Mathcounts
School mathematics competition in the United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
MathCounts, stylized as MATHCOUNTS, is a nonprofit organization that provides extracurricular mathematics programs for grades 6 through 8 in every U.S. state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Department of Defense schools. Its mission is to provide engaging math programs for middle school students of all ability levels to build confidence and improve attitudes about math and problem-solving.
 Mathcounts logo | |
| Formation | 1983 |
|---|---|
| Type | Foundation |
| Purpose | To provide engaging math programs to US middle school students of all ability levels to build confidence and improve attitudes about math and problem solving.[1] |
| Headquarters | Alexandria, Virginia |
| Location | |
Executive Director | Kristen Chandler[2] |
Co-founder | Donald G. Weinert[2] |
Main organ | National Staff |
| Website | mathcounts |
In MathCounts, testing is conducted in four separate rounds: the Sprint, Target, Team, and Countdown rounds.
The Sprint Round consists of 30 problems to be completed in 40 minutes. This round tests competitors' accuracy and speed. As a result of the difficulty and time constraint, many competitors do not finish all the problems in the Sprint Round.
The Target Round consists of eight problems presented in sets of two, with each set having a six-minute time limit. Calculators are permitted. This round tests competitors' accuracy and problem-solving skills. Many later problems are very difficult, even with the aid of a calculator, and students commonly leave questions blank.
The Team Round consists of 10 problems to be solved in 20 minutes. Calculators are permitted. Only the four students on a school's or state's team may take this round officially.[3] The Team Round tests the team's collaboration and problem-solving skills.
The Countdown Round is optional. Competitors buzz in to answer questions. Execution of the Countdown Round varies, with some locations using a one-on-one format and some having multiple competitors at the buzzers at once. The Countdown Round may be official (affecting competitors' scores) or unofficial. It tests competitors' speed and reflexes. The Countdown Round determines the National Champion at MathCounts Nationals.
Topics covered in the competition include geometry, counting, probability, number theory, and algebra.
History
MathCounts was started in 1983 by the National Society of Professional Engineers, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and CNA Insurance to increase middle school interest in mathematics.[4] The first national-level competition was in 1984.[1] The MathCounts Competition Series spread quickly in middle schools, and today it is the best-known middle school mathematics competition.[5] In 2007, MathCounts launched the National Math Club as a noncompetitive alternative to the Competition Series. In 2011, MathCounts launched the Math Video Challenge Program, which was discontinued in 2023.[6][1]
2020 was the only year since 1984 in which a national competition was not held, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The "MATHCOUNTS Week" event featuring problems from the 2020 State Competition was held on the Art of Problem Solving website as a replacement.[7] The 2021 National Competition was held online.[8]
MathCounts sponsors include RTX Corporation, U.S. Department of Defense STEM, BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, National Society of Professional Engineers, 3M, Texas Instruments, Art of Problem Solving, Bentley Systems, Carina Initiatives, National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, CNA Financial, Google, Brilliant, and Mouser Electronics.[4]
Competition Series
The Competition Series has four levels: school, chapter, state, and national. Students progress based on performance at the previous level. As the levels progress, the problems become more challenging.[9] Each level has many rounds, always including a Sprint Round (30 questions, 40 minutes) and a Target Round (4 pairs of harder problems with calculator use, 6 minutes each pair).
All students are either school-based competitors or non-school competitors ("NSCs"). Most students participate through their schools, starting with a school-level competition. A student whose school does not participate in the Competition Series starts at the chapter level as an NSC, competing individually.[9]
School level
School coaches select up to 14 students from their school to advance to the chapter competition, with four students competing on the official school team. The rest compete individually.[9]
Chapter level
All qualifying students compete individually. Students on an official school team also compete as a team. The Countdown Round is optional and can be used to determine top individuals or as an unofficial round. The top teams and individuals advance to the state competition.[9] The exact number of qualifiers varies by region.[10]
State level
All qualifying students compete individually. Students on a qualifying school team also compete as a team. The Countdown Round is optional and can be used to determine top individuals or as an unofficial round. The top four individuals form the state team. The coach of the winning school team coaches the state team.[9] Some states have universities that give scholarships to the top individuals.[11]
National level
Qualifying students and coaches receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the national competition. The competition typically lasts 3–4 days on Mother's Day weekend. The state team coach supervises the team. The students compete individually for the title of national champion. They also compete as a team to represent their state.[9]
The 12 highest-scoring individuals advance to the Countdown Round. The winner of this round is declared the National Champion.[12]
Scholarships and prizes are awarded to the top individuals and teams.[12] Prizes have included trips to Space Camp or to the White House to meet the President of the United States.[12][13]
National Math Club
In addition to the Competition Series program, students may participate in the National Math Club program.
The National Math Club program allows schools and non-school groups to start a math club for free. Upon registering, club leaders earn free online access to dozens of games, explorations, and problem sets.
Clubs that meet at least five times during the program year can achieve Silver Level Status, and clubs that complete a creative and collaborative project can achieve Gold Level Status. Clubs that achieve Silver Level and Gold Level can earn prizes and recognition.[14]
Other programs
Alumni scholarships
Each year, MathCounts awards two types of scholarships to alumni who participated in at least one MathCounts program during middle school. The MathCounts Alumni Scholarship is awarded to alumni whose MathCounts experience was extremely influential, and the Community Coaching Scholarship is awarded to alumni who start MathCounts programs at underserved schools.[15]
Math Video Challenge
In 2011, Mathcounts started the Reel Math Challenge, later renamed the Math Video Challenge. It allowed students in teams of four to create a video that explained the solution to a problem from the Mathcounts School Handbook in a real-world scenario. The program was discontinued in 2023, but the National Math Club offers a similar video project.[16]
Competition winners
Below is a table including each year's winning individual, team, and coach, and the location of the national competition.
| Year | Individual winner | State-team winner | Winning-state coach | Location | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Michael Edwards, Texas | Virginia (1) | Joan Armistead | Washington, D.C. | [17][18] |
| 1985 | Timothy Kokesh, Oklahoma | Florida | Burt Kaufman | Washington, D.C. | |
| 1986 | Brian David Ewald, Florida | California (1) | Washington, D.C. | [18] | |
| 1987 | Russell Mann, Tennessee | New York (1) | Robert C. Bieringer | Washington, D.C. | [18][19] |
| 1988 | Andrew Schultz, Illinois | New York (2) | Washington, D.C. | [18][20] | |
| 1989 | Albert Kurz, Pennsylvania | North Carolina | Barbara Sydnor | Washington, D.C. | [18][21] |
| 1990 | Brian Jenkins, Arkansas | Ohio | Washington, D.C. | [18][22] | |
| 1991 | Jonathan L. Weinstein, Massachusetts | Alabama | Cindy Breckenridge | Washington, D.C. | [18][23] |
| 1992 | Andrei C. Gnepp, Ohio | California (2) | Washington, D.C. | [18][24] | |
| 1993 | Carleton Bosley, Kansas | Kansas | Washington, D.C. | [25] | |
| 1994 | William O. Engel, Illinois | Pennsylvania (1) | Matt Zipin | Washington, D.C. | [26] |
| 1995 | Richard Reifsnyder, Kentucky | Indiana (1) | Washington, D.C. | [27] | |
| 1996 | Alexander Schwartz, Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania (2) | Washington, D.C. | [28] | |
| 1997 | Zhihao Liu, Wisconsin | Massachusetts (1) | Heidi Johnson | Washington, D.C. | [29] |
| 1998 | Ricky Liu, Massachusetts | Wisconsin | Washington, D.C. | [30][31] | |
| 1999 | Po-Ru Loh, Wisconsin | Massachusetts (2) | Evagrio Mosca | Washington, D.C. | [32] |
| 2000 | Ruozhou Jia, Illinois | California (3) | Washington, D.C. | [33] | |
| 2001 | Ryan Ko, New Jersey | Virginia (2) | Barbara Burnett | Washington, D.C. | [34] |
| 2002 | Albert Ni, Illinois | California (4) | Thomas Yin | Chicago, Illinois | [35] |
| 2003 | Adam Hesterberg, Washington | California (5) | Pallavi Shah | Chicago, Illinois | [36] |
| 2004 | Gregory Gauthier, Illinois | Illinois | Steve Ondes | Washington, D.C. | [37][38] |
| 2005 | Neal Wu, Louisiana | Texas (1) | Jeff Boyd | Detroit, Michigan | [39][40] |
| 2006 | Daesun Yim, New Jersey | Virginia (3) | Barbara Burnett | Arlington, Virginia | [41] |
| 2007 | Kevin Chen, Texas | Texas (2) | Jeff Boyd | Fort Worth, Texas | [42][43] |
| 2008 | Darryl Wu, Washington | Texas (3) | Jeff Boyd | Denver, Colorado | [44] |
| 2009 | Bobby Shen, Texas | Texas (4) | Jeff Boyd | Orlando, Florida | [45] |
| 2010 | Mark Sellke, Indiana | California (6) | Donna Phair[46] | Orlando, Florida | [47] |
| 2011 | Scott Wu, Louisiana | California (7) | Vandana Kadam[48] | Washington, D.C. | [49] |
| 2012 | Chad Qian, Indiana | Massachusetts (3) | Josh Frost | Orlando, Florida | [50] |
| 2013 | Alec Sun, Massachusetts | Massachusetts (4) | Josh Frost | Washington, D.C. | [51] |
| 2014 | Swapnil Garg, California | California (8) | David Vaughn | Orlando, Florida | [52] |
| 2015 | Kevin Liu, Indiana | Indiana (2) | Trent Tormoehlen | Boston, Massachusetts | [53] |
| 2016 | Edward Wan, Washington | Texas (5) | Isil Nal | Washington, D.C. | [54] |
| 2017 | Luke Robitaille, Texas | Texas (6) | Isil Nal | Orlando, Florida | [55] |
| 2018 | Luke Robitaille, Texas | Texas (7) | Isil Nal | Washington, D.C. | [56] |
| 2019 | Daniel Mai, Massachusetts | Massachusetts (5) | Josh Frost | Orlando, Florida | [12] |
| 2020 | No national competition held due to COVID-19 pandemic | [7] | |||
| 2021 | Marvin Mao, New Jersey | New Jersey (1) | Stephanie Cucinella | Online | [57][58] |
| 2022 | Allan Yuan, Alabama | New Jersey (2) | Marybeth Gakos | Washington, D.C. | [59] |
| 2023 | Channing Yang, Texas | Texas (8) | Andrea Smith | Orlando, Florida | [60] |
| 2024 | Benjamin Jiang, Florida | Texas (9) | Hui Quan | Washington, D.C. | [61] |
| 2025 | Nathan Liu, Texas | Massachusetts (6) | Josh Frost | Washington, D.C. | [62] |