Competition Week is nearly here! Review the information below to help prepare for next week. As a reminder, the AMC 8 must be administered on any day between 8 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Jan. 17, and 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Jan. 23. 

Virtual proctoring is not allowed during this cycle. Any students found taking the AMC remotely will be disqualified.

If school is canceled on the day you chose to conduct the AMC 8, you can administer it on a different day provided it falls within the competition period, Jan. 17-23. If the school closure will last all week, you may administer the competition at a local school, university, or public library, pending school administrator approval.

1) Ensure you are familiar with this cycle’s AMC 8 Teacher's Manual and instructional email series. These materials explain the new AMC Platform and competition procedure. You can also watch our instructional webinar for the AMC 8:

2) Check that all of your students are registered AND approved (the checkbox is marked in their row) for the AMC 8 in your Competition Administration Portal. 

If you administered the AMC 10/12, make sure that AMC 8 is selected from the “Competition” drop-down menu at the top of the Competition Administration Portal before checking your Student Registration pages.

3) Print & Scan Administration: Download and print all of your students’ Answer Sheets and a Competition Booklet for each student from the portal. Answer Sheets will automatically download when you click on "Print Answer Sheets." Answer Sheets are only generated for students who have been approved in your registration list.

Digital Administration: Students need their portal login email and password. If necessary, you can reset their password from the Digital Student Registration page or have participants click on “Forgot your password?” in the Student Portal. 

Print & Scan Administration: 

1) Distribute all Competition Booklets and unique student Answer Sheets to the respective participants. Tell your students to read the front page of the booklet and not to open it until instructed. Remind your students to fully bubble in their answers, or it can create delays with score processing.

2) Set the timer for 40 minutes. After the allotted time, direct students to stop working, and collect the Answer Sheets and Competition Booklets immediately. 

Digital Administration: 

1) Share the Student Login URL with your students and direct them to log in and click on the link for the AMC 8 competition within their portal.

2) When you're ready to begin, distribute the Digital Competition Passcode that appears on the Official Digital Competition page to your students.

3) Ask your students to read through the instructions at the beginning of the Digital Competition and wait for your direction to start working. (Please note that there are two sets of directions: one for how to navigate the digital format, and a second that replicates the instructions on the paper competition cover page).

4) Set the timer for 40 minutes. Once students begin, there will be a countdown clock visible on the screen to help them monitor their remaining time, but the platform will not automatically submit the competition when the clock reaches zero. This allows you to provide extra time in case of an unexpected interruption.

You must direct students to stop working and submit at the end of 40 minutes.

Ensure that all participants are marked as “Complete” on your registration list at the end of the time period. This indicates they have submitted their competitions.

If you encounter any technical difficulties during the competition, please contact amctech@maa.org.

General Cheating Reminder: You are responsible for monitoring your students and reporting any cheating or suspicious behavior to amchq@maa.org.

Scenario #1: If it is clear to you from personal observation that a participant has cheated, then you must disqualify that participant and notify the MAA AMC.

Scenario #2: If you receive an accusation or obtain indirect evidence of cheating, you must immediately report all evidence of the situation to the MAA AMC.

1) Congratulate your students on successfully completing the AMC 8! This is an accomplishment to celebrate with them.

2) Remind students not to discuss problems until Jan. 24 at 8 a.m. ET. Doing so could lead to possible disqualification. 

3) Print & Scan Administration: You can begin scanning the Answer Sheets in 300 dpi as PDF, JPEG, or black & white TIFF image files and uploading them to the Competition Administration Portal during Competition Week. The deadline to scan the AMC 8 is Jan. 30. 

4) Check the AMC Platform dashboard for your score reports beginning Jan. 24. (Scores appear automatically for digital competitions, and after scanning and uploading for printed competitions). 

Please note that for Print & Scan Administration the initial scores are subject to change in cases where answer bubbles are too faint to be picked up by the automated scan system. Every scan will be manually verified twice to ensure score accuracy. Please wait until we have announced that scores have been finalized before contacting the MAA about rescoring.

Good luck to your students participating in the AMC 8! Join in the fun and share your school’s experience on social media using #AMCmath.  

Questions? For technical issues, contact amctech@maa.org. For policy or registration issues, contact MAA AMC customer service at amcinfo@maa.org or 800-527-3690.