Common Mistakes on the AIME
The AIME rewards precision and careful thought, and many points are lost to avoidable errors rather than a lack of knowledge. Recognizing these common pitfalls is the first step toward overcoming them.
Problem-Solving Traps
- Getting stuck on an early problem. If you have not made progress after 10-15 minutes, mark it and move on.
- Misinterpreting the question's wording. Reread the problem carefully after finding a solution to ensure you answered what was asked.
- Making a calculation error in a multi-step problem. Write steps clearly and double-check arithmetic, especially at the end of a calculation.
- Forgetting to check all cases in a number theory or combinatorics problem. Explicitly list the cases you are considering (e.g., even/odd, prime/composite).
- Assuming a diagram is to scale. Rely only on the information given in the problem text, not on visual appearance.
- Giving up on a hard problem too quickly. For later problems, try small examples or simplify the conditions to find a pattern.