Dating back to the 1950s, the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) and American Invitational Mathematics Competition (AIME) are two of the oldest and most difficult high school math competitions in America. 

“Every year there are very few people in the world who get a perfect score, and in the past few years, some of these have been students from LHS. But even then no one can consistently get the perfect score of 150,” Muztaba Syed, a captain of the LHS math team and an experienced AMC and AIME test taker, said.

In November, students first take the AMC 8, 10, or 12 depending on their grade level. This preliminary exam consists of 25 questions over a period of 40 to 75 minutes. Tests are scored on  a 150-point scale, and subjects on the tests span various fields of mathematics, including algebra, number theory, and geometry. 

Typically, the top 5% of students who take the AMC 10 and 12 are invited to take the AIME, a 3 hour exam with 15 questions. If students excel in this harder version of the AMC, they can try out for  the USA National Mathematics Olympiad (USAMO). Participants say performing well and getting a good score on these tests is difficult, and requires extensive preparation and dedication.

“Studying for these types of competitions is tricky since the ideas and problem-solving skills need to be trained outside a typical classroom setting. It’s a great way to apply [your] knowledge in fun and interesting ways, and people practice by training with old tests. The tests are quite difficult even if you know a lot of math since it often requires considerable ingenuity and sometimes a bit of luck,” Syed said.

Whilst training for these tests is difficult, they are incredibly rewarding and beneficial to test-takers in various ways.  

“Many students at LHS take them for the prestige or college applications, but for me and lots of other people, it’s really fun and is a great way to push yourself academically. You can’t do well if you aren’t having fun with it,” Syed said.