The American Regions Math League is a national, team-oriented high school mathematics contest that takes place simultaneously in four regions the weekend following Memorial Day. Teams from the western United States compete on the campus of the University of Las Vegas. Practices for the Southern California ARML team are held by Dr. Olga Korosteleva one Saturday per month from 1 – 4 p.m. on the campus of California State University, Long Beach. Results from the AMC contests and Math Day at the Beach as well as participation at practices are used to determine membership and placement on the Southern California ARML teams. Typically, four teams of 15 students each are selected to compete. If you are interested in attending the Southern California ARML practices, visit the team's website. The official ARML site has more information regarding the competition.
ARML Local, introduced in 2008, takes place on a Saturday in the spring. Up to four teams of six students from a single school can participate in the competition, which is similar to ARML.
The team round consists of 10 questions to be completed by the team in 40 minutes.
The theme round is 60 minutes in length and has 10 problems centered around a single topic solved by the team.
The individual round is somewhat similar to the Mathcounts Target round. There are a total of 10 problems, handed out two at a time. For each of the five pairs of problems there is a 10-minute time limit.
There are three separate relay rounds. The first round has two people on a squad (3 squads per team), the second round has three people on a squad (2 squads per team), and the third round has all members of the team on a squad. In each of these relays, the people in the second, third, fourth, etc positions have TNYWR (The Number You Will Receive) written at the top of their paper. The person before them will supply this answer. Points are awarded based on the last person's answers and vary depending on if the correct answer is turned in at the time limit (1 point) or at half the time limit (2 points). The two-person relays are to be completed in 6 minutes, three-person relays in 8 minutes, and the 6-person relay in 10 minutes.
Visit the ARML Local website for more information.
The Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) website is arguably the most popular site for communication between middle school and high school mathematicians worldwide. Featuring an extensive forum with subforums for individual competitions, large math groups, etc, AoPS allows users to collaborate on difficult problems and other math-related topics. AoPS also offers a series of classes categorized by level, topic, and/or test which are taught by their highly experienced staff. Visit the Art of Problem Solving website to learn more about this great resource.
The Los Angeles Math Circle is free and open to all high school and advanced middle school students interested in mathematics. It meets weekly on Sundays from 2 – 4 p.m. at UCLA. Lectures are given by UCLA faculty and math teachers on topics not typically covered in a school curriculum. Also, preparation for the AMC and AIME will be done later in the year. The Los Angeles Math Circle's website provides additional information. An online monthly contest with five problems can also be found at this site.
The United States of America Mathematical Talent Search is a free math competition open to talented middle and high school students. It consists of four rounds of five problems and each question is worth a maximum of five points. Students are given a full month to submit their well-written solutions. These are graded by mathematicians and comments are returned to the student. Books, calulators, and internet resources are allowed to help solve the problems. However, all work must be done by the student alone. The entire contest is administered through the USAMTS website, including problems, solutions, comments, and scores. Prizes are given at the conclusion of the competition each year. Information and problems are available at the official USAMTS website.
Some universities host their own math competitions for high school students, and problems from these contests can provide good practice. The links to several of these contests are listed below: