Compete

Preparation guide

How to prepare for Purple Comet! Math Meet

A free, online, team-based maths contest open to any school or club in the world.

Some preparation needed · Middle school and high school, or the local equivalent, and home-schooled students at a comparable level. Competitive middle school members must not yet have completed eighth grade; competitive high school members must not yet have graduated from secondary school.

Competition details and how to enter Official website

Where the points actually are

Purple Comet is the best low-stakes way to learn team competition mechanics. The mathematics sits between AMC 10 and AIME difficulty, but because you work as a team the binding constraint is coordination, not knowledge.

Topic breakdown

01Algebra and number theory
Comparable to AMC 10 and easier AIME material. Answers are always non-negative integers, which constrains the problem types.
02Combinatorics
Counting arguments feature heavily and often carry the hardest problems on the paper.
03Geometry
Usually computational rather than proof-based, with an integer or integer-expressible answer.
04Team process
Splitting the paper, checking each other's arithmetic, and deciding when to escalate a stuck problem to a second solver.

A study plan that works backwards from the date

  1. Two months out Do one full past Purple Comet as a team, in the room together, with a real timer. Do not study first; find out how your team actually behaves.
  2. Weeks 1 to 5 Weekly: one past paper as a team, then individual AMC 10 or AIME practice on whichever topic cost you the most points.
  3. Final fortnight Agree a division of labour in advance. Who reads first? Who checks? Who owns geometry? Write it down.

Tips that come from the format itself

  • Every answer is a non-negative integer. If your work produces a fraction or a negative, you made an error, which is a free correctness check.
  • Two people should independently compute every answer before submission. Purple Comet rewards accuracy over volume.
  • Past papers with full solutions are published free on the official site going back many years. This is your entire preparation library.

Practice resources

Past papers and official materials

Skills this builds

  • Collaborative problem solving
  • Algebra
  • Combinatorics
  • Geometry
  • Dividing work under time pressure

Read what other students said about preparing