This year, AMC 10A/12A will be held on Wednesday, November 5, in S44 from 3:30 to 5 PM. The AMC 10B/12B will be held on Thursday, November 13, in S44 from 3:30 to 5 PM.
Registration:
Interested students should sign up in Mrs. V's room, S44, at Panther Time or Lunch from Monday, September 11 to Friday, September 15. At that time, you will need to pay:
$10.00 for the AMC 10/12 A or AMC 12 B
$20.00 for the AMC 10/12 A and AMC 12 B
You may pay with either cash or check. Please make check payable to "PVPHS Math Team".
Math Team now offers study sessions for the AMC, where current Math Team members can explain topics of math which are covered in the AMC to their peers. If you would like to sign up, please fill out this form. Past presentations can be found here.
Questions?
If you have questions regarding the signups for the AMC, please contact us.
About AMC and MAA:
The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) offers a series of national math exams that are taken by over 200,000 high school students each year, and every first Tuesday of February, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School Math Team hosts the annual American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) from 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM. The two competitions, AMC10 and AMC12, consist of 25 multiple-choice questions answered in 75 minutes. Students may choose which competition they take part in.
According to the American Mathematical Association of America - “For over 60 years the AMC math contests have been the most respected school-based competitions in the nation. The AMC works with teachers, mathematicians, and professional organizations to provide high quality, challenging math problems aligned with curriculum standards. Many well-known colleges and universities request scores from these contests and use them for recruiting and admissions. You may learn more about these competitions at amc.maa.org. Mathematics is increasingly important in our technological and scientific age. Taking enough mathematics in high school is the gateway to jobs and careers of all kinds, even those that are not explicitly mathematical, scientific, or technological. We hope that by offering these contests, we can challenge and inspire students to learn more mathematics.”
The Tests:
According to AoPS: "The AMC 10 and AMC 12 tests mathematical problem solving with arithmetic, algebra, counting, geometry, number theory, and probability and other secondary school math topics. Problems are designed to be solved by students without any background in calculus or trigonometry."
The AMC 10 can only be taken by 9th and 10th grade students. Past AMC 10 problems and solutions can be found here.
AMC 10 students in the top 2.5% of all scorers or scorers with at least 120 points (whichever is more inclusive) will be invited to the AIME (American Invitational Mathematics Examination.)
The AMC 12 can be taken by students of all grade levels, and it is recommended that a very strong 10th grade student take the AMC 12. It covers the topics in the AMC 10 as well as trigonometry, advanced algebra, and formal geometry. About 12 questions are shared between the two tests. Past AMC 12 problems and solutions can be found here.
AMC 12 students in the top 5% of all scorers or scorers with at least 100 points will be invited to the AIME.
AIME:
According to AoPS: "The AIME tests mathematical problem solving with arithmetic, algebra, counting, geometry, number theory, and probability and other secondary school math topics. Problems usually require either very creative use of secondary school curriculum, or an understanding as to how different areas of math can be used together to investigate and solve a problem."
The American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME) is a 3-hour test given in February, consisting of 15 questions, each with an integer answer between 0 and 999. Participants qualify through the AMC 10 or AMC 12. Calculators are not allowed. Approximately 500 of the highest-scoring students are invited to take the USA(J)MO based on their qualifying index (10 times their AIME score plus their AMC score). For more information or to order previous contests, visit the AIME website.
USAMO and USAJMO:
The United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) and United States of America Junior Mathematical Olympiad (USAJMO) are 6 question, 2 day, 9 hour proof-based exams. The USAJMO exam is intended for those in 10th grade or below and contains problems with lesser difficulty than those on the USAMO but will follow relatively the same format. Top scorers on the USAMO and USAJMO are invited to the Math Olympiad Summer Program (MOSP), an intensive three week problem solving camp at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. At MOSP, six students are chosen to represent the United States in the International Math Olympiad (IMO) in July. Visit the official USAJMO, USAMO, MOP, or IMO website for more information.
Past problems and solutions from all levels of the MAA tests can be found on the Art of Problem Solving website.