When to sit for AMC 10?

[SoCal_Bear]

For the BTDT, when would be an appropriate time to consider also sitting for the AMC 10 as a younger student? Should you be looking at a certain score or percentile rank? 

DS earned the Certificate of Merit last year with his score.

[daijobu]

If your student has taken some old AMC 10's and is doing reasonably well, there is not reason not to try taking it just to get a feel for the test.  For most students I think they should start taking the AMC 10 in grade 8 to familiarize themselves before high school.  

[seaben]

I've taken a few high scoring middle schoolers every year over to the h.s. to take it. Mostly that's for the experience and a fun field trip. I'd say at least 15ish on AMC 8 to be able to finish some problems and not get crushed as well as appropriate expectations. Practically speaking you could just do the questions after they are released too. 

I did have one AIME qualifier in 8th grade last year. 

[SeaConquest]

On 11/13/2020 at 9:09 AM, calbear said:

For the BTDT, when would be an appropriate time to consider also sitting for the AMC 10 as a younger student? Should you be looking at a certain score or percentile rank? 

DS earned the Certificate of Merit last year with his score.

I don't know what % or score you need to get a Certificate of Merit, but congrats to your DS!

Sacha took both exams last year and will take both exams again this year. He actually did better on the AMC 10 vs the 8 (only scored @ the top 25%ile for the 10 and slightly below that on the 8). It could be because, when he took the 8 last year in November, he was only a few months into Algebra 1, and had a few more months of instruction under his belt when he took the 10 in January/February(?). Or, it could be that he did better on the 10 because he does better when time is less of a factor for him because of his ADHD (or likely some combo of the two, or just standard deviation of error on the exams). He took the 8 yesterday and still had to guess at several problems at the end because my pokey little puppy just plain ran out of time. I really wish they gave 504 accommodations for those tests -- sigh. Ah well. He just does it for fun and to see if he can improve from last year, but has zero expectation of ever being good at these high-stakes exams. 

But, since your DS is so skilled with these exams, I would totally go for it unless you see a reason to hold him back. For example, would he get demoralized if he wasn't earning a super high score? If he is used to doing well, then I could see how maybe only moving him up when he is ready to kick butt might be an advantage. But, if he is mellow about the pressure and psychologically up for the challenge, then he seems mathematically plenty skilled enough to handle the problems on the 10.  

 

Edited November 14, 2020 by SeaConquest

[SoCal_Bear]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will ask him what he thinks about giving it a try. We have time since it won't be until February. 

Certificate of Merit is recognition given to students 6th grade and under scoring 15 or higher.

[SeaConquest]

2 hours ago, calbear said:

Thanks for the suggestions. I will ask him what he thinks about giving it a try. We have time since it won't be until February. 

Certificate of Merit is recognition given to students 6th grade and under scoring 15 or higher.

That's awesome, L. He is a rockstar! 

[mathnerd]

My son started taking AMC 10 at around age 12. For him, the ability and problem solving stamina were not the primary concerns, but, he was not interested in spending 75 minutes on the exam in a strange place before that age. This year, it is conducted online, so, if your son is happy to sit through it and enjoy the process, then, he should take it because it prepares him better for the years when his results matter more to him.

Edited December 22, 2020 by mathnerd

[Staceyshoe]

After Algebra 1 and Geometry