New Hyde Park Memorial High School students participated in the 2024 American Mathematics Competitions 10 and 12 on Wednesday, November 6 2024. The AMC, organized by the Mathematical Association of America, is a national examination designed to challenge students with unique and thought-provoking problems beyond the standard math curriculum.
The AMC is open to students in grades 9 through 12, with two separate competitions: the AMC 10, for grades 9 and 10 and the AMC 12, for grades 11 and 12. Participants have 75 minutes to tackle 25 challenging multiple-choice questions, with a scoring system emphasizing precision and strategic thinking. Contestants are granted 6 points for a correct answer, 1.5 points for unanswered questions and 0 points for an incorrect answer.
“By having students participate in exams like the AMC, they can be exposed to a totally different style of questions than they usually see during class,” junior Rifaya Khan said.
The questions on the AMC cover a wide range of mathematical topics, including algebra, geometry, number theory and combinatorics. These problems vary in difficulty, encouraging students to solve as many problems as possible while avoiding incorrect answers. Students found the experience challenging due to the distinctive style of questions emphasizing logic and reasoning.
“Performance-wise, I don’t believe I did my best. If I could do it all over again, I would definitely do more practice problems and get more familiar with the exam format to feel more calm and collected during the test,” sophomore Obed Glanson said.
New Hyde Park Memorial’s Mathletes club offered students opportunities to prepare for the AMC through weekly meetings in which they worked on problems from prior Mathletes competitions. These sessions focused on strengthening problem-solving skills and familiarizing students with questions similar to those on the AMC.
In addition to developing mathematical skills, the AMC provides students with an opportunity to qualify for further competitions, such as the American Invitational Mathematics Examination. Participants who achieve qualifying scores are invited to continue competing at higher levels, which can lead to additional opportunities in mathematics.
There are a few ways to qualify for the AIME. If taking the AMC 10, those who wish to qualify will either need above a score of 120, or to be in the top 2.5% of test takers. Those who are taking the AMC 12 will require a score greater than 100 or be in the top 5% of test takers.
“If you’re a math student, or a student that’s looking to develop your problem-solving skills, it’s always a good idea to try and challenge yourself by participating in competitions like the AMC—it’s really an opportunity that you don’t get in any other circumstance,” Mathletes adviser Mr. Sime said.
“The AMC is a beautiful, humbling competition that exposes students to *actual* mathematics. It’s not about drilling the same procedure over and over again, nor memorizing a scattered array of formulas; it’s about trying (and mostly failing) to solve short, elegant problems that you have never been exposed to, with nothing but your pencil and your thoughts,” junior Zarif Abrar said.
