AMC8

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really doubt this is true. How much money would 8th graders have to buy answers to a math test? And how many 8th graders are interested enough in these tests to even plan this? Finally, why would anyone bother when you can look at the past exams and answers well before the test and for free.

I can’t think of any activity that would put an AMC 8 score as a deciding factor for being admitted.

DS took the AMC 8 this year, as a 6th grader. He was averaging a 17 on the practice tests. I am going to guess that he scores around that on the real thing since the exams are all pretty similar.

$15 was how much people paid for AMC10/12 leaked copies this year.

Kids have access to parents computers, and parents can spend money too. Some of the parents who will pay thousands of dollars for prep classes and Curie's TJ prep material will also pay a few dollars to help their kid cheat on a test.

What is the benefit to cheating on the AMC 8? I mean, the results are no longer public. Are there programs that use it as part of their admission? I don’t think there are. I fail to see why people would want to cheat, other than ego. And if it is adult ego that is really embarrassing.

I guess I find the idea that cheating on an 8th grade math extra curricular exam pathetic and embarrassing for everyone. What pressure is a kid feeling if they need to cheat on an 8th grade extra math test?

I proctored some very low stakes math contests, and the sad truth is that some kids will cheat on just about anything. They want the accolades from friends and parents. It is pathetic and embarrassing, but kids don't exactly have the best judgment. When math kangaroo went virtual during Covid, the number of kids with perfect scores skyrocketed, showing that not only will kids cheat on a fairly insignificant contest, but also parents will help their 6 year olds cheat on these contests.

I doubt there are programs that use it directly for admissions, but many kids likely can use it as part of their packets for magnet school or selective program admissions. Even if the lists aren't published, academic institutions and programs can verify scores with MAA.

Your observation about MK is true, but I didn't share it with my child who was very proud to have scored a perfect score virtually that Covid year.
4th grade is a sweet spot anyway for MK (participation traditionally peaks, and the kids who started doing it in 1st grade and are good can manage a perfect score with some practice.)

For AMC8, this leak is unfortunate to the extent that it could affect the HR cutoff (top 5%). My child is right on the cusp and if the cheating were to push the cut-off to 19 that would suck for them. (I haven't told them about the leak, I learned about it in a Google autocomplete suggestion. Thanks Google AI. Or pre-AI.) AMC8 is btw run almost entirely by volunteers so it relies on a sense of civic responsibility we should preserve.

In Mathcounts, they placed 4 male college students in each corner of each room along with a clear policy that the first cheating attempt would have led to disqualification. I think that helped for at least this portion.

?!?!?

Also, 16 male college students (is this a math problem? Is the room rectangular?) can't prevent someone from studying the test and solutions at home before the contest.

For your kid, though, the honor roll doesn't matter. They can compare scores with their friends if they want, and you look up the meaningless percentile score on the charts, and congratulate them for being top 3% of 7% or whatever it might be.

Don't lose sight of the main idea: Learning and doing math. The official test score for the official timed sitting has absolutely nothing to do with the main goal of the activity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really doubt this is true. How much money would 8th graders have to buy answers to a math test? And how many 8th graders are interested enough in these tests to even plan this? Finally, why would anyone bother when you can look at the past exams and answers well before the test and for free.

I can’t think of any activity that would put an AMC 8 score as a deciding factor for being admitted.

DS took the AMC 8 this year, as a 6th grader. He was averaging a 17 on the practice tests. I am going to guess that he scores around that on the real thing since the exams are all pretty similar.

$15 was how much people paid for AMC10/12 leaked copies this year.

Kids have access to parents computers, and parents can spend money too. Some of the parents who will pay thousands of dollars for prep classes and Curie's TJ prep material will also pay a few dollars to help their kid cheat on a test.

What is the benefit to cheating on the AMC 8? I mean, the results are no longer public. Are there programs that use it as part of their admission? I don’t think there are. I fail to see why people would want to cheat, other than ego. And if it is adult ego that is really embarrassing.

I guess I find the idea that cheating on an 8th grade math extra curricular exam pathetic and embarrassing for everyone. What pressure is a kid feeling if they need to cheat on an 8th grade extra math test?

I proctored some very low stakes math contests, and the sad truth is that some kids will cheat on just about anything. They want the accolades from friends and parents. It is pathetic and embarrassing, but kids don't exactly have the best judgment. When math kangaroo went virtual during Covid, the number of kids with perfect scores skyrocketed, showing that not only will kids cheat on a fairly insignificant contest, but also parents will help their 6 year olds cheat on these contests.

I doubt there are programs that use it directly for admissions, but many kids likely can use it as part of their packets for magnet school or selective program admissions. Even if the lists aren't published, academic institutions and programs can verify scores with MAA.

Your observation about MK is true, but I didn't share it with my child who was very proud to have scored a perfect score virtually that Covid year.
4th grade is a sweet spot anyway for MK (participation traditionally peaks, and the kids who started doing it in 1st grade and are good can manage a perfect score with some practice.)

For AMC8, this leak is unfortunate to the extent that it could affect the HR cutoff (top 5%). My child is right on the cusp and if the cheating were to push the cut-off to 19 that would suck for them. (I haven't told them about the leak, I learned about it in a Google autocomplete suggestion. Thanks Google AI. Or pre-AI.) AMC8 is btw run almost entirely by volunteers so it relies on a sense of civic responsibility we should preserve.

In Mathcounts, they placed 4 male college students in each corner of each room along with a clear policy that the first cheating attempt would have led to disqualification. I think that helped for at least this portion.

AMC 10a and 12a were leaked. My kid got a 132 on the 10a, which fell just shy of the top 1% honor roll. It is what it is. He fortunately made it on the 10b, which wasn't leaked and didn't have quite as many perfect scorers.

I wish they forced everyone to do the digital administration in a much smaller time window, since that would significantly cut down on cheating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really doubt this is true. How much money would 8th graders have to buy answers to a math test? And how many 8th graders are interested enough in these tests to even plan this? Finally, why would anyone bother when you can look at the past exams and answers well before the test and for free.

I can’t think of any activity that would put an AMC 8 score as a deciding factor for being admitted.

DS took the AMC 8 this year, as a 6th grader. He was averaging a 17 on the practice tests. I am going to guess that he scores around that on the real thing since the exams are all pretty similar.

$15 was how much people paid for AMC10/12 leaked copies this year.

Kids have access to parents computers, and parents can spend money too. Some of the parents who will pay thousands of dollars for prep classes and Curie's TJ prep material will also pay a few dollars to help their kid cheat on a test.

What is the benefit to cheating on the AMC 8? I mean, the results are no longer public. Are there programs that use it as part of their admission? I don’t think there are. I fail to see why people would want to cheat, other than ego. And if it is adult ego that is really embarrassing.

I guess I find the idea that cheating on an 8th grade math extra curricular exam pathetic and embarrassing for everyone. What pressure is a kid feeling if they need to cheat on an 8th grade extra math test?

I proctored some very low stakes math contests, and the sad truth is that some kids will cheat on just about anything. They want the accolades from friends and parents. It is pathetic and embarrassing, but kids don't exactly have the best judgment. When math kangaroo went virtual during Covid, the number of kids with perfect scores skyrocketed, showing that not only will kids cheat on a fairly insignificant contest, but also parents will help their 6 year olds cheat on these contests.

I doubt there are programs that use it directly for admissions, but many kids likely can use it as part of their packets for magnet school or selective program admissions. Even if the lists aren't published, academic institutions and programs can verify scores with MAA.

Your observation about MK is true, but I didn't share it with my child who was very proud to have scored a perfect score virtually that Covid year.
4th grade is a sweet spot anyway for MK (participation traditionally peaks, and the kids who started doing it in 1st grade and are good can manage a perfect score with some practice.)

For AMC8, this leak is unfortunate to the extent that it could affect the HR cutoff (top 5%). My child is right on the cusp and if the cheating were to push the cut-off to 19 that would suck for them. (I haven't told them about the leak, I learned about it in a Google autocomplete suggestion. Thanks Google AI. Or pre-AI.) AMC8 is btw run almost entirely by volunteers so it relies on a sense of civic responsibility we should preserve.

In Mathcounts, they placed 4 male college students in each corner of each room along with a clear policy that the first cheating attempt would have led to disqualification. I think that helped for at least this portion.

?!?!?

Also, 16 male college students (is this a math problem? Is the room rectangular?) can't prevent someone from studying the test and solutions at home before the contest.

For your kid, though, the honor roll doesn't matter. They can compare scores with their friends if they want, and you look up the meaningless percentile score on the charts, and congratulate them for being top 3% of 7% or whatever it might be.

Don't lose sight of the main idea: Learning and doing math. The official test score for the official timed sitting has absolutely nothing to do with the main goal of the activity.

Haha, right. It was "one in each" - but16 would have been a good idea, too! One proctor for each kid like it's an IEP or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really doubt this is true. How much money would 8th graders have to buy answers to a math test? And how many 8th graders are interested enough in these tests to even plan this? Finally, why would anyone bother when you can look at the past exams and answers well before the test and for free.

I can’t think of any activity that would put an AMC 8 score as a deciding factor for being admitted.

DS took the AMC 8 this year, as a 6th grader. He was averaging a 17 on the practice tests. I am going to guess that he scores around that on the real thing since the exams are all pretty similar.

$15 was how much people paid for AMC10/12 leaked copies this year.

Kids have access to parents computers, and parents can spend money too. Some of the parents who will pay thousands of dollars for prep classes and Curie's TJ prep material will also pay a few dollars to help their kid cheat on a test.

What is the benefit to cheating on the AMC 8? I mean, the results are no longer public. Are there programs that use it as part of their admission? I don’t think there are. I fail to see why people would want to cheat, other than ego. And if it is adult ego that is really embarrassing.

I guess I find the idea that cheating on an 8th grade math extra curricular exam pathetic and embarrassing for everyone. What pressure is a kid feeling if they need to cheat on an 8th grade extra math test?

I proctored some very low stakes math contests, and the sad truth is that some kids will cheat on just about anything. They want the accolades from friends and parents. It is pathetic and embarrassing, but kids don't exactly have the best judgment. When math kangaroo went virtual during Covid, the number of kids with perfect scores skyrocketed, showing that not only will kids cheat on a fairly insignificant contest, but also parents will help their 6 year olds cheat on these contests.

I doubt there are programs that use it directly for admissions, but many kids likely can use it as part of their packets for magnet school or selective program admissions. Even if the lists aren't published, academic institutions and programs can verify scores with MAA.

Your observation about MK is true, but I didn't share it with my child who was very proud to have scored a perfect score virtually that Covid year.
4th grade is a sweet spot anyway for MK (participation traditionally peaks, and the kids who started doing it in 1st grade and are good can manage a perfect score with some practice.)

For AMC8, this leak is unfortunate to the extent that it could affect the HR cutoff (top 5%). My child is right on the cusp and if the cheating were to push the cut-off to 19 that would suck for them. (I haven't told them about the leak, I learned about it in a Google autocomplete suggestion. Thanks Google AI. Or pre-AI.) AMC8 is btw run almost entirely by volunteers so it relies on a sense of civic responsibility we should preserve.

In Mathcounts, they placed 4 male college students in each corner of each room along with a clear policy that the first cheating attempt would have led to disqualification. I think that helped for at least this portion.

AMC 10a and 12a were leaked. My kid got a 132 on the 10a, which fell just shy of the top 1% honor roll. It is what it is. He fortunately made it on the 10b, which wasn't leaked and didn't have quite as many perfect scorers.

I wish they forced everyone to do the digital administration in a much smaller time window, since that would significantly cut down on cheating.

Haven't looked at AMC 10 yet, but I'll chime in that for AMC8 digital administration sucks because you can't draw on the screen you can on a paper copy.
In fact it's really awkward if you have to copy things down. But I guess digital administration is potentially easier to secure. Is AMC 10 purely digital?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really doubt this is true. How much money would 8th graders have to buy answers to a math test? And how many 8th graders are interested enough in these tests to even plan this? Finally, why would anyone bother when you can look at the past exams and answers well before the test and for free.

I can’t think of any activity that would put an AMC 8 score as a deciding factor for being admitted.

DS took the AMC 8 this year, as a 6th grader. He was averaging a 17 on the practice tests. I am going to guess that he scores around that on the real thing since the exams are all pretty similar.

$15 was how much people paid for AMC10/12 leaked copies this year.

Kids have access to parents computers, and parents can spend money too. Some of the parents who will pay thousands of dollars for prep classes and Curie's TJ prep material will also pay a few dollars to help their kid cheat on a test.

What is the benefit to cheating on the AMC 8? I mean, the results are no longer public. Are there programs that use it as part of their admission? I don’t think there are. I fail to see why people would want to cheat, other than ego. And if it is adult ego that is really embarrassing.

I guess I find the idea that cheating on an 8th grade math extra curricular exam pathetic and embarrassing for everyone. What pressure is a kid feeling if they need to cheat on an 8th grade extra math test?

I proctored some very low stakes math contests, and the sad truth is that some kids will cheat on just about anything. They want the accolades from friends and parents. It is pathetic and embarrassing, but kids don't exactly have the best judgment. When math kangaroo went virtual during Covid, the number of kids with perfect scores skyrocketed, showing that not only will kids cheat on a fairly insignificant contest, but also parents will help their 6 year olds cheat on these contests.

I doubt there are programs that use it directly for admissions, but many kids likely can use it as part of their packets for magnet school or selective program admissions. Even if the lists aren't published, academic institutions and programs can verify scores with MAA.

Your observation about MK is true, but I didn't share it with my child who was very proud to have scored a perfect score virtually that Covid year.
4th grade is a sweet spot anyway for MK (participation traditionally peaks, and the kids who started doing it in 1st grade and are good can manage a perfect score with some practice.)

For AMC8, this leak is unfortunate to the extent that it could affect the HR cutoff (top 5%). My child is right on the cusp and if the cheating were to push the cut-off to 19 that would suck for them. (I haven't told them about the leak, I learned about it in a Google autocomplete suggestion. Thanks Google AI. Or pre-AI.) AMC8 is btw run almost entirely by volunteers so it relies on a sense of civic responsibility we should preserve.

In Mathcounts, they placed 4 male college students in each corner of each room along with a clear policy that the first cheating attempt would have led to disqualification. I think that helped for at least this portion.

AMC 10a and 12a were leaked. My kid got a 132 on the 10a, which fell just shy of the top 1% honor roll. It is what it is. He fortunately made it on the 10b, which wasn't leaked and didn't have quite as many perfect scorers.

I wish they forced everyone to do the digital administration in a much smaller time window, since that would significantly cut down on cheating.

Haven't looked at AMC 10 yet, but I'll chime in that for AMC8 digital administration sucks because you can't draw on the screen you can on a paper copy.
In fact it's really awkward if you have to copy things down. But I guess digital administration is potentially easier to secure. Is AMC 10 purely digital?

AMC 10/12 are either digital or paper, depending on what the proctor opts to do. I agree that it's very advantageous to take the paper version due to needing to redraw the figures for the digital one. Unfortunately, the proctor at my child's school opts to do the digital test. I'd like everyone to have to take the same test, so people aren't advantaged or disadvantaged based on the proctor's choice.

The security problem with the paper version is that the proctors are allowed to access the test sometimes up to a week before the administration window even opens so they can translate the test as needed, print out copies, etc. MAA doesn't restrict who can proctor, so any weekend math program or even fake programs can register and access the test in advance. The proctors for the digital version can't see the test before the students take it, and I'm not sure whether they can see it at all.

[Anonymous]

How can we get the score for AMC8 without going directly to the school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How can we get the score for AMC8 without going directly to the school

You can't. You need to get the score from the exam proctor.

[Anonymous]

The proctor still won't send the score after more than three weeks. It is not from the school but from a university test location. Frustrating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The proctor still won't send the score after more than three weeks. It is not from the school but from a university test location. Frustrating.

I see posts on other boards that kids have not received their scores. Maybe some proctors wait for the official results to be set before releasing the scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The proctor still won't send the score after more than three weeks. It is not from the school but from a university test location. Frustrating.

I see posts on other boards that kids have not received their scores. Maybe some proctors wait for the official results to be set before releasing the scores.

What are the other cool math boards?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The proctor still won't send the score after more than three weeks. It is not from the school but from a university test location. Frustrating.

I see posts on other boards that kids have not received their scores. Maybe some proctors wait for the official results to be set before releasing the scores.

What are the other cool math boards?

AoPS has one that kids post on. I don't post there, because that would be creepy, but keep an eye on what is posted as part of watching my kids internet use. I know kids are posting their AMC8 scores and have been discussing the potential cut offs for honor roll and distinguished honor roll.