Advanced middle school math

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: through their weekly(?) after school club.

I would assume Longfellow does a lot of practicing to put so many people at the top every year, but the school I am most familiar with had 2 hour practices weekly, and twice a week once they picked the chapter team in January.
Another school that had a top competitor at state, arguably better than some who did qualify, used to have a lot of practices with students required to do 150 oplet questions weekly, but the school started having teachers do the practices, and is not as rigorous now.
A lot of the practice probably happens in elementary school, with people competing for Math Olympiad and MathLeague(.org). The other school has a feeder elementary with a strong math club.

I would assume that all of the kids who competed in Mathcounts from Longfellow were taking classes through AoPS, RSM, Chinese school, or Curie in addition to their school mathcounts club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No way they are scoring 30+ points on the Mathcounts state round with just Algebra I + school coaching. If a kid truly did that, then the kid is a math prodigy with parents who severely dropped the ball.

You don't have to be a math prodigy for 30+. Take a look at the state round. It is easy to see how someone gets to 30+.

25 of the first 26 sprint and #28 are doable, as well as all the targets.
That would be a score of 42, leaving plenty of room to get 30+.
The geometry that is needed is largely picked up in practices or self study. ES Math Olympiad covers many of the geometry topics, though usually not circles like target #4.

Here's problem 28:
Suppose x and y are real numbers for which 2xy + 16 = x^2 and 2xy + 9 = 4y^2
If y > 0, what is the value of x + y? Express your answer as a decimal to the nearest tenth.

You really think that's doable for a kid in Algebra I?

All of the targets are doable? You really think a kid in Algebra I has any chance at all to solve #4?
https://www.mathcounts.org/sites/default/files/2023%20State%20Competition%20Target%20Round.pdf

Any kids in Algebra I who can self-study and glean enough from their school club to solve problems like this are truly remarkable kids. It's far outside of the norm.

Pretty remarkable. The hard part about sprint 28 is getting there. I think this kid would have gotten the question if he had a few minutes. Similar questions were covered in practice, though not quite as hard as this one.
This student did get question 4. Apparently his coach was not able to do it while looking at it at states, just guessing it was a right angle, even though this coach had explained the specific concept to them several times about slopes and right angles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No way they are scoring 30+ points on the Mathcounts state round with just Algebra I + school coaching. If a kid truly did that, then the kid is a math prodigy with parents who severely dropped the ball.

You don't have to be a math prodigy for 30+. Take a look at the state round. It is easy to see how someone gets to 30+.

25 of the first 26 sprint and #28 are doable, as well as all the targets.
That would be a score of 42, leaving plenty of room to get 30+.
The geometry that is needed is largely picked up in practices or self study. ES Math Olympiad covers many of the geometry topics, though usually not circles like target #4.

Here's problem 28:
Suppose x and y are real numbers for which 2xy + 16 = x^2 and 2xy + 9 = 4y^2
If y > 0, what is the value of x + y? Express your answer as a decimal to the nearest tenth.

You really think that's doable for a kid in Algebra I?

All of the targets are doable? You really think a kid in Algebra I has any chance at all to solve #4?
https://www.mathcounts.org/sites/default/files/2023%20State%20Competition%20Target%20Round.pdf

Any kids in Algebra I who can self-study and glean enough from their school club to solve problems like this are truly remarkable kids. It's far outside of the norm.

Pretty remarkable. The hard part about sprint 28 is getting there. I think this kid would have gotten the question if he had a few minutes. Similar questions were covered in practice, though not quite as hard as this one.
This student did get question 4. Apparently his coach was not able to do it while looking at it at states, just guessing it was a right angle, even though this coach had explained the specific concept to them several times about slopes and right angles.

Again, I'm amazed by this story. You're saying there is a 7th grader who is:
-taking school Algebra I and mostly self-studying contest math
-highly to profoundly gifted in math based on the ability to self study and the ability to be one of the top kids in the state in competitions
-presumably attending school in Ashburn (LCPS and either Eagle Ridge or Stone Hill MS)
-presumably Asian (Ashburn demographics)
-presumably wealthy(Ashburn demographics)
...but the parents haven't put the kid in outside math classes? I mean, basically every kid in Ashburn who is either Asian or wealthy is taking outside math classes, except apparently this one math genius, who is just self studying his way to Mathcounts Nationals.

Yeah. Totally plausible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No way they are scoring 30+ points on the Mathcounts state round with just Algebra I + school coaching. If a kid truly did that, then the kid is a math prodigy with parents who severely dropped the ball.

You don't have to be a math prodigy for 30+. Take a look at the state round. It is easy to see how someone gets to 30+.

25 of the first 26 sprint and #28 are doable, as well as all the targets.
That would be a score of 42, leaving plenty of room to get 30+.
The geometry that is needed is largely picked up in practices or self study. ES Math Olympiad covers many of the geometry topics, though usually not circles like target #4.

Here's problem 28:
Suppose x and y are real numbers for which 2xy + 16 = x^2 and 2xy + 9 = 4y^2
If y > 0, what is the value of x + y? Express your answer as a decimal to the nearest tenth.

You really think that's doable for a kid in Algebra I?

All of the targets are doable? You really think a kid in Algebra I has any chance at all to solve #4?
https://www.mathcounts.org/sites/default/files/2023%20State%20Competition%20Target%20Round.pdf

Any kids in Algebra I who can self-study and glean enough from their school club to solve problems like this are truly remarkable kids. It's far outside of the norm.

Pretty remarkable. The hard part about sprint 28 is getting there. I think this kid would have gotten the question if he had a few minutes. Similar questions were covered in practice, though not quite as hard as this one.
This student did get question 4. Apparently his coach was not able to do it while looking at it at states, just guessing it was a right angle, even though this coach had explained the specific concept to them several times about slopes and right angles.

Again, I'm amazed by this story. You're saying there is a 7th grader who is:
-taking school Algebra I and mostly self-studying contest math
-highly to profoundly gifted in math based on the ability to self study and the ability to be one of the top kids in the state in competitions
-presumably attending school in Ashburn (LCPS and either Eagle Ridge or Stone Hill MS)
-presumably Asian (Ashburn demographics)
-presumably wealthy(Ashburn demographics)
...but the parents haven't put the kid in outside math classes? I mean, basically every kid in Ashburn who is either Asian or wealthy is taking outside math classes, except apparently this one math genius, who is just self studying his way to Mathcounts Nationals.

Yeah. Totally plausible.

DP, but sometimes "self-study" means you're basically tackling courses on your own. Maybe this is what the PP meant. AoPS online, for example, which many of the math contest kids use, including my own daughter, is mostly self-driven and there is not that much support from a teacher, so maybe the PP doesn't count it as a "class." Whatever you call it, you still have to have the discipline to get through number theory, and counting and probability, in addition to covering algebra, geometry, trig, etc. I also find it wildly implausible that some kid only learned their math from algebra 1 at school and attended after school math club once or twice a week and learned all this material from those two sources alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No way they are scoring 30+ points on the Mathcounts state round with just Algebra I + school coaching. If a kid truly did that, then the kid is a math prodigy with parents who severely dropped the ball.

You don't have to be a math prodigy for 30+. Take a look at the state round. It is easy to see how someone gets to 30+.

25 of the first 26 sprint and #28 are doable, as well as all the targets.
That would be a score of 42, leaving plenty of room to get 30+.
The geometry that is needed is largely picked up in practices or self study. ES Math Olympiad covers many of the geometry topics, though usually not circles like target #4.

Here's problem 28:
Suppose x and y are real numbers for which 2xy + 16 = x^2 and 2xy + 9 = 4y^2
If y > 0, what is the value of x + y? Express your answer as a decimal to the nearest tenth.

You really think that's doable for a kid in Algebra I?

All of the targets are doable? You really think a kid in Algebra I has any chance at all to solve #4?
https://www.mathcounts.org/sites/default/files/2023%20State%20Competition%20Target%20Round.pdf

Any kids in Algebra I who can self-study and glean enough from their school club to solve problems like this are truly remarkable kids. It's far outside of the norm.

Pretty remarkable. The hard part about sprint 28 is getting there. I think this kid would have gotten the question if he had a few minutes. Similar questions were covered in practice, though not quite as hard as this one.
This student did get question 4. Apparently his coach was not able to do it while looking at it at states, just guessing it was a right angle, even though this coach had explained the specific concept to them several times about slopes and right angles.

Again, I'm amazed by this story. You're saying there is a 7th grader who is:
-taking school Algebra I and mostly self-studying contest math
-highly to profoundly gifted in math based on the ability to self study and the ability to be one of the top kids in the state in competitions
-presumably attending school in Ashburn (LCPS and either Eagle Ridge or Stone Hill MS)
-presumably Asian (Ashburn demographics)
-presumably wealthy(Ashburn demographics)
...but the parents haven't put the kid in outside math classes? I mean, basically every kid in Ashburn who is either Asian or wealthy is taking outside math classes, except apparently this one math genius, who is just self studying his way to Mathcounts Nationals.

Yeah. Totally plausible.

All of these are true, except for the part about every Asian kid in Ashburn taking outside math classes. I do get surprised by how many people go to Curie, but still not close to every kid. Particularly once you get to middle school, the RSM and similar things drops off a little.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No way they are scoring 30+ points on the Mathcounts state round with just Algebra I + school coaching. If a kid truly did that, then the kid is a math prodigy with parents who severely dropped the ball.

You don't have to be a math prodigy for 30+. Take a look at the state round. It is easy to see how someone gets to 30+.

25 of the first 26 sprint and #28 are doable, as well as all the targets.
That would be a score of 42, leaving plenty of room to get 30+.
The geometry that is needed is largely picked up in practices or self study. ES Math Olympiad covers many of the geometry topics, though usually not circles like target #4.

Here's problem 28:
Suppose x and y are real numbers for which 2xy + 16 = x^2 and 2xy + 9 = 4y^2
If y > 0, what is the value of x + y? Express your answer as a decimal to the nearest tenth.

You really think that's doable for a kid in Algebra I?

All of the targets are doable? You really think a kid in Algebra I has any chance at all to solve #4?
https://www.mathcounts.org/sites/default/files/2023%20State%20Competition%20Target%20Round.pdf

Any kids in Algebra I who can self-study and glean enough from their school club to solve problems like this are truly remarkable kids. It's far outside of the norm.

Pretty remarkable. The hard part about sprint 28 is getting there. I think this kid would have gotten the question if he had a few minutes. Similar questions were covered in practice, though not quite as hard as this one.
This student did get question 4. Apparently his coach was not able to do it while looking at it at states, just guessing it was a right angle, even though this coach had explained the specific concept to them several times about slopes and right angles.

Again, I'm amazed by this story. You're saying there is a 7th grader who is:
-taking school Algebra I and mostly self-studying contest math
-highly to profoundly gifted in math based on the ability to self study and the ability to be one of the top kids in the state in competitions
-presumably attending school in Ashburn (LCPS and either Eagle Ridge or Stone Hill MS)
-presumably Asian (Ashburn demographics)
-presumably wealthy(Ashburn demographics)
...but the parents haven't put the kid in outside math classes? I mean, basically every kid in Ashburn who is either Asian or wealthy is taking outside math classes, except apparently this one math genius, who is just self studying his way to Mathcounts Nationals.

Yeah. Totally plausible.

DP, but sometimes "self-study" means you're basically tackling courses on your own. Maybe this is what the PP meant. AoPS online, for example, which many of the math contest kids use, including my own daughter, is mostly self-driven and there is not that much support from a teacher, so maybe the PP doesn't count it as a "class." Whatever you call it, you still have to have the discipline to get through number theory, and counting and probability, in addition to covering algebra, geometry, trig, etc. I also find it wildly implausible that some kid only learned their math from algebra 1 at school and attended after school math club once or twice a week and learned all this material from those two sources alone.

The coach does give out a lot of homework. Also, Virginia was down this year, so the nearly making nationals would not have been the case in other years.
The kid has not taken any paid classes with AOPS, but may have done alcumus.
We'll see what happens next year, but of course then the kids will be in geometry.
Also, any other year, would have been in geometry in 6th grade, along with some of his teammates who alternate wins in various contests, like TJIMO, Carderock, Blair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No way they are scoring 30+ points on the Mathcounts state round with just Algebra I + school coaching. If a kid truly did that, then the kid is a math prodigy with parents who severely dropped the ball.

You don't have to be a math prodigy for 30+. Take a look at the state round. It is easy to see how someone gets to 30+.

25 of the first 26 sprint and #28 are doable, as well as all the targets.
That would be a score of 42, leaving plenty of room to get 30+.
The geometry that is needed is largely picked up in practices or self study. ES Math Olympiad covers many of the geometry topics, though usually not circles like target #4.

Here's problem 28:
Suppose x and y are real numbers for which 2xy + 16 = x^2 and 2xy + 9 = 4y^2
If y > 0, what is the value of x + y? Express your answer as a decimal to the nearest tenth.

You really think that's doable for a kid in Algebra I?

All of the targets are doable? You really think a kid in Algebra I has any chance at all to solve #4?
https://www.mathcounts.org/sites/default/files/2023%20State%20Competition%20Target%20Round.pdf

Any kids in Algebra I who can self-study and glean enough from their school club to solve problems like this are truly remarkable kids. It's far outside of the norm.

Pretty remarkable. The hard part about sprint 28 is getting there. I think this kid would have gotten the question if he had a few minutes. Similar questions were covered in practice, though not quite as hard as this one.
This student did get question 4. Apparently his coach was not able to do it while looking at it at states, just guessing it was a right angle, even though this coach had explained the specific concept to them several times about slopes and right angles.

Again, I'm amazed by this story. You're saying there is a 7th grader who is:
-taking school Algebra I and mostly self-studying contest math
-highly to profoundly gifted in math based on the ability to self study and the ability to be one of the top kids in the state in competitions
-presumably attending school in Ashburn (LCPS and either Eagle Ridge or Stone Hill MS)
-presumably Asian (Ashburn demographics)
-presumably wealthy(Ashburn demographics)
...but the parents haven't put the kid in outside math classes? I mean, basically every kid in Ashburn who is either Asian or wealthy is taking outside math classes, except apparently this one math genius, who is just self studying his way to Mathcounts Nationals.

Yeah. Totally plausible.

All of these are true, except for the part about every Asian kid in Ashburn taking outside math classes. I do get surprised by how many people go to Curie, but still not close to every kid. Particularly once you get to middle school, the RSM and similar things drops off a little.

A similar ability top student at his school also is not taking outside classes, and I suspect another one as well, as the parents weren't particularly bothered by the dropping of 6th grade algebra.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Again, I'm amazed by this story. You're saying there is a 7th grader who is:
-taking school Algebra I and mostly self-studying contest math
-highly to profoundly gifted in math based on the ability to self study and the ability to be one of the top kids in the state in competitions
-presumably attending school in Ashburn (LCPS and either Eagle Ridge or Stone Hill MS)
-presumably Asian (Ashburn demographics)
-presumably wealthy(Ashburn demographics)
...but the parents haven't put the kid in outside math classes? I mean, basically every kid in Ashburn who is either Asian or wealthy is taking outside math classes, except apparently this one math genius, who is just self studying his way to Mathcounts Nationals.

Yeah. Totally plausible.

Not amazed by below 30 in school round nearly making nationals?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No way they are scoring 30+ points on the Mathcounts state round with just Algebra I + school coaching. If a kid truly did that, then the kid is a math prodigy with parents who severely dropped the ball.

You don't have to be a math prodigy for 30+. Take a look at the state round. It is easy to see how someone gets to 30+.

25 of the first 26 sprint and #28 are doable, as well as all the targets.
That would be a score of 42, leaving plenty of room to get 30+.
The geometry that is needed is largely picked up in practices or self study. ES Math Olympiad covers many of the geometry topics, though usually not circles like target #4.

Here's problem 28:
Suppose x and y are real numbers for which 2xy + 16 = x^2 and 2xy + 9 = 4y^2
If y > 0, what is the value of x + y? Express your answer as a decimal to the nearest tenth.

You really think that's doable for a kid in Algebra I?

All of the targets are doable? You really think a kid in Algebra I has any chance at all to solve #4?
https://www.mathcounts.org/sites/default/files/2023%20State%20Competition%20Target%20Round.pdf

Any kids in Algebra I who can self-study and glean enough from their school club to solve problems like this are truly remarkable kids. It's far outside of the norm.

Pretty remarkable. The hard part about sprint 28 is getting there. I think this kid would have gotten the question if he had a few minutes. Similar questions were covered in practice, though not quite as hard as this one.
This student did get question 4. Apparently his coach was not able to do it while looking at it at states, just guessing it was a right angle, even though this coach had explained the specific concept to them several times about slopes and right angles.

Again, I'm amazed by this story. You're saying there is a 7th grader who is:
-taking school Algebra I and mostly self-studying contest math
-highly to profoundly gifted in math based on the ability to self study and the ability to be one of the top kids in the state in competitions
-presumably attending school in Ashburn (LCPS and either Eagle Ridge or Stone Hill MS)
-presumably Asian (Ashburn demographics)
-presumably wealthy(Ashburn demographics)
...but the parents haven't put the kid in outside math classes? I mean, basically every kid in Ashburn who is either Asian or wealthy is taking outside math classes, except apparently this one math genius, who is just self studying his way to Mathcounts Nationals.

Yeah. Totally plausible.

All of these are true, except for the part about every Asian kid in Ashburn taking outside math classes. I do get surprised by how many people go to Curie, but still not close to every kid. Particularly once you get to middle school, the RSM and similar things drops off a little.

If it’s not your kid, it’s disturbing that you have such detailed knowledge of the kid’s enrichment classes and scores. If it is your kid, you’ve dropped the ball on getting him the proper coaching to meet his full potential. He probably would have made nationals if you weren’t more interested in bragging about his natural talent than you were with properly supporting him.

Still not buying that Eagle Ridge has tons of self taught math geniuses with parents who are totally chill, complacent, and content with nothing more than the school provided resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No way they are scoring 30+ points on the Mathcounts state round with just Algebra I + school coaching. If a kid truly did that, then the kid is a math prodigy with parents who severely dropped the ball.

You don't have to be a math prodigy for 30+. Take a look at the state round. It is easy to see how someone gets to 30+.

25 of the first 26 sprint and #28 are doable, as well as all the targets.
That would be a score of 42, leaving plenty of room to get 30+.
The geometry that is needed is largely picked up in practices or self study. ES Math Olympiad covers many of the geometry topics, though usually not circles like target #4.

Here's problem 28:
Suppose x and y are real numbers for which 2xy + 16 = x^2 and 2xy + 9 = 4y^2
If y > 0, what is the value of x + y? Express your answer as a decimal to the nearest tenth.

You really think that's doable for a kid in Algebra I?

All of the targets are doable? You really think a kid in Algebra I has any chance at all to solve #4?
https://www.mathcounts.org/sites/default/files/2023%20State%20Competition%20Target%20Round.pdf

Any kids in Algebra I who can self-study and glean enough from their school club to solve problems like this are truly remarkable kids. It's far outside of the norm.

Pretty remarkable. The hard part about sprint 28 is getting there. I think this kid would have gotten the question if he had a few minutes. Similar questions were covered in practice, though not quite as hard as this one.
This student did get question 4. Apparently his coach was not able to do it while looking at it at states, just guessing it was a right angle, even though this coach had explained the specific concept to them several times about slopes and right angles.

Again, I'm amazed by this story. You're saying there is a 7th grader who is:
-taking school Algebra I and mostly self-studying contest math
-highly to profoundly gifted in math based on the ability to self study and the ability to be one of the top kids in the state in competitions
-presumably attending school in Ashburn (LCPS and either Eagle Ridge or Stone Hill MS)
-presumably Asian (Ashburn demographics)
-presumably wealthy(Ashburn demographics)
...but the parents haven't put the kid in outside math classes? I mean, basically every kid in Ashburn who is either Asian or wealthy is taking outside math classes, except apparently this one math genius, who is just self studying his way to Mathcounts Nationals.

Yeah. Totally plausible.

All of these are true, except for the part about every Asian kid in Ashburn taking outside math classes. I do get surprised by how many people go to Curie, but still not close to every kid. Particularly once you get to middle school, the RSM and similar things drops off a little.

If it’s not your kid, it’s disturbing that you have such detailed knowledge of the kid’s enrichment classes and scores. If it is your kid, you’ve dropped the ball on getting him the proper coaching to meet his full potential. He probably would have made nationals if you weren’t more interested in bragging about his natural talent than you were with properly supporting him.

Still not buying that Eagle Ridge has tons of self taught math geniuses with parents who are totally chill, complacent, and content with nothing more than the school provided resources.

There's more than two schools doing well in Ashburn, but Brambleton didn't field a team this year due to not getting a teacher sponsor. Not clear if River Bend will get back to contending.

I think the confusion is with Fairfax having 6th graders in elementary. These kids in Loudoun have been doing MathCounts for two years now
There is a difference between sticking to school provided resources, and not paying for AOPS or other classes. The alcumus and mathcounts trainer gives you a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No way they are scoring 30+ points on the Mathcounts state round with just Algebra I + school coaching. If a kid truly did that, then the kid is a math prodigy with parents who severely dropped the ball.

You don't have to be a math prodigy for 30+. Take a look at the state round. It is easy to see how someone gets to 30+.

25 of the first 26 sprint and #28 are doable, as well as all the targets.
That would be a score of 42, leaving plenty of room to get 30+.
The geometry that is needed is largely picked up in practices or self study. ES Math Olympiad covers many of the geometry topics, though usually not circles like target #4.

Here's problem 28:
Suppose x and y are real numbers for which 2xy + 16 = x^2 and 2xy + 9 = 4y^2
If y > 0, what is the value of x + y? Express your answer as a decimal to the nearest tenth.

You really think that's doable for a kid in Algebra I?

All of the targets are doable? You really think a kid in Algebra I has any chance at all to solve #4?
https://www.mathcounts.org/sites/default/files/2023%20State%20Competition%20Target%20Round.pdf

Any kids in Algebra I who can self-study and glean enough from their school club to solve problems like this are truly remarkable kids. It's far outside of the norm.

Pretty remarkable. The hard part about sprint 28 is getting there. I think this kid would have gotten the question if he had a few minutes. Similar questions were covered in practice, though not quite as hard as this one.
This student did get question 4. Apparently his coach was not able to do it while looking at it at states, just guessing it was a right angle, even though this coach had explained the specific concept to them several times about slopes and right angles.

Again, I'm amazed by this story. You're saying there is a 7th grader who is:
-taking school Algebra I and mostly self-studying contest math
-highly to profoundly gifted in math based on the ability to self study and the ability to be one of the top kids in the state in competitions
-presumably attending school in Ashburn (LCPS and either Eagle Ridge or Stone Hill MS)
-presumably Asian (Ashburn demographics)
-presumably wealthy(Ashburn demographics)
...but the parents haven't put the kid in outside math classes? I mean, basically every kid in Ashburn who is either Asian or wealthy is taking outside math classes, except apparently this one math genius, who is just self studying his way to Mathcounts Nationals.

Yeah. Totally plausible.

All of these are true, except for the part about every Asian kid in Ashburn taking outside math classes. I do get surprised by how many people go to Curie, but still not close to every kid. Particularly once you get to middle school, the RSM and similar things drops off a little.

If it’s not your kid, it’s disturbing that you have such detailed knowledge of the kid’s enrichment classes and scores. If it is your kid, you’ve dropped the ball on getting him the proper coaching to meet his full potential. He probably would have made nationals if you weren’t more interested in bragging about his natural talent than you were with properly supporting him.

Still not buying that Eagle Ridge has tons of self taught math geniuses with parents who are totally chill, complacent, and content with nothing more than the school provided resources.

There's more than two schools doing well in Ashburn, but Brambleton didn't field a team this year due to not getting a teacher sponsor. Not clear if River Bend will get back to contending.

I think the confusion is with Fairfax having 6th graders in elementary. These kids in Loudoun have been doing MathCounts for two years now
There is a difference between sticking to school provided resources, and not paying for AOPS or other classes. The alcumus and mathcounts trainer gives you a lot.

Eagle Ridge is definitely more chill, at least if the stories I have heard about other schools and some of their clubs are true. You can look thru AMC 8 scores and you will see a clear difference. The number of parents who pay attention to what is happening or care about whether their kid makes MathCounts is pretty low. One year a kid made the team after doing the school round in 10 minutes, sprint and target. Another top kid who should have been on the school team round was in a hurry and ended up not making the 10 student roster, likely flipped the chapter standings. There was one parent who showed up at school and demanded their kid be on the team after they asked the coach to give the spot to someone else.

[Anonymous]

Nowadays some of algebra 1 gets covered in prealgebra and in elementary school starting at low grades. They use shapes in place of variables. When I was in school, no more than 30 of my classmates would have seen anything with an x before high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No way they are scoring 30+ points on the Mathcounts state round with just Algebra I + school coaching. If a kid truly did that, then the kid is a math prodigy with parents who severely dropped the ball.

You don't have to be a math prodigy for 30+. Take a look at the state round. It is easy to see how someone gets to 30+.

25 of the first 26 sprint and #28 are doable, as well as all the targets.
That would be a score of 42, leaving plenty of room to get 30+.
The geometry that is needed is largely picked up in practices or self study. ES Math Olympiad covers many of the geometry topics, though usually not circles like target #4.

Here's problem 28:
Suppose x and y are real numbers for which 2xy + 16 = x^2 and 2xy + 9 = 4y^2
If y > 0, what is the value of x + y? Express your answer as a decimal to the nearest tenth.

You really think that's doable for a kid in Algebra I?

All of the targets are doable? You really think a kid in Algebra I has any chance at all to solve #4?
https://www.mathcounts.org/sites/default/files/2023%20State%20Competition%20Target%20Round.pdf

Any kids in Algebra I who can self-study and glean enough from their school club to solve problems like this are truly remarkable kids. It's far outside of the norm.

Pretty remarkable. The hard part about sprint 28 is getting there. I think this kid would have gotten the question if he had a few minutes. Similar questions were covered in practice, though not quite as hard as this one.
This student did get question 4. Apparently his coach was not able to do it while looking at it at states, just guessing it was a right angle, even though this coach had explained the specific concept to them several times about slopes and right angles.

Again, I'm amazed by this story. You're saying there is a 7th grader who is:
-taking school Algebra I and mostly self-studying contest math
-highly to profoundly gifted in math based on the ability to self study and the ability to be one of the top kids in the state in competitions
-presumably attending school in Ashburn (LCPS and either Eagle Ridge or Stone Hill MS)
-presumably Asian (Ashburn demographics)
-presumably wealthy(Ashburn demographics)
...but the parents haven't put the kid in outside math classes? I mean, basically every kid in Ashburn who is either Asian or wealthy is taking outside math classes, except apparently this one math genius, who is just self studying his way to Mathcounts Nationals.

Yeah. Totally plausible.

All of these are true, except for the part about every Asian kid in Ashburn taking outside math classes. I do get surprised by how many people go to Curie, but still not close to every kid. Particularly once you get to middle school, the RSM and similar things drops off a little.

If it’s not your kid, it’s disturbing that you have such detailed knowledge of the kid’s enrichment classes and scores. If it is your kid, you’ve dropped the ball on getting him the proper coaching to meet his full potential. He probably would have made nationals if you weren’t more interested in bragging about his natural talent than you were with properly supporting him.

Still not buying that Eagle Ridge has tons of self taught math geniuses with parents who are totally chill, complacent, and content with nothing more than the school provided resources.

You seem to have knowledge of courses taken by a much larger group, or at least think you do to the point you are surprised it doesn't happen. And it appears to be happening from hundreds or thousands of miles away, unless your noncompetitive state is Delaware or WV. Virginia with its lower performance still got #13 this year at nationals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:happening from hundreds or thousands of miles away, unless your noncompetitive state is Delaware or WV.

I'm guessing thousands, formerly 21.5 miles, and that I planned to call a few years ago, to let you know your kid was giving out your number in open chatrooms.

[Anonymous]

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No way they are scoring 30+ points on the Mathcounts state round with just Algebra I + school coaching. If a kid truly did that, then the kid is a math prodigy with parents who severely dropped the ball.

You don't have to be a math prodigy for 30+. Take a look at the state round. It is easy to see how someone gets to 30+.

25 of the first 26 sprint and #28 are doable, as well as all the targets.
That would be a score of 42, leaving plenty of room to get 30+.
The geometry that is needed is largely picked up in practices or self study. ES Math Olympiad covers many of the geometry topics, though usually not circles like target #4.

Here's problem 28:
Suppose x and y are real numbers for which 2xy + 16 = x^2 and 2xy + 9 = 4y^2
If y > 0, what is the value of x + y? Express your answer as a decimal to the nearest tenth.

You really think that's doable for a kid in Algebra I?

All of the targets are doable? You really think a kid in Algebra I has any chance at all to solve #4?
https://www.mathcounts.org/sites/default/files/2023%20State%20Competition%20Target%20Round.pdf

Any kids in Algebra I who can self-study and glean enough from their school club to solve problems like this are truly remarkable kids. It's far outside of the norm.

Pretty remarkable. The hard part about sprint 28 is getting there. I think this kid would have gotten the question if he had a few minutes. Similar questions were covered in practice, though not quite as hard as this one.
This student did get question 4. Apparently his coach was not able to do it while looking at it at states, just guessing it was a right angle, even though this coach had explained the specific concept to them several times about slopes and right angles.

Again, I'm amazed by this story. You're saying there is a 7th grader who is:
-taking school Algebra I and mostly self-studying contest math
-highly to profoundly gifted in math based on the ability to self study and the ability to be one of the top kids in the state in competitions
-presumably attending school in Ashburn (LCPS and either Eagle Ridge or Stone Hill MS)
-presumably Asian (Ashburn demographics)
-presumably wealthy(Ashburn demographics)
...but the parents haven't put the kid in outside math classes? I mean, basically every kid in Ashburn who is either Asian or wealthy is taking outside math classes, except apparently this one math genius, who is just self studying his way to Mathcounts Nationals.

Yeah. Totally plausible.

All of these are true, except for the part about every Asian kid in Ashburn taking outside math classes. I do get surprised by how many people go to Curie, but still not close to every kid. Particularly once you get to middle school, the RSM and similar things drops off a little.

If it’s not your kid, it’s disturbing that you have such detailed knowledge of the kid’s enrichment classes and scores. If it is your kid, you’ve dropped the ball on getting him the proper coaching to meet his full potential. He probably would have made nationals if you weren’t more interested in bragging about his natural talent than you were with properly supporting him.

Still not buying that Eagle Ridge has tons of self taught math geniuses with parents who are totally chill, complacent, and content with nothing more than the school provided resources.

You seem to have knowledge of courses taken by a much larger group, or at least think you do to the point you are surprised it doesn't happen. And it appears to be happening from hundreds or thousands of miles away, unless your noncompetitive state is Delaware or WV. Virginia with its lower performance still got #13 this year at nationals.

Well, my older kids attended one of the TJ feeder middle schools before we moved away. The kids and parents were not even slightly chill about any academic extracurricular. It's hard to wrap my mind around the idea that LCPS has a bunch of very wealthy, chill areas while FCPS does not.