American Mathematics Contest
The American Mathematics Contest (AMC) (formerly known as the American High School Mathematics Examination (AHSME)) is the first of a series of competitions in high school mathematics that determines the United States Math Team. This team, consisting of 6 high school students, competes in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), and traditionally has performed well. The United States Math Team is the only team ever to achieve a perfect score (all six members earned perfect marks) at the 1994 IMO. That team is known as the "dream team".
There are three levels:
- the AMC->8 is for students in grades 8 and below
- the AMC->10 is for students in grades 10 and below
- the AMC->12 is for students in grades 12 and below
All three levels contain 25 multiple-choice problems (each problem has 5 answer choices), although the rules and scoring differ:
Rules and scoring
AMC->8
The AMC->8 has 25 multiple-choice questions and is to be taken in 40 minutes. Calculators are allowed.
The AMC->8 is scored based on the number of questions answered correctly only. There is no penalty for getting a question wrong, and each question has equal value. Thus, a student who answers 23 questions correctly and 2 questions incorrectly receives a score of 23.
AMC->10 and AMC->12
The AMC->10 and AMC->12 each have 25 questions, and each is to be taken in 75 minutes. Calculators are allowed.
Each exam is scored based on the number of questions answered correctly and the number of questions left blank. A student receives 6 points for each question answered correctly and 2.5 points for each question left blank. (Incorrect answers contribute 0 points). Thus, a student who answers 18 correctly, leaves 5 blank, and misses 2 gets 18*6 + 5*2.5 = 120.5 points. The maximum possible score is 6*25 = 150 points.
In 2000 and 2001, 2.0 points were given for each question left blank. The number was changed to 2.5 in order to increase the penalty for random guessing, and to make the scoring system more consistent with the AHSME scoring of the 1990's, in which 2 points were given for a question left blank and 5 points were given for a correct answer (the AHSME had 30 questions instead of 25, so a perfect score was still 150).
Note: Some of this material is taken from , with permission from the original author.
See also
