Mathletes prepare for AMC competitions

Sixty-four Saratoga students participated in the 90-minute MAA American Mathematics Competition (AMC) on Feb. 3.

The AMC  10/12 (the former offered to underclassmen, the latter to all grades) consists of 25 multiple-choice questions in subjects like geometry, number theory and probability; students receive six points for correct answers, 1.5 for blank ones and none for incorrect ones. A second test will be offered on Feb. 25.
Students who score among the top five percent of all test takers, or more than 120 points on the AMC 10 or 100 points on the AMC 12, will qualify for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME).

Those who score well enough on the AMC and AIME combined to rank among the top five hundred students in the nation will take the U.S. Mathematics Olympiad (USAMO) in late April. Last year, juniors Sean Shi, Celine Liang and Kristine Zhang and sophomore Keshav Narayan qualified.
Math teacher and Math Club adviser PJ Yim hosted meetings every Friday to help students prepare for the competitions.

“I wish that my students push themselves to the limit and do their absolute best,” he said.

Junior Sean Shi, who is a four-time USAMO qualifier and was ranked among the top 50 math students in the nation last year, said that he was “quite happy” with his score.

“I felt this test was on the easy side compared to other recent AMC 12s,” Shi said, who took the AMC 12 as a sophomore last year.