Strategy guide previews
AMC 10/12 strategy articles
Original guides written from real AIME-qualifying experience — pacing, question distribution, troll problems, and the habits that quietly cost students their cutoff. Read half of every guide free. Buy one mock for $4.99 to unlock all guides during your one-year mock access.
For students chasing the AIME cutoff
The Ultimate AMC 10/12 Strategy Guide: Qualify for AIME and USAMO
Exactly how many AMC 10/12 questions you need for AIME, Distinction and USAMO — plus the pre-scan system, a three-phase pacing playbook, and the textbook chapters to master.
Read the guideFor students scoring 75–95 who need the cutoff
The AMC 10/12 Pacing Blueprint for the 75–95 Scorer
If you score between 75 and 95, your only objective is the AIME cutoff. A minute-by-minute plan for the first ten, the 11–20 ramp, the last five, and the brute-force backup.
Read the guideFor students who lose points they already knew
How to Stop Making Silly Mistakes on the AMC 10/12
The three categories of careless AMC 10/12 errors — rushed arithmetic, missed vital realizations, and scantron slips — and the exact habits that eliminate each one.
Read the guideFor students who freeze in the first ten
AMC 10/12 Test Strategy: Destroy Anxiety and Outsmart Troll Problems
How to stop panicking on the AMC 10/12: get used to the contest environment, solve with detachment, skip troll problems without shame, and qualify for AIME.
Read the guideFor students who burn time on problems 1–10
Tricky “Opening-Trap” Problems on the AMC 10/12
A definitive list of 15 notorious early-test AMC 10/12 curveball problems, why textbooks never prepare you for them, and how to train for unconventional setups.
Read the guideFor students whose textbook score never transfers
Problems That Textbooks Do Not Prepare You For
Made-up games, word-heavy rulesets and layered logic puzzles never sit in a textbook chapter — and they are exactly what trips up strong solvers in the first ten AMC questions.
Read the guideFor parents and coaches of AMC students
How Parents and Coaches Must Approach the AMC
Anxiety is the most destructive force in a math competitor’s life. Four principles for the adults around a student: normalize the test, provide resources, protect rest, and separate detachment from apathy.
Read the guideFor students who feel ready and then aren't
The Textbook Trap and the Illusion of Mastery
A chapter title is a massive spoiler. Why textbook mastery does not transfer to the real AMC 10/12, and how mock tests restore the element of surprise.
Read the guideFor students hoarding untouched past papers
Overcoming the Fear of “Wasting” Rare Problems
Rare AMC concepts — roots of unity filter, floor function equations, tangent spheres — appear a handful of times in contest history. Here is how to stop hoarding them.
Read the guideFor students who took the score personally
The Emotional Reality of Competition Math
An honest account of two years chasing the AIME cutoff — a 70.5 on the AMC 12A, a 48 on the 12B, and what finally broke the obsession.
Read the guideFor students torn between the AMC 10 and AMC 12
Decoding the AMC 10 vs. AMC 12 Decision
AMC 10 or AMC 12? The cutoffs, the margin for error, the pacing, and the Olympiad paths compared — plus the five student profiles that decide which exam you should register for.
Read the guideStrategy only counts on unseen problems
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