Eight weeks of deliberate practice.
This is a suggested schedule, not a prerequisite or a score guarantee. Start with a mixed drill. If a topic is already comfortable, spend its sessions on harder problems. If the foundations are unfamiliar, take longer than a week.
A repeatable study session
- Recall — 5 minutes. Write the relevant identity or theorem without looking it up. State the conditions under which it is valid.
- Learn — 15 minutes. Read a lesson and one worked example. Cover the next line and predict it before revealing it.
- Solve — 25 minutes. Attempt a small topic set. Leave your reasoning on paper, including attempts that did not work.
- Review — 15 minutes. Identify whether the failure was a missing fact, a poor method choice, a logical gap, or an execution error. Rewrite the solution, then schedule a fresh attempt on another day.
Algebra and polynomial structure
Review factorisation, reciprocal identities, and remainders. In the method workshops, practise reaching an expression without solving for every variable.
Number theory
Work on divisibility, modular cycles, and CRT. For each congruence argument, write the modulus and check whether the factor you cancel has an inverse.
Counting and probability
Describe the sample space before writing a formula. Practise bijections, inclusion–exclusion, and conditional probability. Explain why your counted outcomes are equally likely.
Geometry and coordinates
Draw accurate labels, then choose a theorem. Compare synthetic solutions with a coordinate or vector approach, and record which one used fewer unknowns.
Functions, logarithms, and sequences
Write domains first. Practise changes of variable, fixed-point recurrences, and telescoping; verify the first term and the last uncancelled term.
Trigonometry, complex numbers, and inequalities
Factor trigonometric equations before dividing. Use polar form for complex powers. Add the inequalities topic and practise proving that an equality case is attainable.
Mixed sets and timed decisions
Use the mixed drills without notes. If a question stalls, record the useful work, leave it, and return later. Review whether you chose the right method, not just whether you knew a formula.
Mock papers and corrections
Sit one 75-minute mock without a calculator. Review every wrong, omitted, and guessed answer. After an untimed correction session, sit a different mock rather than memorising the previous paper.
Use the scoring rule sensibly.
Our mocks use 6 points for a correct answer, 1.5 for a blank, and zero for an incorrect answer. On a pure expected-score calculation, a guess has expectation 6p, where p is your probability of being right; it exceeds a blank only when p > 1/4. A blind guess among five equally plausible options has expectation 1.2, below 1.5. After eliminating one option, a guess among four is tied with a blank in expectation. This comparison does not account for your risk preference or time needed to eliminate choices.
Contest format and eligibility can change. Check the MAA’s official AMC information ↗. Our practice problems are original training questions, not official AMC papers.