- American Math Competitions:
AMC-->8, AMC-->10, AMC-->12:
-
These competitions are multiple choice tests administered nationwide. The problems on these tests are interesting and challenging, stretching students beyond the normal curricular material. There is a minimum group size to register for these tests. 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, for students in grades ten and below, and AMC-->12, for students in grade twelve and below, will be offered in February. (The AMC-->12 corresponds to the former AHSME.)
Go to Harold Reiter's website to learn more about the new exams, check out a sample AMC-->10, or read about the history of the contest.
Or, for more information,
to register or to obtain copies of tests from previous years, contact:
Titu Andreescu, Executive Director
American Mathematics Competitions
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE 68588-0658
Copies of previous years of the USA Math Olympiad, International Math
Olympiad, and the American Invitational Math Exam (AIME) are
available from
the American Math
Competitions web site.
- American Regions Mathematics
League:
-
The American Regions Mathematics League (ARML) is an annual national
mathematics competition. North Carolina forms 2 teams of 15 to compete
against the best students from other states and Canadian provinces. The
event consists of Team, Power, Individual and Relay rounds. (Check out the State Math Contest website for NC ARML Team results and photos.)
- College of Charleston
Math & Science Weekend:
-
This competition, sometimes referred to as the "C of C", usually takes
place the last full weekend in February or thereabouts. The competition
begins Friday evening with the Computer Contest, which entails writing
several programs to solve various problems, a task for which teams of three
members each are allowed three hours. The math and science competition
begins Saturday morning with the "level" tests (there are three levels
or divisions for students from Algebra up through Pre-Calculus and beyond)
and continues throughout the day with various team and individual events.
Lunch at the college cafeteria is included in the registration. The
contest concludes with an awards ceremony in the late afternoon. Schools
may take as many students as they like. In Charlotte, the Charlotte Math
Club and several of the high schools usually participate in this
competition. Contact:
Math Meet Coordinator
Mathematics Department
College of Charleston
66 George Street
Charleston, SC 29424-0001
FAX: (843)953-1410
- The Duke Math Meet:
-
This is an ARML-style contest sponsored by the Duke University Math Union. The contest problems are targeted toward high school students, including algebra, geometry, and pre-calculus material. For more information, check out their website.
- Furman University Wylie Mathematics Tournament
:
-
This is a one-day event held annually, usually in February or March, at Furman University in Greenville, SC. It includes a two-hour individual exam in the morning and a ciphering match for teams of three students in the afternoon. There are two divisions, based on school size, and junior and senior levels according to the competitors' current math course. Students from all over the Southeast compete in this tournament. Check out their website for more information.
- 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 Theta
601 Elm Ave., Rm. 423
Norman, OK 73019
phone: 405-325-4489
e-mail: matheta@ou.edu
- 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. (In Charlotte, this
competition typically takes place at UNCC in early 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. For more information
about the program, contact
MATHCOUNTS Foundation
1420 King Street
Alexandria, VA 22314.
(703) 684-2828
- Mathematical Olympiads for Elementary Schools
(MOES):
-
This is a contest for students in grades 4-8, and it is, like MATHCOUNTS, a
problem-solving contest. There are two parallel contest s 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. (In Charlotte, the
Mecklenburg
Math Club, a city-wide club for elementary school kids, meets
once a month from September through April, and takes part in the MOES as
part of the monthly meeting.) 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
2154 Bellmore Ave.
Bellmore, NY 11710-5645
e-mail: moes@i-2000.com
fax: 516-785-6640
phone: 516-781-2400
- The State Mathematics
Contests (North Carolina):
-
These competitions are held in the subject areas of Algebra I, Geometry, and
Algebra II, and there is a Comprehensive Exam for more advanced students.
Students can participate individually or as member of a team of three to
five students, depending on local contest rules. The preliminaries are
held in late winter/early spring at locations across the state of North Carolina, usually colleges and universities. (In the Charlotte
area, Wingate University currently hosts local contests in Algebra I and Geometry, and UNCC hosts the Comprehensive test.) Top students in each contest qualify for the State Math Contest Finals, which are held in four locations across the state in late April and early May.
The top students in the Comprehensives Finals become eligible for a number
of scholarships offered by NC colleges and universities. Check the
State Math Contest website for locations and dates for the tests, to see copies of past years'
Comprehensives tests, and for contest rules (amended in 1999) and other information.
- 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
Charlotte Math Club has been participating in this contest for a number of
years, and is the only group in Charlotte which does so.)
- 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.