MathCounts

What is mathcounts?

The MATHCOUNTS Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides engaging math programs to U.S. middle school students of all ability levels in order to build confidence and improve attitudes towards math and problem solving. Middle school students exist at a critical juncture in which their love for mathematics must be nurtured, or their fear of mathematics must be overcome. MATHCOUNTS provides students with the kinds of experiences that foster growth and transcend fear to lay a foundation for future success.

For more than 30 years MATHCOUNTS has provided enriching, extracurricular opportunities to students and free, high-quality resources to educators. Every child is unique, but we believe allchildren are capable of seeing the beauty and joy of math, whether they come to us already passionate about math, or intimidated by it.

There are many paths to math. We work to ensure that all students discover theirs.

What does the test look like?

Every MATHCOUNTS competition consists of 4 rounds—Sprint, Target, Team and Countdown Round. Altogether the rounds are designed to take about 3 hours to complete. Here’s what each round looks like.

• Sprint Round 40 minutes 30 problems total no calculators used focus on speed and accuracy
• Target Round Approx. 30 minutes 8 problems total calculators used focus on problem solving and mathematical reasoning The problems are given to students in 4 pairs. Students have 6 minutes to complete each pair.
• Team Round 20 minutes 10 problems total calculators used focus on problem solving and collaboration Only the 4 students on a school’s team can take this round officially.
• Countdown Round Maximum of 45 seconds per problem no calculators used focus on speed and accuracy Students with highest scores on Sprint and Target Rounds compete head-to-head. This round is optional at the school, chapter and state level.

MathCounts resources

MathCounts Website

MathCounts Playbook