Australian Mathematics Competition

[TrueTears]

have a read of art and craft of problem solving by paul zeitz

[Hutchoo]

Hey guys, I've uploaded the AMC past papers:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3uAb5N7nQ6AbzVNeTJYT2ljLTQ

Enjoy


Click 'file' and then 'save' to download it as a .zip

[IndefatigableLover]

Hey guys, I've uploaded the AMC past papers:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3uAb5N7nQ6AbzVNeTJYT2ljLTQ

Enjoy


Click 'file' and then 'save' to download it as a .zip

Thanks Hutchoo
Will come in handy for the next three year :3

[paulsterio]

The trick is getting through the first 20 ASAP, then the next few is a bit of luck. There's no single strategy to it, but you've got to think out of the box. Usually if you are getting 2+ of the last five, you'll be in line for a Prize

Yeah, this is defs true, I got all of the MC questions right on a Senior paper when I was in Y11 (didn't get any of the last 5 where you had to write the numbers in the box) and I ended up with a High Distinction, so yeah, if you get two/three of the last 5, especially the very last 10 mark question, you'll probably get a prize.

[Vicky95]

Do you prepare for these competitions? I never practised and I am so embarrassed by my result 

Eeesh, just wondering if the people who crack these competitions are the ones who go on to get 50 in the VCEs?

[Will T]

Do you prepare for these competitions? I never practised and I am so embarrassed by my result 

Eeesh, just wondering if the people who crack these competitions are the ones who go on to get 50 in the VCEs?

What'd you get, if you don't mind me asking? And I think the competition centers around problem-solving, which is a bit different to the structure of VCE, so there's probably some correlation but I don't think it would be huge. And I think the top students probably do prepare.

[paulsterio]

There'd be little correlation. If you score highly on these sorts of competitions, you're more likely to be good at mathematical reasoning, rather than mathematics itself, which means that you'll probably find VCE level mathematics a whole lot easier, but it doesn't mean that you'll go on to score well because there's more to scoring well in VCE Maths than just being good at mathematical reasoning.

[stephanieteddy]

Can I just say, one of the boys at my school came in, tried for about 15 minutes, then randomly guessed the rest. Fell asleep, had his head down on the table the remainder of the time.

When results were presented at assembly he got within the top 5 percent of Australia and was given money from school.

How crazy is that!!

[Will T]

Hope you guys did well!

Nah, I've done terrible. It was compulsory at my school for all GMA and Specialist students, but after doing a bit of googling it seems that most people actually choose to enter and prepare for this competition. I've managed a credit on the last two papers I sat, so maybe a distinction would be nice this time (but this is wishful thinking).

I remember the first time I did it I felt terrible, turned out to be a lot better than I thought You never know with these things!

After finally getting my result back, I could not agree more with this. I somehow managed to get top 1% of the state and the first High Distinction on it ever in my life, and I thought I had totally stuffed it up.

[Stick]

Congratulations! I don't think I'll get mine back. XD Besides, I did terrible on it anyway.

[Will T]

Thanks man. But I'm sure you did just fine.

[thushan]

Ahh...the ol' Aussie maths comp. Remember doing that back in the day.

[Special At Specialist]

Why wasn't I told about this competition?! I love these sorts of problems! They are far better than textbook questions, imo, because they truly test your mathematical skills, not just who has studied the course the most.

[EvangelionZeta]

There'd be little correlation. If you score highly on these sorts of competitions, you're more likely to be good at mathematical reasoning, rather than mathematics itself, which means that you'll probably find VCE level mathematics a whole lot easier, but it doesn't mean that you'll go on to score well because there's more to scoring well in VCE Maths than just being good at mathematical reasoning.

What's the difference between mathematical reasoning and actual mathematics? Just curious (super late response I know), because the kids I knew who did well in this competition (and similar ones) were generally the ones who also did super well in VCE Maths.

[thushan]

I think Paul is trying to say "computational mathematics."