AMC 8 math competition -- what is the point? (seriously asking, not detracting)

[Anonymous]

I see that the AMC 8 math competition is coming up. What is the ultimate point of this? You solve some problems and get a score.... and then???

I can understand that a very small fraction of kids just digs math and likes solving problems for the challenge. But, for the majority of kids who are pretty good at math, but not living and breathing geniuses... what does AMC 8 offer? Bragging rights/resume builder if you do well? Practice for the TJ admissions test? Just trying to understand what it is and why people do it.

[Anonymous]

We have some pretty mathy people in our family, including a college math professor. We've talked about those competitions, and their consensus is that those competitions are fine to do if you like the idea of getting a score and getting ranked in a competition.

That being said, they didn't think that the competitions are all that useful in expanding or enriching math knowledge. The emphasis seems to be on learning to do certain types of problems and doing them over and over again so that the kid recognizes a type of problem when he sees it and can basically plug in the numbers.

The people I talked to about it advised us that the competitions are fine to enter but to not too caught up in them, because past a certain point, they felt that there were better uses of our kid's time.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your balanced reply.

[Anonymous]

How do you get picked for and or mathcounts?

[Anonymous]

AMC 8 is just something you do. You don't have to be picked for it. You find someone or a group that is offering it (like a school or FCAG) and then you take it. I don't know about Mathcounts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see that the AMC 8 math competition is coming up. What is the ultimate point of this? You solve some problems and get a score.... and then???

I can understand that a very small fraction of kids just digs math and likes solving problems for the challenge. But, for the majority of kids who are pretty good at math, but not living and breathing geniuses... what does AMC 8 offer? Bragging rights/resume builder if you do well? Practice for the TJ admissions test? Just trying to understand what it is and why people do it.

Inasmuchas what’s the point of competing in sports? You score ... and then???

I can understand that a very small fraction of kids just digs sports and likes competing in them for the challenge. But, for the majority of kids who are pretty good at sports, but not living and breathing sports champions... what does sports competitions offer? Bragging rights/resume builder if you do well? Just trying to understand what it is and why people do it.

[Anonymous]

Really? Poor analogy. Taking a math test = running around with friends kicking a ball? No. Just no.

[Anonymous]

Why do debate? I mean you're just arguing with another kid. And then one is picked the winner. What's the point?

Or Model UN. You're not actually solving world problems, so what's the point?

But seriously, AMC is a series of exams going thru high school. The ultimate test picks those that will be representing the US in the International Math Olympiad. The US beat China last year for the first time in a long time. Schools like MIT and Cal Tech ask for AMC scores on their applications (not AMC 8, but the higher ones).

AMC 8 weeds out kids who are interested in learning more about math. It's purpose is not so a kid can do the same problem over and over until you memorize it -- totally the wrong way to look at this. You'd be surprised at how many kids don't care much for school math but really enjoy number theory, for example, because they can see real world application. Let your kid try. Maybe they're interested to do more, maybe not. Never know til you try.

Mathcounts is only 6-8 grade. At the competitive middle schools, you have to try out to make the team.

[Anonymous]

My children never did the AMC8, but it is basically to get a sense if you would enjoy doing the higher-level problems for AMC10 and AMC12. If you get a high enough score on the AMC10 or AMC12, you qualify for AIME. If you score high enough on the AIME, you qualify for USAMO. Only about 250 students qualify for USAMO, and the scores on that are a criterion for going to a training camp where the U.S. team for the International Math Olympiad is selected. One of my dc qualified for USAMO and scored in the top 50, but not high enough to make it into the camp. He goes to MIT and I am fairly certain that scoring this high on the USAMO was a reason he was accepted. MIT specifically asks for your AIME and USAMO scores, so it matters to them.

[Anonymous]

Thank you to the last pp or 2. I wanted to know where it leads or why kids would want to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really? Poor analogy. Taking a math test = running around with friends kicking a ball? No. Just no.

I believe the poster's analogy was to sport "competitions" and not sports, in general.

[Anonymous]

My son had a goal of getting a 25 on AMC8 before he aged out. Did it in 8th grade. He has a goal of qualifying for AIME - barely kissed it the past two years! Crossing fingers for this year!

This is no different than a time goal for a race or a juggling goal in soccer. Something to aim for that would stretch present abilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have some pretty mathy people in our family, including a college math professor. We've talked about those competitions, and their consensus is that those competitions are fine to do if you like the idea of getting a score and getting ranked in a competition.

That being said, they didn't think that the competitions are all that useful in expanding or enriching math knowledge. The emphasis seems to be on learning to do certain types of problems and doing them over and over again so that the kid recognizes a type of problem when he sees it and can basically plug in the numbers.

The people I talked to about it advised us that the competitions are fine to enter but to not too caught up in them, because past a certain point, they felt that there were better uses of our kid's time.

Really? From my own experience with math competitions and the AMC series, I think the problems are great at separating the kids who truly understand the math from the kids who can perform well under classroom conditions, but don't really understand what they're doing. Generally, the problems are designed such that you can't just plug in numbers, or at least they make a point of having nuances to the problem that would lead one to plug in the wrong numbers. The highest scoring kids generally were the ones who were exceptionally bright at math, which is I'm sure why so many top college math programs want people's AMC/AIME scores for admissions.

Granted, this was all 25 years ago, before test prep culture over-consumed everything. So, maybe it's different now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really? Poor analogy. Taking a math test = running around with friends kicking a ball? No. Just no.

So, our DC is in a math club, and will take the test voluntarily with all his math club friends. For him, it’s a lot more enjoyable than any team sports. He does play baseball, swims and runs FYI.

[Anonymous]

As a student, I did math team starting in about 6th grade (in Texas) and through the advanced levels at TJ here in Virginia, in addition to the computer programming team and a couple of sports. Math team was pretty similar to sports teams. Both were a lot of fun for me, rewarded practice, offered leadership opportunities, etc.

Competition math teaches advanced problem-solving techniques that are useful in domains from engineering to management consulting. You can't just memorize strategies and recognize problem types. At the higher levels, it is proof-based so starts to get closer to what mathematicians actually get up to all day.