Skip to main content

The individual competition consists of a 20-question mathematics test. Students will have 50 minutes to work as many questions as possible.

  • Students may compete at the freshman-sophomore level or the junior-senior level, as appropriate (juniors and seniors may not take the freshman-sophomore test).
  • For the varisty competition, the team score shall be determined by the sum of the best three individual student scores such that at least two scores from the junior-senior exam are included (i.e. only one freshman-sophomore exam score may be counted toward the team total). For the junior varsity competition, the team score shall be determined by the sum of the best three individual student scores such that at least two scores from the freshman-sophomore exam are included.  Note:  When possible, school ties in the team written event will be broken by examination of the 4th and 5th best scores.
  • Students must record their answer to each question on the provided answer-sheet, which shall also include their name and team code.
  • All answers must be written legibly on the correct blanks of the answer sheet. Scores are based on exact, complete, simplified answers only. If the question specifies a form for the answer, correct answers will only be accepted in the specified form. No work need be shown and no partial credit is given.

Definition of "simplified"

  • Fractions are reduced to lowest terms (the use of horizontal fraction bars instead of slash marks is highly encouraged; ambiguous answers, such as 8/3x, will be considered incorrect). Improper fractions are preferable to mixed numbers (which can become ambiguous).
  • Radical expressions are found in the numerator of a fraction only; the integer beneath the radical should be made as small as possible (e.g. 2*SQRT(2) is correct, while SQRT(8), 2.828, and SQRT(32) / 2 are not).  
  • Units of measurement are not required in the answer and should not be given.
  • Scientific notation should not be used for answers expressed in decimal form.
  • Specific instructions in a given problem take precedence over all of the above.