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.

If you want to destroy nervousness and anxiety during math competitions, there are exactly two ways to do it: you have to get used to the environment, and you have to learn to solve problems with complete detachment.

My first piece of advice, speaking directly from experience, is to go out and take any regional, solo math contest you are eligible for. You have to get used to the reality of competition math. In school, tests are predictable; the problems are exactly what you prepared for. But in contests like the AMC, the problem you studied is rarely on the exam in the way you expect. It will almost certainly be in a different form, use a different application, or be synthesized with another topic. Every question feels like something you have never seen before. Going to more contests trains you to tackle completely new problems under a time crunch instead of instantly panicking.

The second key is solving with detachment. Set your goal before the contest begins, but the second the timer starts, forget it. Pretend you are just solving whatever is in front of you. Do not constantly count your score, and do not tally your numbers until the very end when you know you have secured a good amount of questions.

The Illusion of Problem Order (And Why You Shouldn't Panic)

Sometimes, we panic simply because we run into a hard “troll” problem early on. Your mind spirals: “Oh, number 7 shouldn't be this hard. How can I not solve it? If I have to skip number 7, what else am I even going to be able to solve?”

Never rethink like that. In many exams I took in middle and high school, I have gotten problem 1 wrong and problem 21 right. You must learn to skip indiscriminately. The placements of problems are not always accurate indicators of difficulty.

This is actually a deliberate design choice in our materials. Occasionally, the ordering of our Score150 mock tests gets slightly criticized by students who say some problems feel "misplaced." But this is entirely intentional—it is designed to get you used to the harsh reality of the actual AMC. Yes, problems generally increase in difficulty, but there are massive variations in between. You need to learn how to calmly solve what you can, skip the ones giving you trouble, and—most importantly—not become discouraged.

Sometimes, this early-test anxiety happens because a valid solution pops into our head, but it feels like "too much" for an early question. For instance, you might realize a trigonometric substitution will solve problem 10, but you hesitate, thinking, “No, that’s too advanced for problem 10, there must be an easier trick,” and you waste precious time pondering. In that time, you could have just used the trig sub and moved on! Do not reserve your brilliant tricks and great solutions strictly for the last five questions. In truth, no problems past the first five are ever truly "free." Even if a problem seems easy to you, many others are finding it difficult. Put your heart and soul into every single problem, slow and steady, treating each one like its own mini-test. Before you know it, you will have solved 13 or 14 questions.

The Mid-Test Crisis: Choosing What to Attempt

A very common problem that tortured me while taking the AMC was hitting the middle of the test and not knowing what to attempt next. You might have solved 8 out of the first 10, and maybe 3 from the 11–15 block. Now you have to tackle the harder ones, but anytime you pick a problem, your brain refutes it: “What if I can’t solve it and waste time? What if I actually had a better chance on a different problem?”

Pondering and worrying like this wastes the most time. You need a concrete strategy to pick the problems you have the highest chance of solving. Here are two approaches:

Strategy 1 (The Pre-Scan): Before diving in, roughly read through the problems. Star all the questions from subjects and topics you are very good at, and put checkmarks next to problems you think you have a decent chance of solving.

Strategy 2 (The Chronological Skip): This was the method I used. I would go through them one by one. If a "troll" question appeared in the first 10—something requiring heavy logic, confusing wording, non-straightforward setups, or tedious logical casework—I would immediately skip it without caring or feeling ashamed.

By using Strategy 2, I would often end up with similar total scores as the other top math students at my school, but with a totally different distribution. I would be the only person who skipped that basic early problem, but I would have nailed a tough late-game problem that none of them got. Never feel ashamed to skip.

However, I cannot deny that I occasionally missed easy points because of this habit. That is exactly why my peers and I built the Target Pack 1-10. If you want to concentrate on making sure you can dismantle any early troll question, get this pack. It is filled with problems specially constructed to stump students and make them wonder, "How am I not able to do a problem this early in the test?"

When I did choose to attempt a problem, I would sometimes get stuck halfway through. At that point, I would pause, take a deep breath, and mentally encourage myself. Often, that quick reset was all I needed to solve it. If not, I accepted it and moved on.

Don't Count Your Score During the Exam

Do not get discouraged during the exam if you haven't solved nearly as many problems as you expected. Chances are, it is just a very hard exam. This happened to me many times in high school. I would finish thinking I performed terribly, only to find out the AIME cutoff was incredibly low because everyone else found it hard, too.

Never give up hope. Think about it: who would have ever imagined the AMC 12A 2023 cutoff would plunge into the 70s? It might sound whimsical or wishful to say you could qualify with a 72 or a 75, but in reality, it is very possible in upcoming years. Just be confident, calm, and steady.

You might ask, "After all this intense preparation, how can you tell me not to worry and just treat this as a casual exam?" My answer is simple: how is worrying going to help you in any way? Think like this: regardless of how important the exam is, your absolute best outcome will only happen when you are calm, steady, and unaffected by the pressure of the results. Force yourself into that mode, and automatically, you will get the results you want—or even better.

The Aggressive Strategy (Aiming for Distinction or DHR)

If your goal isn't just to qualify for AIME, but to achieve a high score like Distinction or Honor Roll (DHR), you can no longer afford to just calmly and slowly solve problems. You must be more aggressive.

When going for top-tier scores, you need to leave yourself enough time to solve at least 2 to 3 of the final 5 questions. This means you realistically cannot leave more than 5 minutes at the end for checking your work. Therefore, my recommendation is: Do not check at the end at all.

Instead, check each step while you are doing the problem. Do your work carefully and keep it highly organized on your scratch paper. Once you finish a problem, move on and do not come back to it.

I will be honest: this isn't guaranteed to give you the exact score you want. You may make silly mistakes, but the responsibility of avoiding those lies entirely with you and your scratch-paper organization. This is simply the strategy I recommend if you want to hit the highest possible score brackets. You must be fast and steady.

And remember: just because you don't solve a problem as fast as you think you should, do not feel discouraged. Just because you are stumped on problem 5 does not mean you are incapable of solving problem 25. Anything is possible. I am not just being optimistic; I am telling you this based on my own reality and the lived experiences of my friends. Keep pushing, stay detached, and take the test one problem at a time.

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AMC 10/12 Test Strategy: How to Destroy Anxiety, Outsmart "Troll" Problems, and Qualify for AIME