<p>Does anyone know about how hard this would be to self-study? I’m going to take Pre-Calc this year, and was 1 AIME point from making USAMO last year, if that gives any idea of what I know.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I think I’ve seen you on AoPS before. Your abilities show that you should have no problems self-studying this (especially if you are well-versed in basic combinatorics). </p>
<p>I’m actually taking precalc and stats next year. From what I’ve heard, stats is a joke but there is a lot of homework, so as long as you stay motivated… which will be kinda hard after being exposed to interesting math. </p>
<p>Btw, I noticed you’re from ohio. Are you on the arml team? I was an idiot and didn’t know about the OCTM until after the AMCs this year. I’m now a rising junior and am hoping to get in. The test is a joke compared to even the AMC10 except I think there was a calculus question on one of the previous tests.</p>
<p>AP Stat was a fun but very challenging course, most definitly not a joke. I liked it a lot, but I only finished the class with a 79. It made me mad since I want to major in Statistics in college. Oh well, I got a 5 on the AP Exam and that’s all that matters to me. ^^</p>
<p>Well I think there is a difference of opinion. I’ve always imagined stats as a course full of computations and less intuitively appealing. But it does include combinatorics, which I consider intuitively clear.</p>
<p>Yea, I’m from Ohio, and was on the ARML team too.</p>
<p>I didn’t know about the OCTM either, until after it was over too though. Supossedly, they weren’t able to get the adresses of the people who did well on the AMC’s, so they couldn’t contact them. But I ound the guy who was running it from someone on AoPS who was also from Ohio.</p>
<p>But yea, I looked at some of the problems, and really couldn’t believe some of the stuff on there. It’s way too easy.</p>
<p>AIME/AMC really has nothing to do with “school math” like SAT II and AP. I scored decent on the AIME and still couldn’t get 800 on the Math 2 on my first try…=p</p>
<p>I did AP Stats as a self-study this year and got a 4. I used Barron’s solely one month before the test and tried to cram everything in. I would have gotten a 5 if I understood how to write null statements and such, but I guess I neglected that part of the test and thus one entire FRQ (the 6th one also – the one that is worth 30% of the FRQ grade). If you have a strong mathematical background at school (not AIME…it doesn’t really help), Stats will be a breeze.</p>
<p>shravas- what do you use to study for the AIME and AMC, assuming that you want to learn the material on your own??</p>
<p>I think most of the material is the stuff you learn in school, up to pre-Calculus. It’s just being able to use all that stuff is what’s hard.</p>
<p>But I just did practice AMC’s and AIME’s (you can find them at these websites, along with a whole bunch of other contest problems - <a href=“http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Forum/resources.php?sid=81fbeb46ff4acfbfc56bb3d18204350d[/url]”>http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Forum/resources.php?sid=81fbeb46ff4acfbfc56bb3d18204350d</a>, and <a href=“http://www.kalva.demon.co.uk/[/url]”>http://www.kalva.demon.co.uk/</a>)</p>
<p>And just go to the artofproblemsolving website, and there’s a whole bunch of stuff there. There’s books, and classes (but they cost money), and forums which just a whole bunch of math problems and stuff. The books are really good. Like I didn’t get them until after I qualified for the AIME, but I still learned a whole lot, just from the first book which is supossed to be geared mainly towards MathCounts, a middle school competition. I haven’t taken the classes though, but I’ve heard that they’re really good too.</p>
<p>I think the best advice that I can give you, having taken stats last year, is don’t go into the course expecting a heavy math class, the math is actually rather basic. The class is a lot more interpretation than computation. You can get a near perfect score on a problem with an incorect number answer, but a correct explanation. All you need for this course is basic algebra skills, pre-calc won’t help you much at all in this course. Just be prepared to write a lot.</p>
<p>P.S. - and this is definately not a joke class, it’s not the toughest course concept wise, but it’s not a breeze by any stretch of the imagination.</p>
<p>Can anyone suggest a good study book for Stats? I’ve heard that the class at my school is okay, but judging by the lack of stellar scores by most of the participants I’m concerned.</p>
<p>I’d really say it depends on the school and teacher. A lot of people here are saying its not a joke class, but that’s basically the reputation it has at my school.</p>