Many students enjoy missing class, but what about missing class to take a math test? Jason Shen ‘25, Sunny Rong ‘26, Alison Choi ‘27, and Nathan Mei ‘29 competed in the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) in early November. Out of eight participants, these four students exemplified an outstanding performance.
“The AMC is a bunch of math problems that involve problems that are a bit harder than what you would normally see in a math class,” said Math teacher Ben Russell. “It’s fun for kids who want to explore a little bit more math without needing deeper material they haven’t seen yet.”
The AMC is a 25-question, 75-minute multiple-choice examination. There are two different tests, AMC 10, focused on math up to the tenth-grade level, and AMC 12, focused on up to the twelfth-grade level. Students who do well on the AMC qualify for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME), another challenging exam. In previous years, only one person has qualified. This year, four students qualified.
“Four is a lot for when I have been here,” said Russell. “ In the past, only Jason has qualified for the AIME.”
The AMC is an opportunity for students to think beyond the classroom, something that Rong looks forward to every year.
“I’ve been taking the AMC every year from freshman year to now,” said Rong. “I like that it isn’t the typical math you would do at school. It’s very creative and requires flexible thinking.”
Out of the four students who qualified, one is only in eighth grade. Because there isn’t an age qualification for the AMC 10, Mei was able to take advantage of this rule and take the exam this year. Although he is younger than all of the participants, there is no doubt that he is familiar with the AMC. He has taken the AMC 8, the exam designated for middle schoolers, every year since fourth grade.
“In seventh grade, I missed the cutoff by a little,” said Mei. “So this year I really wanted to make the cutoff. I thought it was going to be pretty hard, but it was easier than last year. Maybe it’s because I improved.”
All four students did some sort of preparation before going into the exam, but all in different ways. Shen has found math to be an extracurricular activity.
“I’ve been taking lessons from an outside teacher since fourth grade,” said Shen. “I just do a lot of math for an average person I’d say. For example, I do one problem set which is about 30 to 40 problems every week. This has prepared me the most for the AMC.”
On the other hand, Mei has a more individual approach, utilizing online resources.
“I think I ran through every AMC 10 before this one, so about 50 practice tests,” said Mei. “I’ve been preparing for six months.”
But, in recent years, there has been an issue. People have leaked problems ahead of time on online platforms. Because there are students who take the AMC in different time zones, some will memorize the questions and post them online for other people to see before they take it. This heavily impacted Mei last year.
“The leaked problems was a pretty horrible situation,” said Mei. “Last year during the AMC 8, the cutoff was 93.5. That year I got 101.5. I thought I was home free. Turns out, after the problems got leaked, the cutoff went up ten, to 103.5.”
But, despite these challenges, students continue to take the AMC every year for their own enjoyment.
“When I was solving the problems I was very immersed and liked finding if I could find a solution,” said Choi. “It took me a long time, but when I finally got some of the harder questions, I felt rewarded.”
Shen previously took the exam to strengthen his college applications. Doing well on the AIME gives a chance to qualify for the USA Mathematical Olympiad, another competition. Qualifying for the AIME for the last three years, Shen has fallen short each year. But as a senior, he has decided to take a different approach to this test than in previous years.
“I’ve already reaped what I’ve sown,” said Shen. “My goal is just to have fun. I don’t need to take the test anymore, I’m just doing it for the love of the game.”
Russell serves as the proctor for the AMC at Greenhills. He also took the AMC in high school but didn’t enjoy the style of math it gave. Regardless, now, he finds joy in seeing his students thrive in a competitive environment.
“It’s really fun to see the kids who do take it get excited about how they do,” said Russell. “Once the competition is done they start talking about the problems and I have to urge them to leave and go home. They all go to the whiteboards explaining what they did and usually I get stuck at the board thinking about it too.”
Choi participated in this exam as a way to challenge herself. Like most, she felt anxious during the test, and the outcome took her by surprise. She recommends other students take the exam too.
“I think it challenges beyond the concepts you learn at Greenhills and applies them to word problems where you have to really think,” said Choi. “It’s a really good way to challenge yourself.”
