<p>@VHSgrad2014, 8 on AIME is a VERY good score. And I am very surprised that you don’t get perfect scores on SAT math if you can do 8 questions in AIME. Not sure what the gap is but perhaps you can say it’s carelessness or “stupid mistake”? </p>
<p>My son only did 6 on AIME both times when he was freshman and sophomore (to my disappointment - 8 seems to be a threshold for the next level). His index was roughly 30 points short of USAJMO qualification which is about 3 questions of AMC10 or AIME combined. I estimated his index puts him probably in the top 500-600 math students (10th grade and below) in the nation, which is still admirable, but not in the USAJMO circle (top 250) for sure. </p>
<p>I am no math wizard…just a good math student at your age but no way I was a wizard or anywhere close to being a genius. My take on the SAT, GMAT, GRE is the math subject of those tests is too easy for someone to get a perfect score. </p>
<p>If you can do 8 in AIME, i absolutely don’t see any reasons why you can’t get a perfect math score in any of these tests. You should and you will.</p>
<p>@2prepMom, relax. I am not here to discourage any kids who can’t get a perfect math score. I get what you are saying but I was trying to poke some fun on the “genius” definition. You can be passionate about anything for sure regardless your level and expertise on the subject. We do have different definition for genius however. My second point was it REALLY doesn’t take a genius to get perfect math score in SAT, which should be viewed as encouragement rather than discouragement.</p>
<p>Thanks! Yes, I was told it was a pretty good score but heard that the real threshold of “next level math” was more like 9/10 ish. </p>
<p>Yes, my 740 math was very simple mistakes. I agree that the sections are easy and an 800 is still very achievable, on both Math & Math2. To get both takes not just basic math skills, I guess, but more test taking strategy. I ran out if time on both tests, I’m just a slow test taker.</p>
<p>@VHSgrad2014, note that my 8 AIME for next level comment is in the context of USAJMO, not USAMO. Have you studied the score curve? I have. If someone can do 8 in AIME, he/she is 80% more likely to qualify for USAJMO than someone who scored below 8. Most students who can solve 8 problems are good math problem solvers for sure (impossible to guess in AIME as you know). And likely their AMC10 scores are in the 130 -150 range already and therefore it’s almost for certain these students will qualify for USAJMO with an index above 210/220. 8 seems to be a barrier for my son (actually i was surprised he didn’t improve AIME score after one year of sturdy progress in math). </p>
<p>USAMO is a totally different ball game altogether. I think in order to get into USAMO, one probably needs to do at least 10 (because AMC 12 is much more difficult and hence the low score) to have a decent shot although I haven’t studied the AMC12 curve as much as I have to AMC10. </p>
<p>I read somewhere on CC that some colleges look at your AIME scores. You should definitely report your AIME if it’s 8 or above because it says a lot about your real math problem solving skills. I, for one, don’t care all that much about the 800 in SAT, be that I or II. 8 in AIME impresses me far more. Hope colleges agree with me.</p>
<p>The useless trolls on this website is quite depressing… I think you guys forgot what this whole thread was about. Notice the word “was.” Take your ■■■■■ war elsewhere. This is a community where people receive helpful advice. Tiger, I have a hard time believing that you do not have an ounce of pride for your son’s accomplishments but if you want to play cool, that’s fine with me. Just note that when someone does not feel worthy or useful, their path can quickly become dark. And to everyone else who is arguing with Tiger, leave him alone. It’s his son and we can’t tell a parent how to raise their own child.</p>
<p>Practice is indeed the key to increase your math score. However, resist to practice without much guidance. I would strongly encourage you to share your progress and search for the answers posted in this forum. Almost every problem has been covered several times. Check the contributions of posters such as Dr Steve, Pckeller, Fignewton, SATQuantum, and others who have contributed solutions to many problems posted here.</p>
<p>The benefit of reading solutions is that it is not unusual to see different approaches. Some like “straight” math and others like to plug in numbers. Others also love to “reason” through hard problems and try to mimimize the times needed to solve an issue. </p>
<p>Lastly, do NOT look for miracles, secrets, or shortcuts. There are plenty of charlatans such as “Doctor” Chung peddling wrong approaches. The key to success is to build strong blocks of knowledge and develop your own approach by testing several methods. After a while, it becomes second nature to solve the types of problems that appear on the SAT with many being diffeent from the typical HS paint by the numbers problems. </p>
<p>In so many words, you have to immerse yourself in the SAT world and … work at it.</p>
<p>I think I did see that statistic before! I actually just scored right under that range for AMC10 and didn’t qualify for USAJMO, although it was never something I was really aspiring to accomplish. </p>
<p>I would agree you need atleast about a 10 for USAMO.</p>
<p>Yes. I believe MIT has a section for it, but you only fill it in if you score a 6 or higher, which is sort of the threshold for what I would call the “success” point I guess? 1-5 isn’t too impressive.</p>
<p>@Entric “It’s his son and we can’t tell a parent how to raise their own child.”</p>
<p>Maybe I do know a thing about how to raise a kid, especially with good math skills. Just you can’t see it or understand what I was saying (which you deemed trolls) doesn’t mean I didn’t have any insight. Perhaps you should stop your trolls and listen better.</p>
<p>Many people talked about “stupid mistakes” in math test. Here is what I can offer from my own coaching/parenting experience. </p>
<p>My son joined math club since 5th grade and did many math competitions at local, state, and national level. Many times the questions seem not that difficult and he certainly had the knowledge to nail them, but he never could manage a perfect score in one test. It happened many many times, more than I can remember. Of course, like most of you, he blamed it on the “stupid mistakes”. </p>
<p>I sat him down and looked at the problems he missed. We also looked at the perfect scorers in those competitions. Dare I to say there is a moment of enlightening (an epiphany if you will) after careful analysis. Among the perfect scorers are the top students in the state, and in some cases in the nation. some are winners and top finishers of mathcounts, AMC8, and other competitions. It was clear at that point that the students who can do perfectly in those tests already performed at the next level!</p>
<p>Therefore I told my son you should always double check, triple check, quadruple check, or whatever it takes as long as you have time. But I don’t want to hear the “stupid mistakes” excuse to dismiss your lack of math skill or lack of speed (ultimately due to lack of skill). If you want to do perfect score, improve your math skills on a solid foundation by doing harder problems and thoroughly checking your answer just like how you breath - do these things as an integral part of your math learning and math life. </p>
<p>As a sophomore, he finally came up with some decent results - aced both SAT II Math and SAT Math Subject in first try. His AP Stats is coming out soon and likely it’s a 5 based on what I know. </p>
<p>If you think this is ■■■■■, then I am truly wasting my time because at the end of the day I do hope you could pick one or two things from what I am saying. </p>
<p>I always speak about math (my favorite subject in this lifetime) passionately, more so than my son. And this topic “stupid mistake” hit my nerve. Share these words not just as a parent but as a former math student (a pretty good one) myself.</p>
<p>The math is not tough on SAT since it doesn’t even have anything close to calculus. You just have to read the question carefully. Is very easy to misread and misinterpret problems which will lead you to the wrong answer.</p>
I get what you are saying but I was trying to poke some fun on the “genius” definition. You can be passionate about anything for sure regardless your level and expertise on the subject. We do have different definition for genius however. My second point was it REALLY doesn’t take a genius to get perfect math score in SAT, which should be viewed as encouragement rather than discouragement.</p>