<p>I was wondering whether it was worth reporting a very low AMC score on the Application. Despite being interested in Mathematics I never was able to do very well on the AMC's the two times I took it my scores were as following</p>
<p>Grade 10 - AMC 12A 76.5
Grade 11 - AMC 12A 88.5</p>
<p>Is it worth reporting these or can I just "forget" to put them on.........</p>
<p>I wish I knew how admissions people think to tell you. Given how they score the thing, I think your grade 11 AMC is only like two questions off from taking the AIME? My son was admitted and he felt a little worried about his AIME scores, which were 5 and 6. His AMC-12s were somewhere in the 110s and 120s, I think, and I'm sure that is much lower than many other kids. I'm sure there are applicants who have never even taken the test, so it would seem kind of odd to hold it against you either way.</p>
<p>I'll ask a guy on admissions, because I really just don't know.</p>
<p>@crazy mom: I'm surprised your son was worried about getting a 6 on the AIME and 120's on the AMC. Those are considered pretty good scores, even for Caltech. I think people don't appreciate just how few people actually do well on the AIME. Glancing at the AIME stats from last year, ~950 scored 6+ on the AIME for a single grade (I added up people who scored 6 or more who were in grade 11 or 12, both of which were ~950), and not all of those 950 even apply to Caltech. And since we admitted ~686 students least year, I think a 6 is pretty darn good. It's certainly a higher score than most people here I've talked to got (not the math majors though, naturally).</p>
<p>Dauntless9, I'm glad you can ask someone in admissions, I'm curious as to this. My younger son got a low 90's score on AMC-12 in 9th grade, and he was wondering if he could skip reporting that and wait and report higher scores, but I told him I thought that was pretty good for 9th grade. </p>
<p>As for the older son, our school never even gave the AMCs until he asked them to because he planned on applying to several schools that asked for it. When he talked to other kids from other schools at math contests and found out that their teachers had given them extensive review sessions on both the AMCs and the AIMEs, I think he just figured that his AIME scores were bad since he had no preparation, plus he hadn't scored much higher from the prior year. At his school, they really didn't tell him much about the test at all. In fact, sophomore year, when he took the AIME, they didn't even tell him what day it was until he showed up at school and they pulled him out of class to tell him he would be missing his a.m. classes.</p>
<p>Heh, that's the same how it was for me crazy mom. I didn't even know those tests were a big deal or people put their scores on applications until I started browsing CC. At my HS it was always just a fun thing all the people that enjoyed math did for fun.</p>
<p>hey, for the amc you just self report right.. there isnt really a way to have the amc ppl send your score is there?</p>
<p>Corrrect, gundamd, as far as I know.</p>
<p>There is a book published each year by the AMC people. It includes the scores of people who took the amc/aime and got over a certain score. It also includes the names of the USAMO qualifiers, MOP attendees, high scorers on the AMC, team scores, etc. I am guessing a school like Caltech can get a copy.</p>
<p>How would a freshmen with a 145.5 AMC, 9 AIME, and USAMO qualification look to Caltech?</p>
<p>Well, those are better scores than a rather decent amount of people at Caltech so I would imagine those scores would look quite good. For reference, I scored a 113.5 on the ACM12 and a 4 on the AIME. That being said, you are presenting such a small amount of information that no one can really say (and even with an infinite amount of information, asking chances is pretty much a waste of time anyway).</p>
<p>By the way, don't you think it's kinda insensitive to post in a "Worth reporting Low AMC score" with your very high AMC score?</p>
<p>Sorry, I didn't realize that when I was posting, I'll keep that in mind for the future. I just didn't want to start a new thread and thought that this was a relevant thread to post such a question.</p>
<p>And I don't really believe in "chancing" as well, but would just like to know if I am on track to being admitted to a school such as Caltech, since I'm a Sophomore right now.</p>
<p>For DataBox
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/california-institute-technology/367914-usamo.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/california-institute-technology/367914-usamo.html</a></p>
<p>(and I agree with the above poster - that sort of post is obnoxious even on Art of Problem Solving, where people like to puff themselves up by showing how disappointed they are by their very high scores)</p>
<p>Ok anotherparent, thanks for the link, but seriously, I was not trying to be obnoxious nor puff myself up, I never stated that I was disappointed with my scores but was simply wondering how they would look to a college of Caltech's caliber...</p>
<p>Furthermore, I have already apologized, so why do you continue to bash me about it?</p>
<p>reading through this thread the op's question has still not beeen answered. :( i have the same q as him and a simmilar amc score too.</p>
<p>So, I finally got a break from working in lab all day now that school has started, and the admissions people I know are finally back/ done in lab too. The consensus among them is that reporting scores typically under 90 cannot and will not help you. They really would like to see AIME qualification, at least once. They also said there are some people on admissions who will see any low score below 100 on the AMC as a negative to your application, while others will simply ignore it and move on. </p>
<p>If you're interested in math or applied math and your highest score on the AMC 12 junior year is <90 ... you shouldn't report it. If you're interested in attending Caltech in general, you probably still shouldn't report it. As a word of caution, I am not nor do I claim to be on the admissions staff, and this represents the opinion of a few Undergrad admissions officers (who are very involved in making decisions I might add) I know.</p>