How to Prepare for the ACSIMC

The Academic Competition Subworld Initiative Math Competition is designed to be an introductory competition to get people interested in competition math. As a result, the competition has foundational elements of major math competitions.

For the most part, this article will refer to math competitions in the United States.

The ACSIMC is split up into 3 rounds.

The easy round (Archimedes) is designed for those who have just finished Pre-Algebra. We suggest that you work on AMC 8 tests and work through Introductory AOPS books.

You can access past AMC 8 exams here: https://live.poshenloh.com/past-contests

The easy round also takes elements from Number theory, make sure you learn about some number theory before the competition!

The medium round (Stokes) is designed for Algebra 2 to Geometry students. This round is much more challenging then the easy round and takes elements from late AMC 8 problems to early AMC 12 problems. This is the most popular round as it provides an equal opportunity for advanced young students and aspiring older students.

Since this is the most competitive round, preparation is key. Make sure to try all stokes round available here, on our past competition examinations page.

You can also access past AMC 10 exams here: https://live.poshenloh.com/past-contests

The hard round (Rutherford) is designed for Calc AB to Calc BC students. This is an extremely challenging round and can be somewhat brutal for those who are underprepared. Most people don’t get close to a perfect score on on this round.

This round takes concepts from late AMC 12 problems to early AIME problems. Therefore you should probably try mocking these exams in preparation.

It also takes elements from Modular Arithmetic and Vector Analysis. Make sure to prepare with that as well!