For a brief overview of all that we do, see the following infographic!

Contest Overview

Team Contest Overview:

These contests typically promote involvement from the whole team and employ a team-wide effort to maximize success.

NSML

The North Suburban Math League is a group of around 50 schools in the Chicago-land area which compete throughout the year in 5 separate meets. The first four meets happen in pools of 5 schools each, where 5 schools compete within their pool. The last meet happens collectively across all schools in the league at a larger site. 

Each NSML contest consists of three parts:

• the written contest, a 5-problem, 30-minute 25 point contest which varies in topic and difficulty for each grade level. 
• the oral contest, a 2-man, 50 point impromptu oral presentation on a set of three fresh questions selected based upon a pretermined topic
• the candy-bar contest, a fun 25 problem contest where each school’s math team works together to win a large bag of candy

ICTM

Sponsored by the Illinois Teachers Council of Mathematics, this statewide mathematics competition starts in March with local regional contests and culminates in May with the annual statewide math contest, held each year at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This contest is all inclusive and incorporates topics such as Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, and Precalculus among grade-level specific individual contests, as well as larger group team contests such as the Calculator, 8-person, 2-person, and Orals competitions.

Math Madness

A bracket-style series of contests where different schools across the nation play in a single-elimination tournament. Each contestant has 30 minutes to solve 8 questions, and the top 5 scores from each school contributes to the total score.

Individual / Smaller Group Contest Overview:

We also encourage participation in these individual / smaller team contests.

AMC 10/12

The American Mathematics Competition 10/12 is a 75-minute, 25 question multiple choice exam held annually nationwide around late-January to early-February. The contests are split up into two divisions, based on grade level and difficulty — the AMC 10, and the AMC 12. All students in grade 10 or below are permitted to take the AMC 10, and all students in grade 12 or below are permitted to take the AMC 12. Each year, each division holds two contests, the A and the B. Both forms are similar in difficulty and are meant to provide contestants with two opportunities to perform well during the contest period and qualify for the next level of competition — the AIME (American Invitational Mathematics Examination). The AMC 10/12 is the first contest in the AMC competition series, a series of contests sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America which serves to limit and eventually determine a pool of six students to represent America at the annual International Mathematical Olympiad. 

AIME

The American Invitational Mathematics Examination is a 3-hour, 15 question short answer invitational-based exam held annually nationwide around late March. The top 2.5 percent of scorers on the AMC 10 and top 5 percent of scorers on the AMC 12 are invited to take this contest, and it is meant to provide contestants with the opportunity to qualify for the next level of competition — the USA(J)MO. The AIME is the second contest in the AMC competition series, a series of contests sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America which serves to limit and eventually determine a pool of six students to represent America at the annual International Mathematical Olympiad. 

USA(J)MO

The United States of America (Junior) Mathematical Olympiad is a 9-hour, 6 question proof-based olympiad exam held annually nationwide. It takes place over a two day period in mid-April, and only the top 500 test-takers nationwide from the AMC 10/12 and the AIME exams are invited to take this contest. Competitors compete for the opportunity to be invited to the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program (MOSP), an intensive summer training program which prepares students for the International Mathematical Olympiad. The USA(J)MO is the third and penultimate contest in the AMC competition series, a series of contests sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America which serves to limit and eventually determine a pool of six students to represent America at the annual International Mathematical Olympiad. 

ARML

The American Regions Mathematics League is an annual nation-wide contest typically taking place in late May at a few separate locations across the nation. Teams are location based, and competitors from Stevenson most often compete as part of one of the four major Chicago ARML teams. Students interested in participating are encouraged to attend the try out for the Chicago teams in late January, and those who qualify participate in monthly practices leading up to the big competition in May.

HMMT

The Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament is an annual team-based mathematics competition hosted by Harvard and MIT. Typically two tournaments are held every year — HMMT November and HMMT February, where competitors more experienced in olympiad style and/or proof based questions are encouraged to apply to the latter. Each contest has Individual Rounds, a Team Round, and a Guts Round. Teams are only allowed to attend one tournament per year, and depending on the tournament range in size anywhere from 4-8 competitors. Students are encouraged to form their own teams (although more recently Stevenson has sponsored underclassmen teams for the November tournament). Because of the popularity of the competition, both tournaments are application based — the top 40 placing teams from each contest are re-invited the next year, while the rest of the teams invited must be selected via a random lottery system.

M3 Challenge

The Mathworks Math Modeling Challenge is an annual math modeling competition for 11th and 12th graders in the United States and United Kingdom. Students participate in teams of 3-5 competitors, and Stevenson sends a junior and senior team to the contest each year. Competitors are tasked with producing a model with mathematics and technical computing to analyze a relevant real world issue. Each team is given a 14-hour time period during Challenge Weekend (typically in late February/early March) to produce their model. Six finalist teams and three technical computing finalists are then invited to the final event in New York City to present their model to a panel of judges. Scholarship money ranges from $5,000 to $20,000 for the finalist teams.