I am a current sophomore and I really want to qualify for the AIME junior year. I took the AMC 10 as a freshman and got an 81 without any preparation. I studied for it this year and usually got in the high 80s-mid 90s on my practice exams but I missed the real thing because I had a migraine. I understand that the qualifying score on the AMC 12 is lower but it is a harder test. Is there anyway I can improve from a 90 ish on the AMC 10 to a 100 on the AMC 12 in a year? What books/study guides do you recommend (I looked into AoPS but that was far too expensive)
One last note: I am only looking for tips to improve, I already know my score was bad so save yourself the typing and don’t mention it.
@annana AoPS textbooks are probably the best resources.
In terms of tips, a very good way to prepare is to simply work through past AMC 12’s. However, there are lots of topics that occur frequently on the AMC and AIME that aren’t often covered in the standard HS curriculum, e.g. Vieta’s formulas, AM-GM-HM and Cauchy-Schwarz inequalities, lots of theorems in geometry, number theory and combinatorics, etc., which is why I don’t recommend just doing past AMC 12’s.
@MITer94 if I did bite the bullet and get one, which volume is better for AMC/AIME?
@annana The intermediate-level series (“Intermediate Algebra,” etc.) is good for AIME preparation. However, there are other books in that series (e.g. counting/probability) and it might not be the cheapest option.