εpsilon talk

Musings on math and education. Made with love by the Washington Student Math Association.

All About MATHCOUNTS

MATHCOUNTS is a national competition series that is open to all middle school students. There are four levels of competition: School, Chapter, State, and National. School and Chapter competitions usually begin in January and the series ends with the National competition in May. Each competition consists of four different parts: Sprint Round, Target Round, Team Round, and Countdown round. The Sprint and Countdown rounds focus on speed and accuracy while the Team and Target rounds test problem solving and mathematical reasoning skills. The Countdown round is only for top qualifiers.

Each school can send up to 10 individuals to the local MATHCOUNTS Chapter Competition. The highest scoring students from the Chapter Competition then progress to the state level. The top 4 individuals from the state then move on to the National Competition, where the students compete for the title of National Champion.

I’ve conducted a Q&A with former MATHCOUNTS participants to get some firsthand insight on what the competition series is really like. Shifa Somji qualified for the State level Competition and Richard Dong competed at the national level. Both have had great success with the competition.

Q&A

When did you participate in MATHCOUNTS?

S: From 2013 and 2014

R: From 2012 to 2014

What was your favorite part about MATHCOUNTS?

S: The sprint round was my favorite because it was a lot of fun since the questions in that round were the most doable.

R: Countdown was really exciting. I got all the questions wrong, of course, but my adrenaline was really pumping!

If you could do it again, what would you do differently?

S: I’d pick a better team. Our conversations would often go off topic and we’d get really distracted during the competition so it didn’t work out very well.

R: Wear warm clothing during the competition. The competition room was freezing and I had a terrible headache both the day of and the day after the competition.

What was your key to success?

S: Using my favorite pencil really helped me because it made me feel lucky and calmed me down when I was feeling anxious.

R: I took a lot of practice tests with my friends. We’d compare answers, and I was motivated to practice because I wanted to beat all my friends.

What are some important things you would like people to know about the competition?

S: Don’t be scared. If you have faith in yourself and your math skills you’ll do well.

R: MATHCOUNTS is a pretty serious competition, obviously. National qualifiers get a free vacation! But a lot of it is for fun, and meeting other mathletes from other teams. So don’t get too caught up in trying to win. Y’all should have a good time.

MATHCOUNTS is a great opportunity to get more involved in math competitions at a young age. Registration for the School Competition begins in mid-August and you can register here. For more information on math competitions like this, visit http://www.wastudentmath.org/.