International Mathematical Modeling ChallengeIMMC

You can't register directly. The USA region is invitation-only: COMAP invites teams based on their results in the fall HiMCM (high school) or MidMCM (middle school) contests, and advisors are typically contacted in February with instructions for the USA Regional IM²C. The two winning teams represent the United States in the international round. In practice, the contest to actually sign up for is HiMCM in November, and a student can put together their own team even without an existing modeling club at school.

No. HiMCM and MidMCM are the only entry point for US teams into IM²C — there is no open sign-up. COMAP ran the 2026 HiMCM and MidMCM from November 4 to 17, with registration and fees handled on the COMAP site; no separate IM²C entry fee is published. If this is the goal, the team needs to be assembled a full fall season in advance.

No. The 2027 IM²C window runs February 1 to April 26, 2027, and each team picks any five consecutive days inside it. The clock starts the moment the problem is downloaded and does not pause, so choose a stretch that avoids midterms, AP season and other contests. International papers are judged in June, with results announced in late June.

No. Teams of one to four students must all be enrolled at the same school, with one teacher from that school serving as faculty advisor and submitting the paper. Cross-school teams are not allowed. Build the team around roles rather than rankings — someone strong at model formulation, someone fluent in Python or MATLAB, someone who can turn the work into a clearly structured English report. A school without an existing team yet can still use an outside course to practice the division of labor and the writing.

Students may consult references and use software and programming tools, but all of the analysis and solving must be their own work. Adults may not write the paper or build the model, and the advisor certifies compliance when submitting. Sources used must be cited in the report. Put simply: any tool is fair game, but the thinking and the writing have to be the students'.

The two test different skills, and it isn't really either-or. AMC and AIME are timed individual problem-solving contests that reward speed and technique. IM²C is a five-day open-ended team challenge with no answer key, and the deliverable is a full English research report judged on reasonable assumptions, sound analysis and clear communication. Doing both lets an application show solving power alongside teamwork and writing.

The international round recognizes four levels — Outstanding (highest), Meritorious, Honorable Mention and Successful Participant — with certificates naming the students, the advisor and the school, and Outstanding teams present at the International Summit and Awards Ceremony. For a US student, simply being invited to the USA Regional round, and especially being one of the two teams sent onward, is already a rare line on an application.

Yes. IM²C is open to secondary-school and younger students, and the middle school entry point is COMAP's MidMCM in the fall; strong MidMCM teams can also be invited to the USA Regional round. A realistic plan is to use MidMCM in middle school to learn the rhythm of producing a full report in five days, then compete seriously through HiMCM in high school.