Anonymous
Post 03/31/2025 16:08     Subject: AMC 8 math competition -- what is the point? (seriously asking, not detracting)
Anonymous wrote:
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.


I am searching some math competition related post so I saw this. I think one of the point of doing these is to meet other like-minded mathy kids. And the problems are fun. I sometimes solve AMC-10 questions myself and test them with ChatGPT for fun. Math is like music, art and good wine, having a high level of appreciation of them will provide life-long joy.


+1.

In fact, I sometimes like to combine the two and do an AMC 10 set after a glass of wine before bed. Sometimes I make the AIME cutoff, sometimes I fall asleep, but it's always fun.
Anonymous
Post 03/30/2025 00:53     Subject: AMC 8 math competition -- what is the point? (seriously asking, not detracting)
Anonymous wrote:
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.
It's not. "Plug and chug-ness" is a spectrum. The AMC competitions may seem plug and chug to a research mathematician whose job is unsolved abstract theorems, but it requires much more creative and original thinking than the SAT. And this requirement of original thinking increases the higher up the chain you go.
Anonymous
Post 03/30/2025 00:50     Subject: AMC 8 math competition -- what is the point? (seriously asking, not detracting)
Anonymous wrote:Really? Poor analogy. Taking a math test = running around with friends kicking a ball? No. Just no.

It's a pretty good analogy. Both seem pointless to people who don't "get it". If you're hung up on the team based aspect, MatchCOUNTS and many high school math competitions are team based, while swimming and many high school sports are individual.
Anonymous
Post 03/30/2025 00:48     Subject: AMC 8 math competition -- what is the point? (seriously asking, not detracting)
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.
It's not like the TJ. It's good practice for the AMC 10 and 12, which in turn lead to the AIME, USA(J)MO, MOP, and IMO. Other than the AMC 8, colleges care about all the other tests I listed. In fact, MIT even has a section on their application for your AMC and AIME scores.
Anonymous
Post 03/27/2025 17:01     Subject: AMC 8 math competition -- what is the point? (seriously asking, not detracting)
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.


I am searching some math competition related post so I saw this. I think one of the point of doing these is to meet other like-minded mathy kids. And the problems are fun. I sometimes solve AMC-10 questions myself and test them with ChatGPT for fun. Math is like music, art and good wine, having a high level of appreciation of them will provide life-long joy.
Anonymous
Post 03/30/2023 18:47     Subject: AMC 8 math competition -- what is the point? (seriously asking, not detracting)
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.


Same goes for Soccer or Baseball or Football or any number of activities.
Anonymous
Post 03/30/2023 17:00     Subject: AMC 8 math competition -- what is the point? (seriously asking, not detracting)
Anonymous wrote:
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.


I heard from my friends that there are many other option like Beestar online math competition and Math Kangaroo. Which one would be better for my kid, my son is grade 4 so which one should be better to participate for him. Please give me a suggestion and thank you very much.


Math Kangaroo, Noetic Learning Math contest, Caribou Contests, MOEMS, etc.

https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/List_of_United_States_elementary_school_mathematics_competitions
https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/List_of_international_mathematics_competitions#Elementary_school_competitions

A lot of these contests have past exams either for free or for sale; you can also check out these books: Creative Problem Solving in School Mathematics by George Lenchner, Upper Elementary Challenge Math by Edward Zaccaro, Becoming a Problem Solving Genius: A Handbook of Math Strategies by Edward Zaccaro, Challenging Word Problems 3 or 4, or Intensive Practice 4 by singapore math
Anonymous
Post 03/30/2023 16:44     Subject: AMC 8 math competition -- what is the point? (seriously asking, not detracting)
Anonymous wrote:Really? Poor analogy. Taking a math test = running around with friends kicking a ball? No. Just no.


They're both done by kids usually for fun, and sometimes because parents are pushing them to fit with their notions of prestige/success. Hence the comparison
Anonymous
Post 03/30/2023 16:09     Subject: AMC 8 math competition -- what is the point? (seriously asking, not detracting)
Anonymous wrote:
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.


I heard from my friends that there are many other option like Beestar online math competition and Math Kangaroo. Which one would be better for my kid, my son is grade 4 so which one should be better to participate for him. Please give me a suggestion and thank you very much.


My son is doing so well with the Beestar, it only takes 20 mins a week and I could see that there is an improvement in his calculation skills and speed. It is completely free so it is worth to give a try. The teaching techniques are pretty familiar to the kids so not even worry about kids might get bored of it. Parents can also monitor for the kid's progress. Anyway good luck and hope it helps u.
Anonymous
Post 03/29/2023 03:03     Subject: AMC 8 math competition -- what is the point? (seriously asking, not detracting)
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.


I heard from my friends that there are many other option like Beestar online math competition and Math Kangaroo. Which one would be better for my kid, my son is grade 4 so which one should be better to participate for him. Please give me a suggestion and thank you very much.