Math Competitions

American Math Competitions AMC (8), AMC (10), AMC (12)
The competition uses a multiple choice test and is administered nationwide. The problems on these tests are interesting and challenging, stretching students beyond the normal curricular material. The AMC (8), a contest for students in grades eight and below, takes place in November. (This test corresponds to the former AJHSME.) The AMC (10) is for students in grades ten and below, and AMC (12) is for students in grade twelve and below. The test will be offered in February. (The AMC (12) corresponds to the former AHSME.) There is a minimum group size to register for these tests.
For more information, to register or to obtain copies of tests from previous years, contact:
Titu Andreescu, Executive Director
American Mathematics Competitions

American Regions Mathematics League
The American Regions Mathematics League (ARML) is an annual national mathematics competition. High school students form teams of 15 to represent their city, state, county or school and compete against the best students from the United States and Canada.

Virginia Mathematics League
Math League contests are available for grades 4 through High School. Challenging, interesting problems make learning math fun! Most Prince William County Schools participate in this contest.

Johns Hopkins University High School Math Tournament
Conceived in 1998 by Chirag B. Patel and then President Nehal Munshil, the JHU High School Math Tournament has become one of the largest math competitions for high school students on the Eastern Coast of the USA. The tournament draws (on average) 200 high school participants.
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High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling
The purpose of The High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling is to offer students students the opportunity to compete in a team setting using mathematics to present solutions to real-world modeling problems.

The Mandelbrot Competition
This contest is open to high school students who have a fair amount of experience with at least algebra and geometry and enjoy working on challenging, unusual math problems. Here's how the Mandelbrot Competition works: Each of the four rounds consists of individual problems and team problems on two levels: "Division A" (students with lots of problem solving experience) and "Division B" (everybody else). The individual problem set has seven problems of varying degrees of difficulty; the more difficult problems are worth more points. The team competition generally is one problem with multiple parts. Any number of students may participate in the individual competition, but each competing school or group may only enter one team of up to four members at each level for the team competition. However, the team does not have to consist of the same people every round, so there are lots of opportunities for students to be on the team for one round or another. Also, the topic for the team problem in each round is announced in advance, so students can prepare themselves. This is the way the contest is scored: the individual scores for the top four students in each division are added to four times the team score, for a school score in each division. Individuals are also ranked, in each round and overall. Top individuals and teams are recognized in the newsletters that are sent out after each round, and there are some prizes for the top couple of teams and individuals.

The contest organizers also publish two excellent handbooks on problem-solving, The Art of Problem Solving Volume I: The Basics, and The Art of Problem Solving Volume II: and Beyond. Complete solutions manuals are also available.
For more information about the contest take a look at their very comprehensive website, or contact:
Greater Testing Concepts
P.O. Box 380789
Cambridge, MA 02238-0789
To order the The Art of Problem Solving books, contact: Mu Alpha Thet

MATHCOUNTS
This is a mathematics problem-solving competition for 7th and 8th graders. Schools generally have coaching sessions throughout the fall to prepare students for this competition. To this end, the MATHCOUNTS Foundation each year prepares a handbook including a description of and rules for the competition, problem-solving strategies and 300 problems of various types to be used for practice. Each participating school chooses a team of four students along with one or two alternates to compete at the Chapter competitions which are held on a Saturday in February. The MATHCOUNTS program has reached many students whose math problem-solving skills and enjoyment of mathematics were greatly enhanced during their year or two years of participation in training sessions and competitions.

MATHCOUNTS materials from past years can be obtained from Sports Awards--call (800)621-5803 and ask for the MATHCOUNTS Coaching Materials Catalog and Order Form. Copies of competitions back to 1983 and handbooks for each year are available. Answers and a few selected solutions are included in each handbook, and complete solutions manuals are available separately for some of the more recent handbooks.

International Mathematical Olympiad
The aims of the International Mathematical Olympiad are: to discover, encourage and challenge mathematically gifted young people in all countries; to foster friendly relations between mathematicians of all countries; to create an opportunity for the exchange of information on school mathematics syllabi and practice in mathematics education throughout the world. To achieve these aims, an international contest for secondary students in solving mathematical problems is held each year.

Mathematical Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools :
This is a contest for students in grades 4-8, and it is, like MATHCOUNTS, a problem-solving contest. There are two parallel contests for grade 4-6 and grades 6-8, and these take place in five parts, one each month from November through March. The school or math club hosting the contest decides when and where to hold each of the five sessions. Each of the sessions consists of five problems that are worked individually, and individual scores are added for a team score. Individuals and teams are eligible to win awards and certificates. MOES also publishes two books that are very helpful for problem solving: Creative Problem Solving in School Mathematics and Mathematical Olympiad Contest Problems for Children, both by Dr. George Lenchner. Both books include past years' competitions and complete solutions. For information about the contest and/or the books, contact: Mathematical Olympiads for Elementary Schools

The International Mathematics Tournament of Towns
This is a math competition that comes from Russia. Students from all over the world participate in this contest. It is offered twice a year, in the spring and the fall. Any student is eligible to participate. There are two levels of competition, beginning and advanced; they each consists of six or seven problems, and students are allowed up to five hours to work on them. They are not short answer problems, but require written explanation and proof. The best three solutions from each student's work are evaluated and graded, and students are awarded certificates (written in Russian!) for high scores.

The USA Computing Olympiad
The USACO is an international computer programming/problem-solving competition designed for students with experience in programming in Pascal or C/C++. Schools as well individual students may compete. There are several separate contests throughout the year, beginning in autumn. Results of the earlier contests qualify students for the later rounds in the spring. Complete information and schedules for this competition as well as copies of past years' competitions can be found at their website.

The USA Mathematical Talent Search
The USAMTS was established by Professor George Berzsenyi in 1989 to encourage and assist the development of problem solving skills of talented high school students. Participation in this web-based contest is free to all students, who participate as individuals only. Students can begin participating at any time in the school year.

The contest consists of four rounds, with each round featuring five problems. Students write and submit solutions by "snail mail" to at least two of the problems in each round; generally the deadline is about a month after the problems are posted on the web. One of the outstanding features of this competition is that student solutions to the USAMTS problems are graded by mathematicians and comments are returned to the students. The USAMTS stated goal is "to help all students develop their problem solving skills, improve their technical writing abilities, and mature mathematically while having fun ... [and] foster not only insight, ingenuity and creativity, but also the virtue of perseverance, which is equally essential in scientific endeavors.

Points are awarded on a scale of 0-5 for each problem, and are accumulated through the four rounds. Recognition for high scorers is given during the contest through the USAMTS newsletters, and at the end of each contest year prizes are awarded.

World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions
The World Federation of National Mathematics Competitions is an organization of national mathematics competitions affiliated as a Special Interest Group of the International Commission for Mathematical Instruction (ICMI).

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