On Nov. 6 & 13, Branson hosted the American Math Competition on campus. 

Nearly 30 students participated in the test, with three coming from other schools. Students participated in both the AMC 10 and AMC 12 tests, which are designed to be 75 minutes long with 25 questions. 

The competition was facilitated by new math teacher Zac Cox. 

“He’s quite accomplished,” Brad Yen ‘28 said, “he’s qualified for the [USA Mathematical Olympiad] a few times.” 

The exam is focused on problem solving and critical thinking skills rather than content memorization. They aren’t typical problems found on the SAT or other exams. Instead, the  questions are designed to challenge students and push them to creatively solve them. 

“Most of the problems boil down to thinking about how would I approach this problem? It’s about problem solving, not like how you would traditionally define math,” Yen said. 

As a result, the AMCs are a great way to apply math and logic skills in real world situations. Students are equipped to tackle a wide range of AMC problems with a standard high school curriculum and do not need to be on an advanced track. 

The AMC is the first exam in a series of different tests that leads to qualifying for the International Mathematics Olympiad. 

“If you do well on the AMC 10, then you can qualify for the AIME, which is the American Invitational Math Exam,” Jax Choi ‘29 said. 

Students that do well on both the AMC and AIME can qualify for the USAJMO (Junior Mathematical Olympiad) and the USAMO. Several students scored well on November’s test and have a good chance of continuing on to the AIME.