MATHCOUNTS Resources

MATHCOUNTS is a national math competition for middle school students. Every school year has four levels, and the best teams and students at each one move on to the next.

School

Winter

Your school's coach gives it, usually to pick who's on the team.

Chapter

February

Local competitions all over each state. The top teams and students go on to State.

State

March

The four best students in each state become its team at Nationals.

National

May

The best students from every state, competing for the national title.

Sprint Round30 problems, 40 minutes, no calculator

Thirty problems on your own. It's mostly about being quick and careful.

Target Round8 problems, 6 minutes a pair, calculator allowed

Eight harder problems on your own, handed out two at a time.

Team Round10 problems, 20 minutes, calculator allowed

Ten problems for your team of four to split up and solve together.

Countdown Round45 seconds a problem, no calculator

Two students face off, one problem at a time. Whoever gets it right first wins the point.

Your score is your Sprint score plus twice your Target score, out of 46. A team's score is the average of its four members' scores plus twice its Team Round score, out of 66.

1. Pick a round, or press Random round and let the page pick one you haven't done yet.
2. Take it the way it's really given: a Sprint Round in 40 minutes with no calculator, or a Target pair in 6. On a computer, the viewer has a timer set to each round's real limit.
3. Check it with the answer key, which is right next to the rounds, then read the solutions to every problem you missed, and the ones you guessed on.
4. Tick the box next to it so you can see what's left. It's saved in your own browser, and nobody else sees it.
5. Come back to the ones you missed a few days later and try them again without looking.
6. Use the handbooks for extra practice. Each one has a few hundred more problems, and the Remix editions sort them by topic.
7. Books and Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) classes are great for learning new ideas, but the most important thing is to keep solving problems. The more you do, the faster and more accurate you get.