^ You can get AMC scores from the person that ran the test locally (e.g. email and ask).

That's a pity about cheating. It devalues the legitimate scores. MK should be for fun anyway, so people should do it properly. DD took AMC 8 in person, so that was obviously proctored. DS will take AMC 12 online with a math circle, and has been told he will be watched on webcam the whole time by the local proctor running the test. That makes sense as it is potentially high stakes. I think MathCounts is also to be online proctored via webcam too. (Maybe not. I thought I saw that, but can't find it.)

AMC 8 results are on website http://amc-reg.maa.org/reports/generalreports.aspx

The stuffed Kangaroo was 2013, I believe.

Links to find locations http://amc-reg.maa.org/amc_external/SchoolSearchByZipCode.aspx https://amc-reg.maa.org/amc_external/amc_higher_education_sites.aspx?ContestType=AMC8 https://amc-reg.maa.org/amc_external/amc_higher_education_sites.aspx?ContestType=AMC

Thanks for confirming the multi-level nature of it. DS is certainly at the lowest level, while belonging in the class. I just have to figure out how best for him to get the most out of the class. For many things he'll just do what's required, and that approach doesn't work with WOOT. He needs to know where more effort is required, versus what's simply out of range.

Yes, it sounds like you need to find the right version, if it still exists, where the kid has the full lineup of subjects/topics, and can choose anything, and the parent can look at progress, and say to kid "do what you want, as long as you finish it all in the end". I can still log into Uzinggo (there's a bit of time left on subscription, but DS finished working through it) and it looks the same, but I never looked into it deeply, as it was so hands-off for me.

So there have now been two live classes (plus an orientation class). The live classes themselves, which I watch with DS, don't seem too hard, and DS has no problem participating normally. But he generally finds the problem sets and other problems outside class to be very very hard indeed. I guess they have to pitch the live class at a level that most enrollees can keep up with in real time, whereas the problems outside class are more challenging since there is no time limit, and they're also trying to challenge all the students. DS has switched from home schooling to virtual public charter, and it's unfortunately time consuming, and he doesn't manage time well anyway, so he may not be putting in as much time as he should to WOOT, but I still think it was the right decision to enroll. I haven't looked at the (outside class) problems myself yet, so I don't know how much I could do them (I'm a mathematician, but it's been decades since I've done math contests), but if DS is not keeping up with the problem sets, I might have to discuss them with him directly (perhaps after peeking at solutions).

What has changed? DS used this until a few months ago, and he could just work through it, and I could just occasionally login to check progress and encourage him to finish, but without me ever needing to do anything. He's finished with it, but we thought we might use it again for a younger sibling, but wouldn't bother if the format has changed for the worse. (DS used it for homeschool, whereas for younger sibling it would be a supplement to school, so we could just skip it.)

He did sign up for WOOT (before the price rise).

^Thanks.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Yes, I would make sure he does the preparation. In regular AoPS classes (which have been his math education for some years) he would do the reading/preparation, and get the homeworks done, but I would sometimes have to push him, and I don't think he would generally do the message board problems. So I'm a bit concerned about him taking full advantage of something as open-ended as WOOT. But the main thing is that he can engage with the difficulty level (and it appears that WOOT tries to cater to different levels).

^Thanks. That Math Jam looks like it's for 2008-09 WOOT, but it's interesting to compare to the recent one. Did you have it bookmarked from then? Does anyone here have feedback whose kid took WOOT some time?

He's done lots of competitions, (starting with MK grade 1) but never with written solutions. But the WOOT information seems to imply that it's okay to be a "beginner" like that. He did some AMC/AIME classes. (BTW he got close to qualifying for AIME some times before.) It could be that he's a candidate for getting "overwhelmed", but I feel like it's worth a shot to try to get to the next level. I think he does have the knowledge (I hope he hasn't forgotten stuff) but the question is, can he see the connections and put the pieces together.

He's done the AoPS Intro (Alg, C&P, NT, Geom) and Interm (Alg, C&P, NT, Precalc) coursework (as well as Calculus), so he's seen all those things. And he had to do some solution writing, and proofs, in the courses.

Average score on 2020 AIME I was 5.71 so he scored (at least) that. He didn't do practice AIMEs (though I think he looked at problems - he was focusing on MathCounts, as that was where he had a better chance of doing well, and he was in grade 8, so last chance for that, but it got cancelled) so it's a sample size of 1 AIME test.

Thanks for that feedback. We'll proceed with caution. The WOOT page says "Students who are not capable of consistently scoring 5 or higher on AIME should strongly consider waiting until they have more experience before joining WOOT." which doesn't tell DS to wait, but that wording doesn't say those with mid-range AIME scores should apply either. But I also looked at last years WOOT Math Jam https://artofproblemsolving.com/school/mathjams-transcripts?id=496 (this year's WOOT Math Jam is actually tomorrow) and saw some exchanges: "skyscraper 2019-08-01 19:59:10 I could do pretty decent on AIME practice tests(6-8 usually) but I have almost never practiced any Olympiad-level problems, is WOOT still beneficial for me? MellowMelon 2019-08-01 19:59:15 You are WOOT's main target audience." That seems more encouraging. Also they said they get about 700 enrollees, mostly in the US, so that suggests the selectivity is not too extreme (similar to the 500 that take USA(J)MO). Also "pi3141592 2019-08-01 20:09:39 Is WOOT designed for people with absolutely no background in olympiad math? MellowMelon 2019-08-01 20:09:40 WOOT offers a lot of material aimed at several levels of students, and a lot of it is catered to people with no olympiad experience at all. But even olympiad veterans should be able to learn from it (which is why people take it multiple times)." "MellowMelon 2019-08-01 19:33:26 Each Practice Olympiad has three levels, ranging from beginner to National Olympiad/IMO difficulty. Students can switch levels from one Practice Olympiad to the next. (Enrolled students will have a sample olympiad at the start of the course to help them gauge difficulty.) Students have 3 hours to take each test. Students turn in their work by uploading onto our website using a button in the classes page, by emailing to a specified address, or by faxing. We will then provide feedback on student work online. We will have an orientation session at the start of WOOT with many more details." "caroline2023 2019-08-01 20:12:05 How hard are the introductory level Practice Olympiads? MellowMelon 2019-08-01 20:12:06 The beginner level practice olympiads are substantially easier than the USAJMO, and perhaps on par with the easier national olympiads out there. Students who are just getting started with olympiad problems should find them a good fit." "ojns 2019-08-01 19:54:21 how close are the difficulties between the practice tests and the actual test? MellowMelon 2019-08-01 19:54:22 On our practice olympiads, the intermediate level we have is a bit easier than the USAJMO, and the advanced level is a bit easier than the USAMO. Part of that is because we have a 3 hour time limit for the same number of problems instead of the USA(J)MO's 4.5 hour limit." So it does sound like they are trying to cater to DS's level, though we can expect it to be tough.

I'm considering whether or not to enrol DS (rising 9th grader) in this: AoPS WOOT (Worldwide Online Olympiad Training) https://artofproblemsolving.com/school/course/woot and if so, how should he approach it. I know I can ask AoPS for recommendations but I'll start with getting feedback here. He's only taken AIME once and got an average score, so may be at borderline readiness for WOOT. I thought he might get around 30th-40th in MathCounts, but it was cancelled, so we couldn't see where he stood there. I won't say more contest result details here, maybe by private message to WOOT expert. He's done the AoPS Intro and Interm coursework (and Calculus), and for various reasons, won't be able to do new (regular sequence) math courses until grade 10, where he'll start to have a wide choice of post-Calculus math courses (but barely time for something like WOOT), so 9th grade will be something of a gap year for regular sequence math courses, so schedulewise it would make sense for WOOT to be his math course for the year. So the dilemma is, this schoolyear may be the best (or only practical) chance to take WOOT, but I fear he is barely ready for that level (though this might be his best chance to get to the next level). So should he go for it? There's also the question of how best to approach WOOT, in terms of motivation and study practices.

Typically one would have done up to Multivar Cal (Calc 3) first. Series from Calc 2. General familiarity/fluency with Limits, Derivatives, Integrals. I've never taught it (taught all the prereq topics though) and when I took the course many years ago, I thought it was a very nice topic, even though I'm not a calculus-y person.

Hmm yes, trying to find a testing center in the ACT online registration reminded me of Monty Python's Cheese Shop sketch.

I just discovered the phenomenon of all nearby (<1 hr drive) testing centers being full (last day of registration). It seems obvious in hindsight, but it just didn't occur to me.

Thanks!

Any suggestions?

Results are out.