Latin hosted the American Mathematics Competition for 46 students—approximately 9% of the Upper School—yesterday morning in the Hogan Commons.
Students who signed up for the competition took either the AMC 10 (freshmen and sophomores) or AMC 12 (juniors and seniors) alongside 300,000 others nationally in place of their long block class. Top scorers can qualify for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination, the first in a series of competitions leading to the International Mathematical Olympiad, where students represent the United States on a world stage.
This year’s turnout marks an increase from last year’s 31 participants. Math teacher Chris van Benthuysen, who administers the test at Latin, attributed the increase to growing student enthusiasm.
“We’ve had at least one person qualify [for AIME] every year, and many years, two, three, or four people qualify,” he said. “I think some of that success might have helped embolden other people to be like, ‘I should check this thing out, too.’”
For some students, though, the appeal lies less in advancement and more in intellectual challenge.
“Obviously, it’s really hard every year. … It’s the type of contest where you answer 10 questions and you leave the other 15 blank,” senior and Math Team captain Sahana Aggarwal said, having taken the AMCs in all four years of high school. “I didn’t feel as much stress as I’m sure other people did because I just thought it would be a fun thing to do.”
Students won’t receive their official scores for several weeks, but they’re already eager to revisit the test.
“I’ve had numerous students come up to me and say, ‘When can we talk about those problems?’” Mr. van Benthuysen said. “I think that’s really cool.”
