should I email my AMC score to MIT right now?</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply!</p>
<p>Sorry for my wrong understanding…But I have already submitted the application with AMC score blank. Would you like to tell me if I should email my AMC score to MIT right now? Thank you!</p>
<p>If you have already sent in the application, don’t worry about it at this point. They will know your score was high enough to qualify for AIME, and also that it wasn’t 150, or you’d be featured on the web site for the test. So it’s academically in range. I am sure that people in admissions see and overlook lots of omissions and errors on applications–if you look like a good fit otherwise, it won’t affect you.</p>
<p>Please ignore my comments at this point–I have been an occasional “thorn in the side” of some of the MIT admissions folks, anyway, and they’d probably be glad of a chance to prove me wrong! 
Post again when you are admitted!</p>
<p>Addendum: Actually, your AMC12 score is probably academically above the range that is needed, rather than just “in range.”</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply! I appreciate your advice!</p>