The MAA changed how the AIME and the olympiads work, starting with the 2026-27 contests. Here's what's different.
New cutoffs
The AIME cutoff is now a fixed score: at least 100 on the AMC 10 or 85 on the AMC 12. For the 2027 AIME you also have to be at least 13 on the day you take it. The MAA's AIME rules have the rest of the eligibility details.
The AIME is at a testing center now
The 2027 AIME is on February 5 and 6, 2027, and you take it on a computer at a Pearson testing center. It's two 90-minute parts with 15 questions in total. There's no AIME I and II anymore, so you get one try.
Registration is $85 plus tax, and the MAA says financial help is available for students who need it.
The olympiads
Invitations to the 2027 USAMO and USAJMO are based mainly on AIME scores; AMC scores no longer count. A high enough AIME score gets you into the USAJMO if you qualified for the AIME through the AMC 10, or the USAMO if you qualified through the AMC 12. The olympiads are on March 20 and 21, 2027, at official competition sites.
Nearby sites in 2026 included Waterford School in Sandy, Utah, and Willamette Valley Academy in Beaverton, Oregon. I took it at Waterford.
The MAA says the changes are about keeping the exams fair. The details are in their announcement and their FAQ.
The AMC 8 is for 8th grade and below, the AMC 10 for 10th grade and below, and the AMC 12 for 12th grade and below.
The AMC 10 and 12 are 25 questions in 75 minutes, and they're given twice each fall, on an A date and a B date.
AIME
If you score high enough on the AMC 10 or 12, you're invited to the AIME. The MAA sets the cutoff after each contest, so it changes from year to year and between the A and B tests. The AoPS wiki has all the past cutoffs.
The AIME is 15 questions in 3 hours, and every answer is a whole number from 0 to 999.
USAJMO and USAMO
After the AIME, the top students are invited to the olympiads. The MAA ranks everyone by an index; for the 2025 olympiads it was your AMC score plus 10 times your AIME score, so the AIME counts a lot.
Qualifying through the AMC 10 puts you on the USAJMO path; qualifying through the AMC 12 puts you on the USAMO path. An AIME invitation alone doesn't qualify you for either olympiad. If your scores and eligibility qualify you for both, you take the USAMO.
The olympiads are all proofs: two days, three problems a day, 4.5 hours each day. The top students are invited to the Mathematical Olympiad Program in the summer, the next step toward the US team for the International Mathematical Olympiad.