MathCount/AMC8/Science Olympiad

[Anonymous]

I keep reading here about these exams, What is the benefit of having these MathCount/AMC8/Science Olympiad tests? Lot of parents prep thier kids for these activities and I am guessing manbily they are for getting thier kdis in to good college or perhaps TJ.
Does these activities really matter? Can't think that all the students who gets in to Ivy League/Top colleges/TJ could have sit for these exams which are mainly run by private entity.

[Anonymous]

It is not about college admissions. At one point, it might have been about TJ admissions, but they stopped looking at awards and extracurriculars.

They are contests that students try to do well at.
Doing well on the high school version of AMC8, AMC12, can get you admissions to MIT, CalTech, and other engineering schools.
Science Olympiad and science fairs like Westinghouse and ISEF will also stand out.
Doing well at MathCounts Nationals can get kids college scholarships, particularly the top girls.

[Anonymous]

I did MathCounts as a kid and have volunteered in various ways as an adult. My advice is that students should only participate if they really enjoy math - because that's how most of the others involved will feel. If a kid is forced into it the enthusiasm of the others will make them resent it even more.

[Anonymous]

Some kids are just very interested in these activities. My child is not into sports but loves math contests and SO. Made many close friends due to these events.

If a kid thinks of these as "exams" then I would not recommend these activities.

[Anonymous]

I am original OP. Thanks everyone for valueble insight.

[Anonymous]

My kid really likes AMC-8. He likes tests. I do too. We printed it out and did a competition with our neighbors one year. We are strange I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid really likes AMC-8. He likes tests. I do too. We printed it out and did a competition with our neighbors one year. We are strange I guess.

Not really. Tests can be really fun, akin to solving puzzles, or playing strategy games. I'm surprised more humans don't enjoy them (perhaps because tests with crappy/boring questions were forced on them).

[Anonymous]

Math oriented kids are unlikely to see challenging problems that really make them think in their regular math classes. Math contests have interesting, creative problems that ask kids to think about and solve things in ways they hadn't before considered.

Also, humans are inherently competitive people. Turning math into a competition motivates kids to learn more than they otherwise would.

[Anonymous]

My kid likes them and have a social group that participates. I think of it as the same as being in band or on a sports team or on yearbook or whatever. Pursuing their interests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We printed it out and did a competition with our neighbors one year. We are strange I guess.

How did you realize your neighbors would be cool with you bringing up something like that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We printed it out and did a competition with our neighbors one year. We are strange I guess.

How did you realize your neighbors would be cool with you bringing up something like that?

Because we are friends and talk about things like interests and things we're doing in our lives, you know, like friends do?

[Anonymous]

If you have to push your kid into mathletes, and they are not naturally gifted, then it's a poor fit. I really would not push these things unless it was a situation like high-IQ low-motivation, because sometimes really gifted kids don't realize how much they enjoy competitive puzzle solving until they try it.