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MATHCOUNTS
What is MATHCOUNTS
MATHCOUNTS is a middle school math competition, organized by the MATHCOUNTS foundation. The competition has 4 levels:
- School
- Chapter
- State
- National
MATHCOUNTS also includes a fun math video challenge.
When is MATHCOUNTS
The competition dates for 2024-2025 are:
- School competitions: November 2024 – January 2025, as determined by the school’s coach. A copy of the 2024 School Competition will be released online Nov. 6, 2024.
- Chapter competitions: February 1-29, 2025. To find the specific competition date for your area and your chapter coordinator's contact information, use the Chapter and State Competition Search tool.
- State competitions: March 1 – March 31, 2025. To find the specific competition date for your state and your state coordinator's contact information, use the Chapter and State Competition Search tool.
- 2025 RTX MATHCOUNTS National Competition: May 11 - 12 in Washington, DC.
Who can take MATHCOUNTS
This competition is only for middle schoolers (unlike AMC 8 where elementary schoolers can also participate). There are 500 chapters in the US, and each middle school is assigned to a specific chapter.
Your school needs to register for this contest. You cannot register for this contest individually unless you are home-schooled. If your school doesn’t currently participate in MATHCOUNTS, you can request your math teachers or administrators to register for this prestigious competition.
Each school can register a maximum of 1 team of 4 students and 8 individuals (12 students total) to the Chapter competition. Most schools use the School level test to determine their top 12 students. Some schools use a series of tests throughout the year for that selection.
Competition Rounds
The MATHCOUNTS Competition Series comprises four distinct rounds, each designed to assess various mathematical skills.
The Sprint Round is an individual event featuring 30 short-answer questions to be completed in 40 minutes. Calculators are not permitted in this round. The objective is to evaluate speed and accuracy in solving problems.
The Target Round is also an individual event, consisting of four sets of two questions each, totaling eight questions. Each set must be completed in 6 minutes. Calculators are allowed in this round. The aim is to assess problem-solving abilities and mathematical reasoning.
The Team Round involves a team of four students working together to solve 10 questions within 20 minutes. Calculators are permitted in this round as well. This round evaluates teamwork and collaborative problem-solving skills.
The Countdown Round is an oral event where students compete head-to-head using a buzzer system. Each problem must be solved within 45 seconds without the use of a calculator. This round tests speed and accuracy under pressure. While the Countdown Round is an unofficial fun round at the Chapter and State competitions, it is used to determine the MATHCOUNTS winner at the National competition. To get a better idea, check out the YouTube videos of past-year National MATHCOUNTS Countdown rounds.
CLICK HERE to view past-year samples of school, chapter, and state level MATHCOUNTS competitions.
How to score high on MATHCOUNTS
How can you score well on the MATHCOUNTS exam? Here are four key things to focus on:
- Understanding all the content: These contests go beyond the school curriculum so there's going to be a lot of new mathematical concepts to learn that are not typically covered in a school curriculum.
- Practice problems to Improve Problem Solving Intuition: MATHCOUNTS and other math contests are designed to challenge the students and require creative thinking, that's something that you can only develop with lots of practice.
- Increase Speed and Accuracy: The Sprint round requires solving 30 short answer problems in just 40 minutes, and most students have trouble finishing those questions. So it is critical to improve your problem solving speed to do well on the contest. There are many resources below which will help you in improving your speed and accuracy.
What are the best resources to prepare for MATHCOUNTS
Resources For Learning Concepts
- MATHCOUNTS Handbooks: If you are taking the MATHCOUNTS at the School/Chapter level or you are new to competition math, then first go through the Handbooks that MATHCOUNTS creates every year. They are pretty comprehensive books with a lot of practice problems. Note that these handbooks are made available to your school teacher after registration. Alternatively you can buy the handbook. You may also be able to find the older handbooks online.
- MATHCOUNTS Minis: Each MATHCOUNTS Mini video provides detailed explanations for at least one MATHCOUNTS problem and its associated concepts. Each Mini also features an activity sheet with practice problems for the discussed concepts.
- Free AMC 8 Fundamentals Course: A free 10-class course that covers the most important concepts for middle school math competitions, and covers fundamental concepts like Casework, Complementary Counting, PIE, Finding Areas of irregular shapes, etc.
- Free AMC 8 Advanced/MATHCOUNTS Course: If you have a good understanding of the fundamental concepts, this course explores harder concepts like Similar Triangles, Stars and Bars, Recursion, etc.
- Free Mastering AMC 8 Book: This 400+ page hybrid book provides a comprehensive practice of the most important concepts, and includes video lectures for every chapter, formulas for every topic, and hundreds of examples and practice problems with detailed video solutions.
- Competition Math for Middle School: The AoPS book written by Jason Batterson is also a great resource for beginners.
- MATHCOUNTS Practice Plans: These plans are prepared by MATHCOUNTS to help students review important topics. They include a video lecture along with practice problems on that topics.
- MATHCOUNTS Contest from the last school year: School, Chapter, and State contest from the previous year (Note: MATHCOUNTS doesn't release the National contest on their website).
