If you are interested in taking the American Mathematics Competition (AMC), registration is still open. Please sign up as soon as possible.
Information
On Thursday, February 7, 2019, the Mathematics Department will be administering the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) during the school day. All students in Math Team, Honors Geometry, Honors Algebra 2 and Honors Pre-calculus are required to take this exam and are automatically registered for the AMC A exam only. If they wish to take the AMC B Exam, they should complete the form attached.
(You must use your stuy.edu email login)
Why take the AMC?
Many of our students who score well on the AMC are invited to take the AIME. Success on the AMC places these students in an elite category that is helpful in the college application process. Some colleges (e.g. MIT, CalTech, Carnegie Mellon) have a space for AMC scores on their applications. For students pursuing STEM subjects, colleges consider the AMC to be a better indicator than the SAT2. Just qualifying for the AIME sets students apart, as they would be in the 95th percentile. An 800 on the SAT2, by contrast, only puts you in the 79th percentile.
There is no downside to taking this exam. If you do not do as well as you would like, you do not have to report your score to anyone. Remember that your AMC score does not go on your record. This is another way to help students distinguish themselves as mathematically talented.
The AMC B exam offers students a second opportunity and will be held after school on Wednesday February 13, 2019. Students may take both exams. Students should only sign up for the AMC B if they are also taking the AMC A.
The AMC 10 exam is open to all 9th and 10th grade students (Date of birth must be after 8/13/2001).
The AMC 12 exam is open to all students (Date of birth must be after 8/13/1999).
How well did I do?
To get an idea of how to interpret scores, last year on the AMC 10A a score of 69 was higher than 75% of all scores nationwide, while a 112.5 was higher than 97.5% of all scores. On the AMC 12A, a 69 was also higher than 75% and a 96 was higher than 95% of scores nationwide.
What is the exam like?
It is 75 minutes long and has 25 multiple choice questions. You earn 6 points for a correct answer and 1.5 points for each blank question. If you answer incorrectly, you get 0 points. Only guess if you can narrow it down to two choices.
To practice problems from past contests, visit the Art of Problem Solving website.
