Tag Archives: summer-course

Summer is the golden time to develop students’ math skills and prepare for the American Math Competitions!

• How to Prepare for the AMC 12
• How to Prepare for the AIME
• 2025 AMC 8: 19 perfect scorers. 57 students got the DHR. 33 students got the HR.
• 2024 AMC/AIME: 104 AIME qualifiers. 1 AMC 10 perfect scorer. 1 AMC 12 perfect scorer.
• 2024 JMO/AMO: 8 USAMO Awardees and 7 USAJMO Awardees
  • 1 USAMO Gold Award, 1 USAMO Silver Award, 4 USAMO Bronze Awards, and 2 USAMO Honorable Mention Awards.
  • 1 USAJMO Top Winner, 1 USAJMO Winner, and 5 USAJMO Honorable Mention Awards.
• 2024 MOP: 4 MOP winners.
• How To Use A Solutions Manual Correctly?
• The Learning Trifecta: Preview, Note-taking, and Review
• The Golden Rule of Learning Mathematics: Transitioning from Memorization to Deep Understanding and Creative Thinking
• Over-Reliance on Calculators: A Heavy Burden on Fundamental Education

Purpose: To prepare for the 2024 AMC 10/12 and the 2025 AIME contests.

• The emphasis will be on systematic, comprehensive, and in-depth problem-solving in precalculus topics, including Logarithms, Complex Numbers, Trigonometry, Conic Sections, and 3-D Coordinate Geometry, which are only needed for the AMC 12 and AIME.
• Read more at:
  • It Is Easier to Qualify for the AIME Through the AMC 12 Than Through the AMC 10
  • Advantages and Benefits of Taking AMC 12 Rather Than AMC 1
  • Students Can Easily Qualify for the AIME Through the AMC 12 During 11th and 12th Grades

Course Outline
6 Classes (Eastern Time: 6:00 – 9:00 pm), Total: 18 Hours
8/2, 8/3, 8/5, 8/7, 8/9, 8/10 (Mock Exam/Review)

Online Registration is now open! Click HERE to register and pay. 

Tuition (including all materials)
New Student	Via Zelle:  $810 (Phone: 240-300-4380) Please include your child’s name “AMC 12-AIME Precalculus” in the “Memo” box.
	Via PayPal:  $840
Returning Student	Via Zelle:  $790 (Phone: 240-300-4380) Please include your child’s name “AMC 12-AIME Precalculus” in the “Memo” box.
	Via PayPal:  $820
Click HERE to see payment and refund policy.

Our AMC 12/AIME Precalculus Summer (Evening) Course, held last summer, offered a thorough review of every precalculus topic featured on the 2024 AMC 12 and the 2025 AIME I & II exams. Remarkably, each precalculus problem on these contests was either identical to or closely resembled examples we had worked through in class. This strong alignment allowed students to develop a deep understanding of contest-style problems and master the most effective strategies for solving them — a key reason why our courses consistently help students achieve top scores on both the AMC 12 and AIME.

We update our course handouts annually based on the most recent official AMC 12 and AIME exams. Using advanced deep learning techniques, we analyze the problem-design patterns and reasoning styles of 39 AMC 10 and 12 Test Creators and 10 AIME Test Creators — drawing from their published problems and mathematical research. These insights inform the development of highly targeted, contest-style problems designed to sharpen our students’ skills.

In addition, we carefully curate influential past competition problems authored by these same test writers to demonstrate essential strategies during instruction. Notably, several of these problems have reappeared on recent AMC 12 and AIME exams, allowing our students to recognize them instantly and effortlessly earn an extra 6–12 points on the AMC 12 and 1–2 points on the AIME.

We warmly invite you to enroll in our online course — an efficient and effective way for students to engage with experienced instructors from anywhere. Classes are conducted via Google Meet, allowing students to interact face-to-face with teachers, learn proven strategies and shortcuts for excelling on math contests, and receive personalized guidance and support. Students can ask questions in real time and work through problems under the supervision of our expert coaches. Click  HERE for detailed instructions.

• This is a live class, not a pre-recorded one. Instructors will ask students questions, and students can also ask questions during the class or email their questions to instructors after class.
• We record all of our lessons as a big bonus so that our students can watch class videos after class for review and self-study.

You are very welcome to sign up for our online course which offers a quick, efficient way for students to interact with teachers over long distance. We use Google Meet to video chat and easily connect with students to teach them our tricks and shortcuts to getting an amazing score on their contests, as well as offer them our guidance and support. Students can ask questions face-to-face, and can complete problems with the supervision of our teachers/coaches. Click HERE to see detailed instruction.

A commitment to the whole course can maximize the benefit of learning all the math ideas, methods, strategies, tactics, skills, and techniques.

• We will focus on efficient tricks, shortcuts, and strategies to solve competitive precalculus problems, especially those hard problems on the AMC 12 and easy problems on the AIME, as well as test-taking tactics.
• We will utilize a highly effective teaching model as described in the article: Small-sized Class Instruction-focused Model.

Instructors:

• Dr. Henry Wan
• Dr. Irina Khovanova
• Dr. Natasha Kufareva

Contact Information:
Ivy League Education Center
Tel:  240-300-4380     or     240-406-3402
Email:  chiefmathtutor@gmail.co

Specific Goal: 

To earn a score of 100 or more out of 150 on the American Mathematics Contest 12 (AMC 12), and then qualify for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME), which is used to determine qualification for the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO).

There are many math competitions in the United States. Of those, only

AMC → AIME → USAMO sequence

would take you to the IMO (International Math Olympiad), the highest level math competition for high school students in the world!

Click here to read more!

Who should take this class: This class is very appropriate for raising 6th-12th grade students who are hoping to qualify for the AIME.

Benefits:

• 6 tutorial handouts (>360 pages) developed by Dr. Henry Wan and 200 new precalculus problems similar to AMC 12 level from the licensed AMC Database
• One FREE mock test that is intended to mimic an actual math competition exam, each of which has 25 questions similar to AMC 12 level taken from the licensed AMC Database. These simulated tests help students assess their level of preparation for the Math Competitions. After attempting the test, students get answers, explanations, and a detailed score report and wise performance summary.
• FREE registration for local students for the AMC 10/12A — Wednesday, November 5, 2025 and AMC 10/12B — Tuesday, November 11, 2025. Please see: The AMC 10/12 Online Contests on November 5, 2025, and November 11, 2025

Weekly Homework:

Students are expected to commit at least 6 hours per week to homework. Assignments will include:

• All precalculus problems from past AMC 10/12 and ARML contests

• 500 newly created precalculus problems that closely match the difficulty and style of actual AMC 10/12 questions, curated from our licensed AMC database

The primary focus will be on:

• The last 15 problems of the AMC 12

• The first 5 problems of the AIME

• Selected challenging problems from the ARML

Note: Many of the most difficult problems on recent AMC 10 and 12 exams are identical or nearly identical to past ARML questions, making ARML preparation particularly valuable.

Read More at:

• The 2020 AMC 10/12 Contests Recycle Four Previous AIME Problems
• Some Problems on the 2016 AMC 10/12 are Exactly the Same as Previous AMC/ARML Problems 
• Some Hard Problems on the 2017 AMC 10A/12A are Totally the Same as Previous Problems on the AMC 10/12

Each week, we will carefully review and check 2 students’ homework, and correct any mistakes. The next week, we will check another 2 students’ homework, and this will continue on a rotational basis until all students have had their homework checked at least once and the cycle will start again. Based on the work of the 2 students that week, we will provide the those 2 students with individualized proposal and support.

Class Outline:
This class focuses on precalculus topics that are only needed for the AMC 12 and AIME. We will also help students develop quick problem solving strategies and effective time management skills.

Small-sized Class Teaching Model:

We utilize the highly effective small-sized class teaching model. Smaller classes lead to pupils receiving more individual attention from teachers, and having more active interactions with them. We focus on every individual, not the whole class. Students will thrive from the smaller class sizes that allow them to reach their full potential. Particularly, students can benefit tremendously from high-frequent individualized student-teacher interactions leading to establishment of a stronger foundation for lifelong learning.

Our main purpose is to help our students gain deeper understanding of the fundamental math concepts, build a solid foundation in math, and develop the critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are so valuable to success in any career. We are big believers in the FUNDAMENTALS! Our students will receive the LIFELONG BENEFITS from learning math.

Regardless of his/her math level, each student will have the opportunity to learn math in a fun, friendly, cooperative, supportive learning environment. The most important thing is to have fun.

Our Students

In 2024, we had 90 students who obtained top scores on the AMC 8 contest!

• 10 of our students were among the top 116 worldwide winners (Perfect Scorers).
• 54 students received National Distinguished Honor Roll Certificates awarded to top 1% test takers. They were among the 697 worldwide winners.
• 29 students received National Honor Roll Certificates awarded to top 5% test takers. They were among the 2,683 worldwide winners.
• 93 out of our 96 students (96.9%) received National Awards for the AMC 8 from the Mathematical Association of America

Read more at: 2024 AMC 8 Results Just Announced — Ten Students Received Perfect Scores 

In 2023, we had 99 students who qualified for the AIME either through the AMC 10A/12A or the AMC 10B/12B. One of our students was among the 11 Perfect Scorers worldwide on the AMC 10B: Ali R. and one of our students was among the 13 Perfect Scorers worldwide on the AMC 12B: Yaoyun X.  Read more at: 99 Students Qualified for the 2024 AIME and 2 Students Received Perfect Scores on the 2023 AMC 10/12

In 2023, we had 8 students who won USAMO awards and 7 students who won USAJMO awards.

• 1 USAMO Gold Award, 1 USAMO Silver Award, 4 USAMO Bronze Awards, and 2 USAMO Honorable Mention Awards.
• 1 USAJMO Top Winner, 1 USAJMO Winner, and 5 USAJMO Honorable Mention Awards.

Read more at: 2023 USAMO and USAJMO Awardees Announced — Congratulations to Eight USAMO Awardees and Seven USAJMO Awardees

In 2023, we had 90 students who obtained top scores on the AMC 8 contest!

• 8 of our students were among the top 81 worldwide winners (Perfect Scorers).
• 51 students received National Distinguished Honor Roll Certificates awarded to top 1% test takers. They were among the 697 worldwide winners.
• 31 students received National Honor Roll Certificates awarded to top 5% test takers. They were among the 2,571 worldwide winners.
• 90 out of our 93 students (96.8%) received National Awards for the AMC 8 from the Mathematical Association of America.

Read more at: 2023 AMC 8 Results Just Announced — Eight Students Received Perfect Scores

In 2022, we had 96 students who qualified for the AIME either through the AMC 10A/12A or the AMC 10B/12B. One of our students was among the 6 Perfect Scorers worldwide on the AMC 10A: Justin W. and one of our students was among the 3 Perfect Scorers worldwide on the AMC 12B: Ming Y. Read more at: 96 Students Qualified for the 2023 AIME and 2 Students Received Perfect Scores on the 2023 Fall AMC 10/12

In 2022, we had 3 students qualified for the Math Olympiad Summer Program. Read more at: Brendon J., Kyle S., and Isabella Z. Qualified for the 2022 Math Olympiad Summer Program

In 2022, we had 1 student Competes in International Girls’ Math Olympiad. Read more at: sabella Z. Competes in International Girls’ Math Olympiad

In 2022, we had 7 students qualified for the USAMO and 7 students for the USAJMO. Read more at: 2022 USAMO and USAJMO Qualifiers Announced — Seven Students Qualified for the USAMO and Seven Students for the USAJMO.

In 2022, we had 88 students who obtained top scores on the AMC 8 contest!

• 10 of our students were among the top 131 worldwide winners (Perfect Scorers), as shown in Table 1. Click Here see a full list of the 131 worldwide winners.
• 52 students received National Distinguished Honor Roll Certificates awarded to top 1% test takers. They were among the 1,010 worldwide winners. Click HERE see a full list.
• 26 students received National Honor Roll Certificates awarded to top 5% test takers. They were among the 2,449 worldwide winners. Click HERE see a full list.
• 88 out of our 91 students (96.7%)received National Awards for the AMC 8 from the Mathematical Association of America

Read more at: 2022 AMC 8 Results Just Announced — Ten Students Received Perfect Scores

In Fall 2021, we had 93 students who are qualified to take the AIME either through the AMC 10A/12A or AMC 10B/12B. One of our students was among the 5 Perfect Scorers worldwide on the AMC 10A: Nina L. and one of our students was among the 2 Perfect Scorers worldwide on the AMC 10B: Ming Y. Read more at: 93 Students Qualified for the 2021 Fall AIME and 2 Students Received Perfect Scores on the 2021 Fall AMC 10/12

In 2021, we had 6 students qualified for the USAMO and 6 students for the USAJMO. Read more at: 2021 USAMO and USAJMO Qualifiers Announced — Six Students Qualified for the USAMO and Six Students for the USAJMO

In Spring 2021, we had 91 students who are qualified to take the AIME either through the AMC 10A/12A or AMC 10B/12B. Two of our students was among the 17 Perfect Scorers worldwide on the AMC 12A: Evan L. and Suraj O. and one of our students was among the 27 Perfect Scorers worldwide on the AMC 10A: Xinchen L. Read more at: 91 Students Qualified for the 2021 AIME and 3 Students Received Perfect Scores on the 2021 AMC 10/12

In 2021, we had 8 students who got into the MathCounts state-level top 10. Yunyi L. won 9th Place in the 2021 MathCounts National Competition!

In 2020, we had 79 students who obtained top scores on the AMC 8 contest!

• 5 of our students were among the top 57 worldwide winners (Perfect Scorers).
• 49 students received National Distinguished Honor Roll Certificates awarded to top 1% test takers.
• 25 students received National Honor Roll Certificates awarded to top 5% test takers.
• 79 out of our 81 students (97.5%) received National Awards for the AMC 8 from the Mathematical Association of America.

Read more at: 2020 AMC 8 Results Just Announced — Five Students Received Perfect Scores

In 2020, we had 82 students who are qualified to take the AIME either through the AMC 10A/12A or AMC 10B/12B. One of our students was among the 11 Perfect Scorers worldwide on the AMC 12A: Yiyang X, and one of our students was among the 13 Perfect Scorers worldwide on the AMC 10A: Jason W.. 43 middle schoolers and 9 elementary schoolers qualified for the AIME! Read more at: 2020 AIME Qualifiers Announced — 82 Students Qualified for the AIME

In 2019, we had 71 students who obtained top scores on the AMC 8 contest!

• 8 of our students were among the top 151 National Winners (Perfect Scorers), including 2 sixth graders.
• 36 students received National Distinguished Honor Roll Certificates awarded to top 1% test takers.
• 27 students received National Honor Roll Certificates awarded to top 5% test takers.
• 71 out of our 73 students (97.3%) received National Awards for the AMC 8 from the Mathematical Association of America.

Read more at: 2019 AMC 8 Results Just Announced — Eight Students Received Perfect Scores

In 2019, we had 4 Students Qualified for the USAMO and 4 Students for the USJMO.

• Of the 280 USA Math Olympiad national qualifiers, 4 are our students: Luke C., Zipeng L., Sameer P., and Peter P.
• Of the 235 USA Junior Math Olympiad national qualifiers, 4 are our students: Michael H., Noah W., Holden W., and Isabella Z.

Read more at: 2019 USAMO and USAJMO Qualifiers Announced — Four Students Qualified for the USAMO and Four Students for the USAJMO

In 2019, we had 76 students who are qualified to take the AIME either through the AMC 10A/12A or AMC 10B/12B. One of our students was among the 22 Perfect Scorers worldwide on the AMC 10A: Noah W. and one of our students were among the 10 Perfect Scorers worldwide on the AMC 12B: Kenneth W. Very impressively, 32 middle schoolers and 7 elementary schoolers qualified for the AIME!

In 2018, we had 64 students who obtained top scores on the AMC 8 contest!

• 3 of our students were among the top 44 National Winners (Perfect Scorers): Eric B., Kevin Y., and Isabella Z.
• 40 students received National Distinguished Honor Roll Certificates awarded to top 1% test takers.
• 21 students received National Honor Roll Certificates awarded to top 5% test takers.
• 64 out of our 66 students (96.5%) received National Awards for the AMC 8 from the Mathematical Association of America

Read more at: 2018 AMC 8 Results Just Announced — Three Students Received Perfect Scores

In 2018, we had 73 students who are qualified to take the AIME either through the AMC 10A/12A or AMC 10B/12B. Two of our students were among the 35 Perfect Scorers worldwide on the AMC 10A: Austen M. and Jason W.  and two of our students were among the 21 Perfect Scorers worldwide on the AMC 12B: Kaan D. and Edward W. Remarkably, 11 middle schoolers and 2 elementary schoolers qualified for the AIME!

In 2017, we had 63 students who earned top scores on the AMC 8 contest!

• 7 of our students were among the top 75 National Winners (Perfect Scorers).
• 34 students received National Distinguished Honor Roll Certificates awarded to top 1% test takers.
• 22 students received National Honor Roll Certificates awarded to top 5% test takers.
• 63 out of our 65 students (97%) received National Awards for the AMC 8 from the Mathematical Association of America

Read more at: 2017 AMC 8 Results Just Announced — Seven Students Received Perfect Scores

In 2017, we had 61 students who are qualified to take the AIME either through the AMC 10A/12A or AMC 10B/12B. One of our students was among the 28 Perfect Scorers worldwide on the AMC 10A: Austen M., and two of our students were among the 65 Perfect Scorers worldwide on the AMC 10B: Ashwin A. and Brad Z. Remarkably, eight middle schoolers and one elementary schooler qualified for the AIME, which is geared toward high school students. Very impressively, Bryan Z., a 6th grader, gained a score of 132 out of 150 on the AMC 10B.Read more at: 2017 AIME Qualifiers Announced — 61 Students Qualified for the AIME

In 2016, we had 36 students who are qualified to take AIME either through AMC 10A/12A or AMC 10B/12B. One of our students was among the 23 Perfect Scorers worldwide on the AMC 10A: Joel (Junyao) T. Particularly, seven middle schoolers and one elementary schooler qualified for the AIME, which is geared toward high school students. Pravalika P., a 6th grader, got a 115.5 out of 150 on the AMC10B, which is very impressive. Read more at: 2016 AIME Qualifiers Announced — 36 Students Qualified for AIME

2011 – 2015: In total, 37 students scored above 120 on the American Mathematics Contest 10 (AMC 10) and qualified for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME); 26 students scored above 100 on the American Mathematics Contest 12 (AMC 12) and qualified for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME); 3 students qualified for the USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO), the highest level of math competition for high school students in the USA

2011 – 2015: In total, 23 students achieved perfect scores of 28 on the AMC 8

Read more at: Notable Achievements of Our Students

Our Uniqueness

We have a long history of close collaboration with the MAA’s American Mathematics Competitions (AMC), which are dedicated to strengthening the mathematical capabilities of our nation’s youth, and are the first of a series of competitions in high school mathematics that determine the United States team for the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).

We are only one in the Washington DC metropolitan area to offer elementary, middle, and high-school level competition math courses. Our students have received top scores and awards at prestigious national and math competitions.

Great Benefits of Math Competitions

In an increasingly competitive college application pool, the process of mastering math skills through our courses and participating in the American Math Competitions will help students strengthen and diversify their extracurricular activities. These contests can motivate students’ interest and passion in math, and they can discover their talent through solving challenging problems different from those in the school classes. Many top colleges also request AMC scores as part of the college application process. Both MIT and Caltech have entry blanks on their official admission application forms for the applicant to enter their best AMC and AIME scores. Ivy League Colleges and Stanford ask for to the AMC and AIME scores in their Supplement to the Common Application Forms. Your children deserve the chance to list these scores on their applications! Good AMC scores will greatly enhance admission opportunities for students to elite colleges.

Read more at::

• 20 Sets of AMC 12 Mock Test with Detailed Solutions
• 20 Sets of AMC 10 Mock Test with Detailed Solutions
• 365-hour Project to Qualify for the AIME through the AMC 10/12 Contests
• 116 Full-length Real AMC Problems Sets are a Golden Resource to Our AMC 10/12 Prep Program
• 365-hour Project to Qualify for the AIME through the AMC 10/12 Contests
• The 2020 AMC 10/12 Contests Recycle Three Previous AIME Problems
• Some Hard Problems on the 2017 AMC 10A/12A are Totally the Same as Previous Problems on the AMC 10/12
• AMC 10 versus AMC 12
• AMC 10/12 Historical Results
• Some Problems on the 2016 AMC 10/12 are Exactly the Same as Previous AMC/ARML Problems
• Optimal Strategies to Solve Hard AMC Geometry Problems
• Students Can Easily Qualify for the AIME Through the AMC 12 During 11th and 12th Grade
• The AMC 10 and AMC 12 Have 10-15 Questions in Common
• Every Student Should Take Both the AMC 10A/12A and 10 B/12B!
• The Big Value of Middle School Math Competitions
• Great Benefits of Math Competitions
• A Little Competition Can Inspire Math Students to Greater Achievement
• Mathematics competitions are NOT mysterious, and every student can attend them! — 数学竞赛绝非神秘，每个学生都可参加！
• Girls should attend math competitions — 女生更应参加数学竞赛
• Small-sized Class Instruction-focused Model
• Why are Math Competitions Important to Girls?
• Small-sized Class Instruction-focused Model
• 2016 AIME Qualifiers Announced — 36 Students Qualified for the AIME
• Cutoff scores for AIME qualification in 2016
• Why Math Competitions are so Important to Girls?

Click HERE find out more about Math Competitions!

Click HERE to find out more about SAT Prep!