MBM Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 I know this technically is for middle schoolers, but since so many MathCounts kids are doing high school math, I thought I'd post this here. Advice from veterans is welcomed, too! My question is: who exactly goes to Nationals? Is it the top four individuals competing at the state level plus some alternates? Does this mean only the Sprint and Target rounds are considered in determining who makes the state team? The Team score is left out completely? Is the winning team then determined by the total of the Sprint, Target and Team scores? They do not go to Nationals, right, but their coach gets to coach the state team? TIA! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belacqua Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 If I remember correctly, you're right that Team Round scores don't count. If your state has unofficial Countdown, it would be the top four scores on Sprint and Target. If you have official Countdown, it's just the top four places in Countdown (we had a kid go from tenth to first just by smoking everyone else in Countdown). Our state sends one alternate; I don't know what other states do. And I think you're right about how the winning teams are chosen at State. And it is that team's coach who coaches the team for Nats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 (edited) We didn't go to state or even place in the locals (although our coach has in the past). But this is from the rule book, so maybe it will help: The individual score is the sum of the number of Sprint Round questions answered correctly and twicethe number of Target Round questions answered correctly. There are 30 questions in the Sprint Round and8 questions in the Target Round, so the maximum possible individual score is 30 + 2(8) = 46. The team score is calculated by dividing the sum of the team members’ individual scores by 4 (even ifthe team has fewer than four members) and adding twice the number of Team Round questions answeredcorrectly. The highest possible individual score is 46. Four students may compete on a team, and thereare 10 questions in the Team Round. Therefore, the maximum possible team score is((46 + 46 + 46 + 46) ÷ 4) + 2(10) = 66. If used officially, the Countdown Round yields final individual standings. The Masters Round is acompetition for the top-scoring individuals that yields a separate winner and has no impact on progressionto the National Competition. https://mathcounts.org/Page.aspx?pid=312 (Our countdown rounds were unofficial and not scored, and I don't think we had a masters round.) If your student has already finished the competition, he should know whether he or his team placed, without having to figure it out himself. They announce the winners before you leave, or at least ours did. Julie Edited February 17, 2011 by Julie in MN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 If I remember correctly, you're right that Team Round scores don't count. If your state has unofficial Countdown, it would be the top four scores on Sprint and Target. If you have official Countdown, it's just the top four places in Countdown (we had a kid go from tenth to first just by smoking everyone else in Countdown). Our state sends one alternate; I don't know what other states do. And I think you're right about how the winning teams are chosen at State. And it is that team's coach who coaches the team for Nats. All of this is correct. I've watched the state tournament in VA a few times, and that's how it's been done. We've had a local homeschooler go all the way to Nationals once after competing at States as an individual (ie, being on a team has no relevance to moving on to Nats). It's always the top four individuals. The only variable is whether the Countdown Round is official or not in your state (it's just for fun in VA). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted February 19, 2011 Author Share Posted February 19, 2011 Thanks so much, everyone! I wasn't entirely sure how it's done at the state level. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in CA Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 All of this is correct. I've watched the state tournament in VA a few times, and that's how it's been done. We've had a local homeschooler go all the way to Nationals once after competing at States as an individual (ie, being on a team has no relevance to moving on to Nats). It's always the top four individuals. The only variable is whether the Countdown Round is official or not in your state (it's just for fun in VA). Chiming in really late here, but I love MathCounts :D and hi, Kathy! :001_smile: We had the privilege of being at CA state MathCounts last spring (Northern CA -- held simultaneously with Southern CA's), and got to experience the nailbiting wait to see who would go to Nats ... the wrinkle with CA being that the state is split. "We" had three perfect scores of 46, and no one in SoCal got a perfect score, so those three NorCal kids knew they were in, but kid #4 had to wait to see if anyone in SoCal got a 45, and if so, which questions had been missed ... there is some formula for examining the tests question by question to do a tiebreaker. There was some communication with SoCal (by phone? Skype? etc.) and then it was announced that the CA team would be made up of all NorCal kids (yay!). I think this was all going on during the unofficial NorCal countdown round. Very very exciting. We miss it ... best wishes, MBM! ~Laura P.S. I'm not sure, but I think the coach who goes along is the coach of the winning *team*; thus it's possible that the coach will not be from any of the kids' schools and that up to five different schools will be represented. I think that was the case for CA last year -- at any rate, none of the four kids went to the same school (although three of the four boys had surname "Chen" :D); they ended up winning the team competition at Nats, though, and got to meet President Obama! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 Thank you, Laura! California's math teams are incredible. I've bee reading some of the posts at AoPS, and the amount of effort those kids put in is something else. Our team is all excited for State. I have to start thinking about the most important part -- snacks. Should be a fun and exciting day no matter what the outcome is! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in CA Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 California's math teams are incredible. I've bee reading some of the posts at AoPS, and the amount of effort those kids put in is something else. Oh, I know! My son was happy just to be *at* state, breathing the same air as these kids! He knows one boy who got a 42 at state and came in 18th -- he didn't even make countdown (top 16 kids) with that great score. I've heard that in some states the top score isn't anywhere near 42 ... And yeah, these kids put in countless hours ... one boy we know (who went to Nats on the CA team) is consistently the high score on FTW and Alcumus. Our team is all excited for State. I have to start thinking about the most important part -- snacks. Should be a fun and exciting day no matter what the outcome is! :) Yes, snacks!!! :D Best wishes and please keep us posted! ~Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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