Diagnostic Protocol
You have not taken a full contest yet, so the first job is measurement, not study. One honest timed test tells you more than a month of unfocused practice.
Which contests to use
| When | Contest | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Now (cold) | 2022 AMC 10A | Baseline. Recent format, medium difficulty. |
| After week 2 | 2019 AMC 10B | Check that careless errors are gone from 1–15. |
| After week 6 | 2023 AMC 10A | Mid-plan checkpoint; decide the final-phase track. |
These three contests are excluded from every practice set on this site so they stay unspoiled. Do not browse them beforehand.
How to take it
- 75 minutes, one sitting, timer visible, no interruptions, no calculator, scratch paper only.
- Answer on the site's mock-test mode (it scores exactly like the real exam and records blanks).
- When time is up, stop. Do not "finish the last one."
- Before looking at the answers, mark each problem with your confidence: sure / shaky / guessed.
How to score it
The site computes the 6 / 1.5 / 0 score. Then classify every problem into one of four bins:
| Bin | Meaning |
|---|---|
| C | Correct and you were sure |
| L | Lucky: correct but guessed or shaky |
| W | Wrong |
| B-could | Blank, but after reading the solution you could have done it |
| B-no | Blank, and the solution uses something you do not know |
Your true score is . The L problems are not yet points you own.
Reading the result
Fill in this table (the site's report gives the counts by position and by category):
| Position | C | L | W | B-could | B-no |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–10 | |||||
| 11–15 | |||||
| 16–20 | |||||
| 21–25 |
Diagnosis rules, in priority order:
- Any W in 1–10 → careless-error problem. Fix first: it is the cheapest 7.5 points on the paper. Read the error-log guide.
- W or B-could in 11–15 → speed and confidence on medium problems. Topic drills at difficulty 2–3 in the categories where they occurred.
- B-no clustered in one category → knowledge gap. That category's topic pages come first in the plan.
- Mostly correct through 17 but nothing after → you are ready for the qualifying-zone sets (difficulty 3–4) and timed mixed practice.
Choosing your track
| Diagnostic score | Track | Emphasis for weeks 1–8 |
|---|---|---|
| below 80 | Foundation | Topic guides and drills at difficulty 1–3; zero errors in 1–12 before anything else |
| 80–100 | Consolidation | Weak-topic drills at difficulty 2–4; qualifying-zone sets; a mini mock every week |
| above 100 | Sharpening | Difficulty 4 by topic, full mocks every two weeks, problems 18–22 speed work |
Record the score, the bins and the track in your log. You will compare against it after weeks 2 and 6.