American Regions Mathematics League - Competition Format

Competition Format

The competition consists of four formal events:

• A team round, where the entire team has 20 minutes to solve 10 problems. Each problem is worth 5 points, for a possible total of 50 points
• A power question, where the entire team has one hour to solve a multiple-part (usually ten) question requiring explanations and proofs. This is usually an unusual, unique, or invented topic so students are forced to deal with complex new mathematical ideas. Each problem is weighted for a possible 50 points.
• An individual round, where each team member answers five groups of two questions each, with ten minutes per pair. Starting in 2009, the individual round expanded from eight questions to ten. Each problem is worth 1 point, for a grand total of 150 points possible for the team.
• A relay, where the team is broken into five groups of three. Within each group, the first team member solves a problem and passes the solution to the next team member, who plugs that answer into their question, and so on. The allotted time is six minutes, but extra points are given for solving the problem in three minutes. Solving the relay in 3 minutes gives 5 points, solving it in 6 minutes gives 3 points, making the maximum 50 points possible for the team.

At the end, the student(s) with the highest scores on the individual compete for first place. Each student tied for the highest score is given a single question, and the quickest to get the correct answer wins. In the event of a tie (no one is able to get the correct answer in the given ten minutes), another tiebreaker is given, generally easier than the previous. The tiebreaker results are shared between the four sites to determine the top overall scorer, based on time to get the correct answer. The teams are scored based on the number of points they attained. The maximum being 300 points.

In recent years, there has been a super relay, where two groups of seven team members (fourteen in all) both work to give a correct answer to the fifteenth team member. That last team member substitutes two answers into his problem. For logistical reasons, the Super Relay has never counted towards the team score. It was instituted as a "filler" while scores are tabulated. Candies and other goodies are sometimes rewards for the super relay round. The 2008 super relay at UNLV ended when a team guessed the correct answer. Realizing the likelihood of the fifteenth person receiving two correct answers was small, and knowing their answer to be a small integer, the fifteenth person of some teams began to run answers up to the proctors before the other members of the team finished their problems. This continued until the correct answer was guessed. To fix this, the writers made the final answer for the 2009 super relay a four-digit number. However, the 2008 disaster reoccurred in 2010, when a San Diego team correctly guessed the answer, 24, immediately after the "go" signal.

Also in recent years, a song contest has become an informal event at ARML. Each school is allowed to have any number of their students perform a song related to mathematics, usually a parody of a popular song, with its lyrics replaced.

The format of the ARML competition is based on the NYSML competition, but is generally considered more difficult than the NYSML competition. This format also inspired the Great Plains Math League.