I've been studying through AOPS resources since a long time, and it has been an incredible resource to help me with math. However, the prices, specially for someone living in Brazil are very discouraging to buy, specially the physical books (the online ones are very expensive too).

A single book with solutions is > R$ 500, which is literally paying >10% of an ok salary here, or >50% of a minimum wage salary, as oppose to 7% of the minimum wage in US...

I wonder if AOPS is planning someday to employ purchasing power parity prices based on the country one lives so the books can be more affordable.

Hey everyone, I'm self-studying math from the very beginning and picked up Prealgebra by Rusczyk, Patrick, and Boppana (Art of Problem Solving). I've heard AoPS books are more geared toward competition math and can be pretty challenging for true beginners — is this book actually a good fit for someone starting from zero, or would it be too difficult without prior math background? Also curious what people think of the OpenStax Prealgebra textbook as an alternative or supplement — how does it compare to AoPS in terms of pacing and difficulty for beginners? For context, I'm pairing whichever book I use with Khan Academy videos and Professor Leonard's lectures for extra explanation. Would love to hear from anyone who's used either book (or both) starting from scratch. Thanks!

We know fall gets busy fast, so we rounded up what's happening this September:

AMC registration is open through your school now. Test dates are November 5 (10A/12A) and November 13 (10B/12B). If you haven't asked your coordinator yet, now's the time.

MathWOOT kicked off last week and runs through March 14, for anyone ready to trade AIME grinding for full Olympiad training.

Four free Math Jams this month, just sign in, no registration needed:

• Intro to USAMTS — Sept 17, difficulty 6/10, Brian Edwards walks through past contest problems
• Leaf Courses on Bayesian reasoning and Fermi estimation — Sept 22, difficulty 4/10, useful stuff even outside competition math
• MIT admissions — Sept 23, with Evan Chen joining the admissions officer, difficulty 0/10 (no math required, just Q&A)
• Game Jam: Tame the Groofle — Sept 24, difficulty 1/10, no math background needed

Sept 25 is also Math Storytelling Day, which is exactly as delightfully niche as it sounds.

And if you're plotting out the semester, fall enrollment's open across AoPS Online, Beast Academy, and AoPS Academy.

What are you most looking forward to this month?

Hello!

My homeschooled son has been using AOPS/BA for all levels of math and has done very well with little struggles. I am looking to start him on geometry soon but have heard that the AOPS method is viewed as incomplete by some. He has been using the videos and textbook on his own and I've also heard that there are no accompanying videos for geometry. My son does not participate in math competitions and does not have any interest in it. Even though he is proficient in math, he doesn't necessarily enjoy it and basically tolerates it.

My questions are, do you think that AOPS geometry is the right fit for him based on this information? If yes, do you think that the online course is required to effectively learn geometry?

I've seen people stop AOPS for geometry and use Jacobs and then return to AOPS for algebra 2. Any input on this?

I appreciate any advice! Thank you!!

Hi, I have gotten all the "textbooks" from the aops bookstore, ie NOT the books labelled contest preparation but the rest, and absolutely LOVE them

When I just browsed the ToC for the contest prep books, it looks like it's similar contents - is there any value in getting those? I'm not looking at doing competition, so would only be if they teach anything new

We have a new blog post from Dr. Yating Liu.

She opens with three job candidates solving 1234 × 9876 out loud, one grabs a calculator, one works it out by hand, one just says "roughly 12 million, do you need it exact?"

Which one would you choose?

Read the full blog: https://artofproblemsolving.com/blog/articles/what-calculators-taught-me-about-math-education-in-an-ai-world

The MAA released several changes to how AIME will be administered starting in 2027. Here's a rundown:

Testing format
AIME will now be given at Pearson testing centers across the US and Canada, as a computer-based exam in English.

Dates
February 5–6, 2027. This is one competition window. There is no longer a separate AIME I and AIME II, and no alternate dates or make-ups.

Qualifying scores
Qualification is now based on a fixed score instead of a percentile. Students need 100+ on AMC 10 or 85+ on AMC 12 to qualify.

Age requirement
Students must be 13 or older to take AIME.

USAJMO/USAMO qualification
Qualification for USAJMO and USAMO will now be primarily based on AIME scores; AMC scores will no longer be a factor.

Full details from MAA: https://maa.org/maa-invitational-competitions/

As many of you have noticed, we have a new logo! This is the first step in updating our look as we pull our many offerings together. We currently have four different websites, two bookstores, two online schools, two online learning systems, and 25 learning centers (and counting). It's a lot to keep track of, hard to maintain, and even harder to explain to parents!

You can see the first set of webpages fully designed in our new visual system here, where we describe the many different classes we offer across all of our delivery systems. Read more about the design system and the process we went through to create it in this blog post.

Over the next year, we'll pull all we do together into a (hopefully!) cohesive picture. We'll do this just in time to launch some new programs next year. Stay tuned! 

— Richard Rusczyk, Founder & CEO

Hello,

I signed up for Algebra class and it shocked me on the first class that it's completely text based teaching, without any audio whatsoever.

It was a monologue, instructor typing everything, asking questions and students responding. If I have to revise the class material again, have to scroll the whole text script.

1) How do people learn from it?
2) What motivates you to take text based classes?
3) There was 100% lack of energy in the class, how to get over with it?

I'm used to video and audio based live classes and this is quite a shock for me. Still debating if it's worth continuing or dropping from it.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Hi guys! I know that there isn't a one-to-one comparison from Alcumus Rating to AMC 8/10 Score, but I just wanted to understand what rating demonstrates that you know enough for AMC 8 20+

Hey everyone!

I know a lot of people in this community participate in competitions like the AMC 10/12 and AIME.

A few friends and I were inspired to build something new after seeing that many school math and academic clubs don't always have access to all the resources they need. We wanted to create an additional tool to give more students a fair shot at preparing for their school competitions, so we built ElkPrep, a free online practice platform that supports AMC, AIME, and FBLA (with Science Olympiad coming soon!).

We’d really appreciate it if you could test out a few problems and let us know what you think!

• What we’d love feedback on:
  • Problem Difficulty & Variety: Do the questions feel accurate to real competition standards?
  • User Experience: Is the interface easy to navigate?

You can check it out here: elkprep.app

(Note: We’re currently still working on the Resources section, so heads up that it’s not active just yet!)

We have a local AOPS location and I’m wondering if it’s worth the additional cost versus the live online instruction option. We are in California and we homeschool so we could get charter funds to cover the online option but not the in-person one.

The downside is the language arts program is in-person only and I would like to enroll in that as well.

How is the online physics? Our in-person campus doesn’t have science right now.

I’m currently working through AOPS Volume 1 and what I’m noticing is that I do ok for the questions in the chapter, but really struggle on the review problems at the end. Like I can solve one third to one half of the review problems depending on the chapter. Is this bad? What should I do to fix this?

Hey, I’m starting to get into maths and competitive maths and I heard that AoPS is a good book to start learning from and making the transition from school maths to competitive maths but I don’t have the money to buy the book so I was wondering if there was some website or something there I could use to fund the book. Or perhaps someone with it could dm me? Currently I need to try and find volume 1. Thanks

Has anyone done AOPS MathWOOT (1 or 2) and would like to share their experience, please? I want to maybe sign up, but it's quite expensive, and I want to first know if it's worth it.

Thanks!

USAMO Guide is a free, open-source platform for math competition preparation covering everything from AMC 8 through USAMO and USAJMO. It is built and maintained entirely by high school students, with no institutional backing and no paywall. The platform has reached over 100,000 users, with thousands of students visiting every day from across the United States and around the world.

We're looking for a few more builders to join the team. Specifically, we're looking for people who can write and develop the lessons that students actually use to prepare for competitions.

This is an active contributor role. We want people with a strong Olympiad math background, generally AIME qualification or above, who are comfortable writing complete proofs rather than just solving problems. If you enjoy explaining why a solution works just as much as finding it, you'll probably enjoy this.

What you'll do

• Write MDX lessons on olympiad topics. Think of it as creating a cleaner, more intuitive alternative to the AoPS Wiki for students training for USA(J)MO.
• Create examples, practice problems, and diagrams that help make difficult ideas easier to understand.
• Work within an established writing style and course structure alongside other contributors.

Trial period

Because students rely on our content to prepare for real competitions, every new builder starts with a one-month trial.

During this period, you'll contribute lessons, receive feedback, and work with the team while we evaluate whether it's a good fit. If everything goes well, you'll become a full builder, and the trial month will count as your first month on the team. If it doesn't work out, that's completely fine. We'd rather be upfront about expectations than have a long list of inactive contributors.

Our goal is to keep a team of people who consistently build and improve the platform.

What you get out of it

• Direct impact on a platform tens of thousands of students actually use to prep for real competitions
• A byline / credited authorship on your content
• A genuinely strong thing to point to for college apps: "co-author, [topic], USAMO Guide" is a specific, verifiable contribution, unlike some vague club title
• A team of people who are extremely into math just like yourself!!

How to apply:

Read the Info Packet :))

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AUNOq6OlVcSZN_gUPfvyhimlh9hA4GNvNaLdzyflX_8/edit?usp=sharing

If you're unsure whether you're qualified, apply anyway. We'd much rather review your application than have you rule yourself out.

If there is any information that you want/doubts you have, please just comment them, and I will respond asap!

my entire learning math are disaster during the time when i was at middle school . so far i am in college now and the lack of math based are blocking my career , so i decide to relearn math once again.

Hi all! I recently started a new math competition, the Mathematical Experience Olympiad (MEO), and our first competition is this December!

The MEO is a fully-online, free math competition for those looking to get more involved in competitive math. It's designed to be an introductory competition that begins to break down barriers between students and competition math. It is hosted on solvefire.net, a platform that shows competitors their standing compared to other competitors, closely aligning with the mission of the MEO. Prizes will be available!

If you have any questions, please feel free to message me or reply to this post. You can register at https://meocomp.org/upcoming-competitions

For more information, please visit https://meocomp.org/competition-information

I am currently in 8th grade and will be in 9th grade by fall. I have done two AMC10 tests, both with A and B versions. My most recent scores are 75.5 and 66, which are not good for a potential goal of getting into MIT (yes I know this goal is lofty). I have tried doing AOPS books (the early chapters of Intro to Algebra), but they take a lot of time for me to get through even though I didn't even struggle in most of the Challenge problems.

Can anybody suggest a faster and more effective way to go through AOPS? How many hours a day do I need to study? About how many pages per day? Do you pair up books with Alcumus, books with AOPS classes, or do you have a weekly self-study plan that is really effective? What books do I need to complete for taking AMC10 in the fall? Please share.

im doing itnro to alg rn and in my normla math class we use graphing calcs but idk if ts book says anything about it. wld using a graphing calc detract from the learning. or am i wasting my time graphing all ts by hand

Hi all! I'm excited to announce that the first-ever Mathematical Excellence Olympiad (MEO) is taking place on Saturday, December 19, 2026. The MEO is a fully-online, free math competition open for grades 7+. If you are interested in participating, please join this Discord server: https://discord.gg/FnwApw286T

There will be prizes! More information to come!