This Year It Was Much Easier to Qualify for the AIME Through the AMC 12A Than Through the AMC 10A

Both the AMC 10 and AMC 12 are 25-question, 75-minute multiple choice examinations. There are usually 10-15 questions that overlap with both exams. The AMC 10A is held on the same day as the AMC 12A; similarly, the AMC 10B is held on the same day as the AMC 12B.

In 2017, the AMC 10A and AMC 12A had 14 overlapping questions, which are shown in the following table.

Table: 14 Overlapping Problems in the 2017 AMC 10A and 12A

2017 AMC 10A	2017 AMC 12A
#2	#1
#5	#2
#6	#3
#7	#4
#8	#5
#10	#6
#11	#8
#12	#9
#15	#10
#16	#11
#19	#14
#20	#18
#21	#19
#24	#23

Click HERE to see all the 14 problems that appeared on both the 2017 AMC 10A and AMC 12A.

Let’s look at an example of this scenario. Suppose there are two students: Student X and Student Y.

Student X took the 2017 AMC 12A, and Student Y took the 2017 AMC 10A. Both get all the 14 problems shown above right, and they also both get 3 incorrect answers and 8 skipped answers. This is demonstrated in the following table.

Student	Student X	Student Y
Contest	2017 AMC 12A	2017 AMC 10A
# of Correct Answers	14	14
# of Incorrect Answers	3	3
# of Blank Answers	8	8
Total Score	14 6 + 3 0 + 8 1.5 = 96	14 6 + 3 0 + 8 1.5 = 96
Qualification Status for the AIME	Yes	No

Note that the 2017 AMC 10A/12A AIME cutoff scores are:

AMC 10A: 112.5
AMC 12A: 96

See more at: 2017 AMC 10A/12A AIME Cutoff Scores

Remember that both the AMC 10 and the AMC 12 have the same scoring criteria. Six points are given for a correct answer, 0 points for an incorrect answer and 1.5 points for an answer left blank.

Student X got 96 points out of 150, and thus, qualifies for the AIME through the AMC 12A. However, Student Y got 96 points out of 150 on the AMC 10A, and is 16.5 points away from qualifying for the AIME through the AMC 10A.

Conclusion:

This year, it was much easier to qualify for the AIME through the AMC 12A than the AMC 10A!