<p>Hey I'm currently a Junior in Calc BC and I'm taking the math 2 test in a week. I realized that I have some trouble doing some of the challenging questions, especially from the Barron's book. I came to the conclusion that I don't have a very strong foundation in math. It's not that I'm bad at such math, it's just that I feel that there's so much more that I could explore. The idea came to me after reading the Calculus trap and looking into contest math which I've never really looked at before. My school sort of accelerated me (and an entire class) into Calc and I didn't pay attention much in math before this year. I really want to pursue math and become proficient in non-calc based math. So I was looking into the AoPS courses and EPGY number theory (any1 taken this?) to take something over the summer. Does anyone have any suggestions about how I can practice math? Any good self-study books? how are the AoPS texts? Should I take one of the online courses, how are they? I really want to learn interesting non-calc based math. (Btw I was recently inspired by those hard-working Koreans we all just heard about :))</p>
<p>I have heard some good things about AoPS. Our school valedictorian became really good with AMC and State Math Competition problems after taking some of those courses. Other than that, I think it just takes time practicing number theory and maybe taking some practice AMC tests or other challenging math exams.</p>