Goals and practice
Before we get into the math…
Hey there! It’s cool that you’re interested in the AMC 8. Do you mind if we make it easier and more fun for you?
That’s our goal for this whole course.
Before we even get into the math, we’re going to give you a few tips that will save you a lot of trouble. Basically, a bunch of things we’ve learned over the last twenty years (yep, really) as we’ve helped people a lot like you to do really well. So, some of these might not apply to you, but some of them sure will. Just skip anything that doesn’t help, okay?
Who you’re competing against
You’re competing against only one person here: the person you were last week. Also known as your past self.
In the time since you were that person, you’ve learned some stuff, you’ve practiced some stuff, and you’ve thought about some stuff. You’ve gotten better. You’ve gotten smarter. So you’re a slightly different person now. A different person who can do things you couldn’t do before.
No one else matters.
Your goals
Your goal through this work is to become better. Nothing more or less.
When you do better than your past self, you are proving that you’ve changed. That you’ve improved. That your work made a difference for yourself.
Focus only on improvement.
Do not aim to get a particular score.
Do not aim to match a particular person.
Do not aim to break a record.
Aim only to do better than you did last week. Do this week after week after week.
How to practice
The best way to improve your AMC 8 ability is to use a technique called deliberate practice. Since it’s the best way, that’s what you’re going to do.
There are three phases to deliberate practice:
- Take a practice test.
- Based on your performance, figure out exactly where you could improve most easily.
- Do whatever it takes to improve in that area.
You repeat these three phases over and over, getting better each time.
Please note: most people completely skip phases 2 and 3 above. As a result, they improve very little, if at all. So don’t make that mistake.