MATHCOUNTS
MathCounts is a large national mathematics competition and mathematics coaching program that has served millions of middle school students since 1984. Sponsored by the CNA Foundation, National Society of Professional Engineers, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and others, the focus of MathCounts is on mathematical problem solving. Students are eligible for up to three years, but cannot compete beyond their eighth grade year.
Contents
MathCounts Curriculum
MathCounts curriculum includes arithmetic, algebra, counting, geometry, number theory, probability, and statistics. The focus of MathCounts curriculum is in developing mathematical problem solving skills.
Before 1990, MathCounts chose particular areas of mathematics to highlight each year before changing the focus of the competition more broadly to problem solving.
MathCounts Competition Structure
Sprint Round
30 problems in 40 minutes.
This round is generally made up questions ranging from (relatively) extremely easy to extremely difficult. Like all of the other rounds, it gets progressively harder from the School-level competition to the National-level competition.
Target Round
8 problems given 2 at a time.
Team Round
10 problems in 20 minutes for a team of 4 students.
Countdown Round
High scoring individuals compete head-to-head until a champion is crowned.
Masters Round
Top students give in-depth explanations to highly challenging problems.
Scoring and Ranking
An individual's score is their total number of correct sprint round answers plus 2 times their total number of correct target round answers. This total is out of a maximum of 30 + 2(8) = 46 points.
A teams score is the average of the individual scores of its four members plus 2 points for every correct team round answer.
MathCounts Competition Levels
School Competition
Students vie for the chance to make their school teams. Problems at this level require the least depth of curriculum.
Chapter Competition
Chapter competitions serve as a selection filter for state competitions. A few states don't need to host chapter competitions due to population size.
State Competition
The top 4 students in each state form the state team for the national competition. The coach of the top school team at the state level is invited to coach the state team at the national competition.
National Competition
Nation Competition Sites
For many years, the National MathCounts competition was held in Washington, D.C. More recently, the competition has changed venues often.
- The 2007 competition will be held in Fort Worth, Texas.
- The 2006 competition was held in Arlington, Virginia.
- The 2005 competition was held in Detroit, Michigan.
- The 2004 competition was held in Washington, D.C.
- The 2002 and 2003 competitions were held in Chicago, Illinois.
MathCounts Resources
MathCounts Books
- MathCounts books at the AoPS Bookstore
- Art of Problem Solving's Introductory subject textbooks are ideal for students preparing for MathCounts.
MathCounts Classes
- Art of Problem Solving hosts MathCounts preparation classes.
- Art of Problem Solving hosts many free MathCounts Math Jams. Math Jam Schedule. Math Jam Transcript Archive.
MathCounts Online
- MathCounts Homepage
- Art of Problem Solving hosts a large MathCounts Forum as well as a private MathCounts Coaches Forum.
- Elias Saab's MathCounts Preparation Homepage
- The MathCounts Bible According to Mr. Diaz
- Building a Successful MathCounts Program by Jeff Boyd, who coached the 2005 National Champion Texas MathCounts team.
What comes after MathCounts?
Give the following competitions a try and take a look at the List of United States high school mathematics competitions.
- American Mathematics Competitions (AMC)
- American Regions Math League (ARML)
- Mandelbrot Competition
- Mu Alpha Theta
