The American Mathematics Contest (AMC) is the first of a series of competitions in high school mathematics that determines the United States Math Team, which competes in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). Until 2000, it was known as the American High School Mathematics Examination (AHSME). The contest was established in 1950. Euclid, detail from The School of Athens by Raphael. ... The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is an annual contest for high school students. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

There are three levels:

• the AMC 8 is for students in grades 8 and below
• the AMC 10 is for students in grades 10 and below
• the AMC 12 is for students in grades 12 and below

Students who perform well on the AMC 10 or AMC 12 exams are invited to participate in the American Invitational Mathematics Examination. The AIME (or American Invitational Mathematics Examination) is a 15-question test given since 1983 to the top 5% of scorers on the AMC high school mathematics contest (formerly known as the AHSME). ...

Rules and scoring

AMC 8

The AMC 8 has 25 multiple-choice questions and is to be taken in 40 minutes. Calculators are allowed.

The AMC 8 is scored based on the number of questions answered correctly only. There is no penalty for getting a question wrong, and each question has equal value. Thus, a student who answers 23 questions correctly and 2 questions incorrectly receives a score of 23.

AMC 10 and AMC 12

The AMC 10 and AMC 12 each have 25 questions, and each is to be taken in 75 minutes. Calculators are allowed.

Each exam is scored based on the number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions left blank. A student receives 6 points for each question answered correctly and 2.5 points for each question left blank. (Incorrect answers contribute 0 points). Thus, a student who answers 18 correctly, leaves 5 blank, and misses 2 gets 18*6 + 5*2.5 = 120.5 points. The maximum possible score is 6*25 = 150 points.

In 2000 and 2001, 2.0 points were given for each question left blank. The number was changed to 2.5 in order to increase the penalty for random guessing, and to make the scoring system more consistent with the AHSME scoring of the 1990's, in which 2 points were given for a question left blank and 5 points were given for a correct answer (the AHSME had 30 questions instead of 25, so a perfect score was still 150).

Starting in 2007, the point value for a blank response will be reduced to 1.5. According to the 2005 awards booklet, this is to discourage students from leaving a large number of questions blank in order to assure qualification for the AIME.

Note: Some of this material is taken from How to Prepare for the AMC Exams, with permission from the original author.

History

The AIME (or American Invitational Mathematics Examination) is a 15-question test given since 1983 to the top 5% of scorers on the AMC high school mathematics contest (formerly known as the AHSME). ...

See also

• American Mathematics Competitions
• List of mathematics competitions
• need more info on mathematics competitions

The American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) is a series of high school mathematics contests used to select the six-member team to represent the United States at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). ... // International mathematics competitions IMO (International Mathematical Olympiad) -- worldwide IMC (International Mathematics Competition for University Students) [1] PMWC (Primary Mathematics World Contest) -- worldwide Regional mathematics competitions SEAMO (SEAMEO Mathematics Olympiad) -- South-East Asia APMO (Asian-Pacific Mathematics Olympiad) -- Pacific rim OIM (Olimpíadas Iberoamericanas de Matemática) -- Spain, Portugal and Latin...

External links

• The Official AMC Home Page
• How to Prepare for the AMC Exams
• The IMO Compendium - huge collection of problems from mathematical competitions, and the most complete collection of IMO shortlists and longlists.