Preparing for the AMC 8: A Comprehensive Guide

What is the AMC 8 Contest
The AMC 8 is a math contest organized by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). The AMC 8 contest consists of 25 multiple-choice questions that must be completed within 40 minutes. There is no negative marking on this test, so remember to select an answer for every problem, even if you have to guess.

Who can take the AMC 8
Students must be in grade 8 or below and also under 14.5 years of age on the day of the competition. Note that students in elementary schools are also eligible to take the contest.

Where can you take the AMC 8
Many middle schools host the contest in their school. If your middle school doesn't offer the contest, you can try requesting your math teachers or principal to consider becoming a hosting site. You can also search for nearby locations hosting the contest using this zip code search.

The Mathematical Association of America also requests its member institutions of higher learning to consider offering the AMC 8 to students whose schools will not be offering the contest. You can find a list of alternate locations in your area here.

If you are in elementary school and interested in taking the AMC 8, you can also reach out to math teachers in nearby middle schools and check if any of them will allow outside students to take the contest.

How to score high on the AMC 8
So, how can you score well on the AMC 8? Here are four key things to focus on:

• Understanding all the content: These go beyond the school curriculum so there's going to be a lot of learning to do if you're new to competition math.
• Being able to apply concepts to tricky problems: These are math content problems and the problems are not straightforward like in school math, so the problems require creative thinking and that's something that can only be achieved with more practice.
• Solving the problems accurately: You need to learn how to avoid common mistakes like calculation errors, silly mistakes, misreading the questions, etc.
• Working quickly: You need to finish 25 problems in 40 minutes, and you need to learn good time management so you can attempt all the questions without getting stuck.

What are the best resources to prepare for the AMC 8 contest

Beginners
If you are new to competition math or taking the AMC 8 for the first or second time, you need to ensure that you have a good understanding of the fundamental mathematical concepts. You can use the following resources to get started:

• Free AMC 8 Fundamentals Course: A free 10-class course that covers the most important concepts for the AMC 8 like Casework, Complementary Counting, PIE, Finding Areas of irregular shapes, etc.
• Competition Math for Middle School: The AoPS book is also a great resource for beginners.
• Prealgebra by AoPS: The AoPS book is a great resource for beginners.

Advanced
For more advanced students, the following resources will help you improve your skills and help you achieve a perfect score.

• Free AMC 8 Advanced Course: If you have a good understanding of the fundamental concepts, the AMC 8 Advanced Course explores harder concepts like Similar Triangles, Stars and Bars, Recursion, etc.
• Free Mastering AMC 8 Book: This is 400+ page hybrid book that contains formulas and video lectures for every AMC 8 topic, along with hundreds of examples and practice problems (some with written solutions and some with video solutions).
• Volume 1: The Basics book by AoPS: For even more advanced students, the Volume 1 essentially provides a summary of the Introduction Series by AoPS, covering many important concepts.

Introduction Series books by AoPS: For even more practice, you should check out the "Introduction" series books from AoPS:

• Introduction to Algebra
• Introduction to Counting & Probability
• Introduction to Geometry
• Introduction to Number Theory

Practice Contests & Mocks

• Official AMC 8's from previous years with solutions: Use these tests with a 40 minute timer to simulate test-taking situations.
• AoPS Created Mock Contest 2022: A high-quality mock contest created by Art of Problem Solving problem writers.
• AoPS Created Mock Contest 2021: Another high-quality mock contest created by Art of Problem Solving problem writers.
• AoPS User created Mock Contests: These mock contests are created by users on the AoPS forums and are of varying quality and difficulty levels. Still a good practice if you have completed all the previous year’s AMC 8 contests.
• AlphaStar AMC 8 Practice Tests Book: A book with some high-quality mock contests created by the problem-writing team at AlphaStar Academy.
• Challenging Problems in Middle School Math: This is a good book for preparing for middle school competitions.