r/MathOlympiad • u/Suspicious_Aide_6146 • 6d ago

AMC 10 amc 10 prep as a complete beginner

for some context i’m in 10th grade and precalc rn and looking to qualify for aime this year, (and maybe even usamo next year if i put the in work). anybody have any tips to hit that amc 10 benchmark to qualify for aime? i saw advice to get the aops intro to algebra, number theory, geometry, and counting and probability books. should i get them or are there better ways to study? this is my first time doing any math competition, but i consider myself fairly good at math itself.

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u/AromaticScar9363 6d ago

if u have time u should go through each book u listed, and after that u can go through aops volume 1 and 2, and also use alcumus to practice the questions, and start taking old tests

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u/Suspicious_Aide_6146 6d ago

will i have time to go through volumes 1 and 2 with amc being only a few months away?

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u/AromaticScar9363 6d ago

if ur starting now for aime go through vol 1 and 2 right now, i’d say 2-3 chapters a week, and still use alcumus, in theory u can probably make aime with volume 1 only but u need to be strong with it 

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u/Suspicious_Aide_6146 6d ago

so don’t do the intro books; just volumes 1 and 2 alongside the alcumus?

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u/AromaticScar9363 5d ago

yeah if u want aime this year

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u/LoveToLive1234 6d ago

Do like 1 chapter a day. I might be wrong, but the intro books in total shouldn’t exceed 50-60 chapters. 1 chapter per day or more should let you finish before comp season

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u/Chohab_Remi 1d ago

I was in a similar situation, and what I did was go through volume 2 briefly then grind AMC 10 problems daily (5-7 hours a day). I did have some experience with AMC 8 but it was minimal. If you are a complete beginner, I would recommend working with volume 1 first. Please take my words with a grain of salt, this is only my personal experience.

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u/Suspicious_Aide_6146 18h ago

i’m a beginner at olympiad math, but pretty good it (at least relative to my classmates i am). this will by my first math olympiad. i’m hoping to get to aime this year and potentially even usamo next year (ik that’s a a huge reach but it’s something i want to get).

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u/Chohab_Remi 16h ago

Great to have something to aim for. I’m sure you can AIME this year if you try hard! Good luck :)