I just finished my junior year of high school and I have a whole summer to prepare for math competitions in the upcoming year. This will be the first real time I’ll be participating in math competitions (although I’ve done the AMC contests before) and I really need to prepare because I am terrible at it. I really am. I mean, I’m good at “school math” (I was in Calc BC during the school year and I did quite well) but I’m terrible at this. I guess that means I’m not really good at math but whatever. It’s very frustrating and disheartening to go on places like AOPS and see 4th graders outperforming me on these competitions. Seeing things like that always makes me want to give up. I’m on a math team for my school so it’s kinda important that I do well. Please help.
What do you find difficult for you? Are you solving the problems correctly, but making careless mistakes and getting the wrong answers? Are you too slow in solving? Or do you have difficult figuring out how to solve them?
@h08vs20 I just don’t know how to solve them.
Art of Problem Solving has some online classes that cover advanced math topics to a greater depth. They also have math classes to prepare you for contest math. I believe all classes are under $400 (including the price of a textbook). I’d check them out. My favorite is “Olympiad Geometry.” Definitely visit artofproblemsolving.com as it definitely might help you.
You can always look for previous questions asked at the competitions as practice and try to figure out how to solve them. I’m sure you can look on Amazon for some AMC preparation books.
I recommend doing a lot of different problem and then try to figure out your strengths and weaknesses. If you got a problem wrong, look up how to solve that type of problem and correct your areas.
Contest math is generally harder than regular math, so it is normal to have difficulty in it and still do well in school.
I hope my answer provided at least some help, and I wish you the best of luck. If you need to follow up with me on anything, that’s fine. 
Thanks. Sadly, I can’t afford the AOPS classes but I’ll definitely practice with previous problems!
Surely you can afford the Art of Problem solving books right?
Khan Academy has a section called “Math for Fun and Glory,” or something like that. I haven’t looked at it yet, but you might benefit from it.
I got an AoPS book for pretty cheap on ebay, I think it was 15 or 20 dollars
I have the same problem- I’m so slow on the AMC! I got most of the questions I answered right but I still scored pretty low because I ran out of time with 10 still left.
@lostaccount I have the volume 1 and 2 books. I can’t really buy any more than that because I’d have to buy only certain books for cost’s sake and I haven’t really been able to identify a specific weakness that I’d need an extra book for.
@awesomepolyglot Ah, I see. Thanks!
Yes, the section of Khan Academy has a section for the AMC 10 along with the AIME.