High School Mathematical Contest in ModelingHiMCM

They test entirely different abilities. The AMC is a timed written exam rewarding speed and technique, with one right answer. HiMCM is an open-ended modeling project completed inside a 14-day window: turn a real-world problem into a mathematical model, argue from data, and write it up as an English paper with no answer key. They are not mutually exclusive, but HiMCM's November window overlaps the AMC 10/12 dates closely, so doing both needs a schedule planned in advance. Students strong in writing and reasoning but weak under time pressure often fit HiMCM better.

Once the contest opens, the team downloads the problem from COMAP's platform, works whenever it likes inside the 14-day window, and submits a PDF paper before the deadline. COMAP states explicitly that teams are not required to use all the allotted time; the long window exists so teams can work around school and extracurricular schedules. In practice, build your own timeline — a couple of days to understand and model, several to solve and validate, then dedicated writing and proofreading days — rather than starting at the end.

There are options. A faculty advisor is mandatory, but the advisor can come from a school, another educational institution, or a program — it does not have to be a teacher at your own school. A team has at most four students; one, two, three, or four are all allowed. The advisor registers the team, releases the problem to the students at the start, and verifies that they stop working when the window closes. All substantive work on the paper must still be the students' own — the advisor may not help solve or write.

The team submits one English-language PDF of at most 25 pages, containing a one-page Summary Sheet, a recommended table of contents, the body, references, and optional appendices. The report on AI use is appended at the end and does not count toward the 25 pages. The Summary Sheet matters most — judges often read it first, so it has to state on one page what problem you solved, what method you used, and what you concluded. Give it dedicated polishing time.

Yes, if used responsibly and disclosed. COMAP requires teams to append a Report on Use of AI page documenting what they used and how; that page does not count toward the 25-page limit, and COMAP publishes a separate guidance document on large language models in its contests that you should read after registering. Note the other hard rule alongside it: teams may not discuss the contest problem or their work with anyone outside the team, though virtual meetings among team members are fine.

The tiers run Outstanding Winner, Finalist, Meritorious, Honorable Mention, and Successful Participant. Based on recent published results, Outstanding is roughly the top 1% of teams, Finalist around the top 5%, Meritorious around the top 15%, and Honorable Mention around the top 25%, with the exact proportions shifting year to year. Recent fields have run near a thousand teams, drawn from several hundred schools across twenty or more countries and regions. For a University of California (UC) applicant, Meritorious or above is a result worth listing under Activities & Awards, and the paper itself is a concrete piece of work to discuss.

Registration is $100 per team, credit card only. It must be completed by 2:00 PM Eastern on the contest's opening day; the problems are released at 3:00 PM the same day, and submissions are due at 8:00 PM Eastern two weeks later. Results are typically published by the end of the following January. Every time is Eastern, so a California family should convert to Pacific — three hours earlier — and not cut the submission close on local time.

Middle schoolers enter MidMCM, which runs alongside HiMCM rather than HiMCM itself. MidMCM's age line is no older than 14 and a half on the contest's opening day, and its format mirrors HiMCM: team modeling, an English paper, the same 14-day window. HiMCM itself is open to students in high school and below, so an exceptionally advanced middle schooler could enter it — but would be competing directly against high school teams.