<p>Is a 136 (my estimation) on the 12 worth sending in? It's usually a very decent score, but this year, it might be different... And if I already sent my mid-year report, how would I notify them?</p>
<p>Excellent score. Send them an email.</p>
<p>hmm :) what about something like 118.5? (I'm a junior) I will apply EA to MIT, so this will likely be my score that I will send. I want to go in to Math, CS:AI, and Physics, so what kind of score range on the AMC 12 is good to send?</p>
<p>Anything over 100 is worth mentioning. That means you are an AIME qualifier, and in the top 5-10% of test takers (depending on the year). But it probably doesn't really grab anyone's attention at a place like MIT until 120 or so.</p>
<p>Gargh! 1.5 points away from 120! And I figured out how to do another problem only 5 min after i finished the test. </p>
<p>What about at caltech? IIRC Ben Golub said only to send in really really good scores or they might hurt you.</p>
<p>Don't worry. The AMC will not make or break your application. A 118.5 is good, but even a 140+ is not an instant accept.</p>
<p>(At least that is what I read on a Caltech thread).</p>
<p>I agree with OSU - your AMC score is just not going to make or break you. It's going to be taken in the context of all the other math stuff you have. A high AMC score plus a high AIME score and qualifying for USAMO is a big deal, but even that is no guarantee of acceptance if the rest of your app is weak. The only way your AMC score would "hurt" you would be if your grades, coursework, AP, SAT etc were all solidly in the top 5% or 10% or whatever, and your AMC score was way below that (the national average for the AMC 12 is mid 70s). </p>
<p>Sagar - the 118.5 is good; you should list it! Just don't expect it to balance out, say, a C in calculus. I tell all my kids to report any AMC 12 score above 100, and list "AIME qualifier" as an honor. If you make a zero on the AIME (or anything else below about 4), don't list the AIME score but it's always worth saying that you qualified.</p>
<p>Blah, I got a 109. Would've had a 115, but didn't pay attention 1 one problem =(.</p>
<p>Who should I send the email to: my interviewer or an adcom like benj.?</p>
<p>Some of you guys are getting a little over-excited about AMC scores. Even 144 from 10th-12th grade aren't considered very highly by either MIT or Caltech (compared to either research, advanced courses, etc. since the test is a joke). </p>
<p>In fact, get 144 on the AMC 12, 100 on the AIME, and qualify for USAMO, it's still not a huge accomplishment. </p>
<p>Only if you're really good are the American Math Competitions anything more than just a nice extracurricular. Reason being that they're trivial compared to anything you'll have to solve at either MIT or Caltech.</p>
<p><a href="compared%20to%20either%20research,%20advanced%20courses,%20etc.%20since%20the%20test%20is%20a%20joke">quote</a>.
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<p>The test is far from a joke. Some of these problems are quite difficult, if not on the AMC tests, then at least on the AIME.</p>
<p>The USAMO problems certainly compare with probably any problem (outside of a research question) you would be asked in a math class. These are tough, tough problems.</p>
<p>I was clearly refering to the AMC 12 (not the AIME) being a joke relative to research or advanced courses. I stand by this statement completely.</p>
<p>But even with the AIME and USAMO, they don't amaze admissions unless the scores are truly very high. I have known a lot of great math competitions people with good stats elsewhere be rejected to every single prestigious college they applied to, Caltech and MIT included. </p>
<p>The reason is that high school math competitions have little to do with real math, and are much easier than college-level problems anyway.</p>
<p>Depends.</p>
<p>The difficulty of doing 25 hard problems in a short time period I would say is comparable to doing 1 or 2 incredibly difficult ones.</p>
<p>It is all relative. In college, many problems take hours to solve, whereas you have under 2 hrs for the AMC.</p>
<p>Asiaknight, I vote for sending an actual paper letter to the Admissions office -- sending an email will necessitate somebody having to print it off.</p>
<p>
[quote]
In fact, get 144 on the AMC 12, 100 on the AIME, and qualify for USAMO, it's still not a huge accomplishment.
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</p>
<p>I beg to differ. A 100 on the AIME would show impressive bribery/forgery skill.</p>
<p>There have been only 60 juniors per year in recent years who have qualified for the USAMO. That's a lot fewer than the number of students who have 800 on the math part of the SAT. Even if they all apply to MIT, it is still a distinction that the majority of MIT applicants won't have, and their acceptance rate is very high. That doesn't mean that USAMO alone will get anyone into MIT, any more than an 800 on the math SAT alone will get them into MIT. But it is an extremely good thing to have. </p>
<p>The vast majority of USAMO qualifiers are also going to have other strong evidence of their math abilities like advanced coursework, test scores, etc. Plus, for every person who qualifies for the USAMO, there is probably an equally math-talented person who simply did not get involved in math competitions for one reason or another but who can demonstrate a comparable level of ability in other ways. Those 60 people are also going to be admitted to MIT at a very high rate.</p>
<p>In terms of the information it gives colleges, I think of the AMC-12 exam as being a higher level version of the math SAT I and II. It spreads out people who may all have similarly high SAT scores. And as such, it is useful to colleges without being any kind of be-all deal.</p>
<p>
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I beg to differ. A 100 on the AIME would show impressive bribery/forgery skill.
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<p>100 points on the AIME = 10 questions correct</p>
<p>Your USAMO index is the number of points you get on the AIME + points on the AMC 12. Your score on the former is tabulated by multiplying the number of correct answers by ten. </p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
In terms of the information it gives colleges, I think of the AMC-12 exam as being a higher level version of the math SAT I and II.
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<p>That's simply not the case in terms of how admissions officers view the AMC 12. </p>
<p>And USAMO qualification means surprisingly little for a college like MIT, by itself. Trust me, I personally know almost all the USAMO qualifiers from California of the past 5 years. This isn't something I make up; most of them would agree with me, and their college acceptances/rejections corroborate this. </p>
<p>Unless they did very well on the USAMO, it was simply a nice extracurricular accomplishment, nothing more.</p>
<p>I was just joking (although normally I do think of the AIME score as 1-15 and the USAMO index calculation as secondary). :)</p>
<p>And, not to speak for texas, but I think his/her point was that while USAMO qualification may not mean much "by itself," it often doesn't come alone.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
And, not to speak for texas, but I think his/her point was that while USAMO qualification may not mean much "by itself," it often doesn't come alone.
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<p>No arguments there. But in the several cases where the student had few other achievements/high marks besides USAMO (not as rare as you may think), their admissions results were almost identical to someone with the same basic stats and no math competitions whatsoever.</p>
<p>My experience with coaching various kids in math contests is that about the time a student can break 100 on the AMC 12, they are in the 750-800 range on the math SAT I and II also. Let's say 2 students have SAT math scores of 800 and identical grades, coursework, other honors, etc. Student A has an AMC 12 score of 101 and an AIME score of 1, and student B has an AMC 12 score of 140 and an AIME score of 8 (qualifying for USAMO). I feel confidant saying that student B is a stronger math student, and I'm guessing that MIT admissions officers are too. Now, if their apps are not otherwise equal, and student A has a lot of other stuff going for them that student B doesn't have, it is still possible for student A to be admitted and student B rejected. Or they can both be rejected, and student C who did no contests at all might get accepted.</p>
<p>It's really an issue of taking any little piece of the app and looking at it in isolation. Things like AMC scores, SAT scores, grades in such-and-such class, etc are neither "important" nor "unimportant" by themselves. They are like little mosaic tiles. It does not matter if you have a blue piece instead of a red piece. It does not matter how "important" or beautiful the individual piece is. All that matters is the beauty of the completed picture.</p>