Skills Count in Student Math League National Competition

Seventeen QCC students are vying to win a national mathematics competition run by the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC). The Student Math League National Competition is a precalculus level math competition, which is conducted in two rounds of exams. Over 8,000 community college math students from more than 165 colleges are participating in this annual competition.

QCC Professors Philomena D'Alessandro and Ibar Delacruz conducted Round 1 of the competition at QCC on Friday, November 1. As AMATYC’s Student Math League (SML) moderator for QCC, Professor D’Alessandro is eligible to submit potential questions for use in the test and two of her questions were selected for use.

Grand prize for the national completion is a $3,000 scholarship for the individual who has the highest total score on the two exams, to be used to continue his or her education at an accredited four-year institution. Participants must compete on both exams to be eligible for an individual award. The top 10 ranking individuals will receive prizes of a mathematical nature, as will the five highest ranking members of the first-place team. In addition, certificates of merit will be awarded to the top five individuals from each participating school.  AMATYC will also recognize the performance of the highest performing college teams in each of its eight regions. The five highest collegiate team scores, as well as the team and individual champions from each of AMATYC's eight regions, will receive plaques at the following year’s AMATYC annual conference. In 2012, QCC received the Lois A. Martin plaque for the highest team score in the New England Region.

Ten the 17 QCC students who participated in Round 1 are currently enrolled in Calculus 1, two are in precalculus, and the remaining five students are taking higher level math courses. Prior to the first exam, Professors D’Alessandro and Delacruz held three study sessions to help students prepare for Round 1, which consists of 20 short-answer, or multiple choice questions. They shared information about the competition and covered math problems from prior competitions. Students were limited to one hour to complete the test. Participants will receive their first round scores during the month of December.

Samuel Lugo Medina, a senior at Shrewsbury High School who is dual enrolled at QCC, said he found competing in an academic contest a “unique experience,” and noted that the practice sessions were helpful to put him in a competitive frame of mind. He plans to participate in Round 2 of the competition in the spring.

 “Participating is an accomplishment that students can include on a resume, as well as on applications for transfer and scholarship,” said Professor D’Alessandro.  Round 2 of the competition will be held between Friday, February 21 and Saturday, March 14.

• Participating QCC students include:
• Engineering majors: Francisco Abreu, Jorgo Gushi, Javery Mann, Samuel Lugo Medina and Donovan Tames
• Biomedical Engineering majors: Thalita da Silva, Daniel Larrabee, Cassandre Marin and Armela Xhindole
• Computer Science majors: Carlos Flores and Arber Kadriu
• General Studies majors: Asma Ali, Isabella Landivar, Shaymaa Majeed and Lubaba Malik
• Business Transfer majors: Rayanne Silva
• Environmental Science majors: Amy Kaiser