Amc 8/mathcounts

[Lilaclady]

i am considering registering my dd for the aops mathcounts/amc8 class but which one of the two do you think will be good for a student who have had exposure to amc8 and would have finished algebra 1 and maybe half way through the counting and probability text? I think the basic one will be too easy but I also do not want to overwhelm her. She has done some practice mathcounts but not the real thing.

[Julie of KY]

I'd still probably recommend the basic class. You can always drop the class in the first two weeks if it's too easy.

[Kathy in Richmond]

I asked my daughter's advice for you over dinner tonight. She suggested that it's probably wise to start in the Basics level, especially for a student who hasn't gone to MathCounts officially yet. Dd thinks that there would still be plenty of challenge. In fact, we started dd at a comfortable level in the online AoPS school back in middle school so that she'd enjoy the experience and not be overly stressed out. There still were many problems that stretched her thinking, (true in all of their online offerings!)

 

The Advanced AMC/MC class is geared toward kids who have a realistic chance of advancing to the state level competition. If you're still not sure, though, have your dd work through last year's released MathCounts exams at the chapter, regional, and state levels. And, as Julie said, you can always cancel before the third class w/o penalty.

 

Have fun & good luck!

[Lilaclady]

Thanks so much. I think we will do that, it will also be her first time taking an aops class so I want her to have a good experience.

[Julie of KY]

While parts of the class may be easy, there will probably be challenging parts as well since the class covers topics including algebra, geometry, number theory, counting and probability.

 

Have fun.