MATHCOUNTS COMPETITION SERIES
A national program that provides students in grade 6-8 the opportunity to compete in live contests against and alongside their peers.
The Competition Series has 4 levels of competition—school, chapter, state and national. Each level of competition is comprised of 4 rounds—Sprint, Target, Team and Countdown Round. Altogether the rounds are designed to take about 3 hours to complete.
Click the buttons to the left to learn a little more about what each round looks like.
Sprint Round
Focuses on speed and accuracy. Students have 40 minutes to complete 30 math problems without a calculator.
Chapter-level example: By switching two of the digits of the number 123,456, Rodrigo obtains a new number that is 1980 more than the original. What is the product of the two digits Rodrigo switched? (answer: 15)
Target Round
Focuses on problem-solving and mathematical reasoning. Students receive 4 pairs of problems and have 6 minutes to complete each pair, assuming the use of a calculator.
State-level example: One evening, Varun finishes reading a novel that he has been reading for several days and finds the ending so exciting that he immediately begins reading the novel’s sequel. Each novel has pages numbered consecutively, starting with page 1. Each novel has fewer than 1000 pages. If Varun reads a total of 42 pages in one sitting and the sum of the page numbers he reads in that sitting is 2018, what is the number of the last page of the first novel? (Answer: Page 265)
Team Round
Focuses on problem-solving and collaboration. Students have 20 minutes to complete 10 math problems, assuming the use of a calculator. Only the 4 students on a school's team can take this round officially.
State-level example: Jackie sold two cars for $25,000 each. The first car sold for a profit of 22%, and the second sold at a loss of 7%. What was the total percent profit on the sale of the two cars? Express your answer to the nearest hundredth. (Answer: 5.54%)
Countdown Round
Focuses on speed and accuracy. Students have a maximum of 45 seconds per problem without a calculator. This round is optional at the school, chapter and state level.
Chapter-level example: A prize of $900 is to be shared in the ratio of 2:1:1 among three awardees. How many dollars are in the smallest share? (Answer: $225)
Schools and non-school competitors (NSCs) register in the fall and coaches prepare their students using resources provided by MATHCOUNTS. Starting in November, coaches administer the School Competition either unofficially or officially to select chapter competitors.
August 2024 - January 2025
Local schools compete in 500 chapter competitions across the country. Schools can send up to 14 competitors: 4 competitors who take both team and individual rounds, plus 10 students competing individually. NSCs compete as individuals.
February 1-28, 2025
Top students from each chapter (including NSCs, who can advance as individuals) advance to their state competition, taking place in all 50 US states, plus territories. No additional fees are required for competitors to advance to the state level.
March 1 - 31, 2025
The top 4 individuals from each state (including NSCs) receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the RTX MATHCOUNTS National Competition. These 224 competitors form 4-person state teams, plus compete individually for the title of National Champion.
May 11-12,
2025