math competitions

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

I’m looking for suggestions on how to register my soon to be sixth grader for Matchcounts or any other math based competition in New York, if his school (a public school in Queens) does not have an affiliation / a registered program with the those organizations that govern and conduct the competitions… I moved here a year back and am still trying trying to understand how to enroll my child in the right schools/ programs that can tap his potential . Comments and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

2

Mathcounts may be challenging. I know that here in PA all teams are school-based and I think that’s true nationally.

AoPS has a list of math clubs, circles, etc. Getting involved in these is better, IME, than most school-based programs. Ours offers the AMC 10/12, AIME, etc.

I know that a student in our club found a school where he could take the AMC8, which is also school-based. Leaders of a math circle would probably have dealt with this issue before.

Worst case, we have 5th and 6th graders that just dive in and take the AMC10.

3

You can google it. There are many sites which list math tests in your area and how they are taken. Some schools give some of the basic ones in school. But usually if you are interested you have to know which take place and the dates. It’s easier if your son belongs to a math club or group. Some math programs like Russian math also provide these tests. Some of the tests will give the first and second level online then the kids come in for additional tests. Some are teams with competitions. There are also events where kids come together like math prize for girls. There are also math circles in some cities. These tend to be run by parents or teachers and can be very high level or just kids who love math coming together.

https://www.thekidstory.com/math-contests-for-gifted-students/

Once/if he gets really interested there will be more competitions for him to look at. Some kids are really good in a specific area and others focus on a single test. It’s an entire world not unlike sports with a language and competitions. You will end up seeing the same kids. Mathcounts or Math kangaroo are probably good places to start as they are easier than many others. He can then get a sense of what he want to study.

4

Some of the popular middle school competitions are:

There is a comprehensive list of math competitions here:
https://www.omegalearn.org/middle-math-contests

Lot of resources (many of them free) listed here:
https://www.omegalearn.org/middle-competition-math

5

Also maybe talk to the head of the Math Department about options.

6

You may want to see if he can qualify for something like JHU/CTY. Iirc, they offer classes for competitive math, so they may also be able to find competition venues for unaffiliated kids.

https://cty.jhu.edu/online/courses/mathematics/ms1.html

This is the link to that class.

7

AoPS has much better competitive math classes and would be a much better source for clubs/other outlets for testing. I’ve been active with both for many years.

With AMC testing virtual this year, finding a location to register with might be easier. Our local club had a couple folks attend in person last year that were not members, one of which who travelled a good distance. MAA lists locations that are open to testing to anyone - usually local colleges. I’d find the nearest one and reach out to the contact.

Last year’s list is here - probably good candidates for an early start - https://www.maa.org/math-competitions/amc-8/locations

8

roundpier had a good list of competitions and programs

9

I second the AOPS courses as prep for MathCounts and other math competitions. In fact, AOPS is hosting MathCounts this year as MathCounts has gone virtual.

Students can register as an independent student. They are called non-school competitors (NSC). https://www.mathcounts.org/competition-rules-faq

10

In our area, Math League is less competitive for 6th graders because the get a subset of their usual crowd and the contestants are generally from span schools. The kids who have moved into 6-8 middle schools move to MathCounts. It might be a good place to start out.