Scoring...??

[Kylin]

Can anyone explain to me how EACH subject is graded....I believe Number Sense is the same as Middle School..If not, Correct me!....
And also is TMSCA High School as fun as in Middle School!??

[88bobcat]

[Kylin]

Wow thats totally not fair!!....it must be nearly impossible for a 9th grader to place at state.....but why does everyone compete with everyone??
And so Qualifying for State is no longer with a certain score or above...now its placing top 3 in regionals??

[darksaber21]

It's usually either top three in regionals or being a part of the top team in a region, or even being in the wild card team.

But hey, it's actually a bit easier now for a freshman to make state compared to how it was years ago (I was told it was practically impossible for a freshman to go very far due to the difficulty of the tests like 10 or so years ago). It's unlikely for a freshman to defeat the upperclassmen, but it is still possible for a freshman to make state. You just got to beast in competitions and start practicing now.

Not all upperclassmen practice their butts off to make state, I've seen quite a few. Some have started competing late, which was the case for me. If you practice, it'll go a long way.

[88bobcat]

[nsguy1350]

I think Klein is in decline. My school beat them at Regionals this year, just barely, which had never happened before. A lot of their people graduated or left in some way, which is unfortunate for them. And I've never heard of Marcus, but definitely Dulles and Clements, along with PSJA and Flower Mound, are always good.

And yes, if you want to get good, practice! Practice a lot, and gain lots of new knowledge. Yes, you'll be competing with all of 9th-12th grade, but you can do it. There are quite a few freshmen and sophomores who work their way to the top, even in 5A. You'll get to see who's in your grade and who the sophomores, juniors, and seniors are at TMSCA State, if you go.

[88bobcat]

[Kylin]

And may I ask...what are the perfect scores for each??

To see how good they actually are...

[nsguy1350]

NS - 400
Calc - 350
Math - 360
Science - 360
Computer Science - 240

Now, perfect scores aren't very practical (unless you're Bobby Shen in Math), so I wouldn't look out for them. If you want to see the results for the past couple of years, check out http://www.texasmath.org/Resulter.html

[Kylin]

K thanx....but wow.....185 seems far from 350....in calculators.....My State Score for 8th Grade was 310 out of 400....what do u think I can get as a high schooler in district and region??....just make an inference....will I be able to make it for STATE with the same determination I had to get the 310......???

[nsguy1350]

185 is pretty far from 350. At District, The highest score was around 260-270 or so, I believe, so not even the State champions get that close to 350.
However, I can honestly say last year's UIL State test might've been the easiest Calculator test I've ever taken, and you can see that with a very sharp increase in scores at the meet. The top score was a 322, and 9th was 292. This shows that tests vary in difficulty, so it's not very easy to estimate your score, as it depends a great deal on the test.

I didn't do any UIL/TMSCA in middle school, so I have no idea how it transfers. I'm sure it helps though. If you keep working, you can definitely make State next year. From personal experience, last year, my school assembled a State Calculator team, and nobody was what you would call a "veteran". In the Invitational season, in the first competition, the scores from three of the future team members combined for about 220-230 (and the fourth hadn't even started Calculator yet.) If we could make it, you definitely can. The one catch is that you're in Region 4, with the PSJA kids. We made it in the weakest Region, Region 2, so it was much easier for us. For you, if you're looking to place individually, you have a great shot. Team-wise, you have your work cut out for you. Keep an eye out to see who graduated from PSJA. Good luck!

[Kylin]

Yeah well Im shooting more for the individual!....And quick question...How many get recognized in State??....like with medals/trophies.....is it only 6???

[nsguy1350]

Top 6 at UIL State. Everyone gets a medal. Also, in Science, top 2 in each subject get medals as well. TMSCA State gives top 6 trophies and 7-10 ribbons, and they separate by grade.

[darksaber21]

The thing in science is that you can make it to state if you get the top score in one of the three subjects, so you don't need to actually place in the top three. Should you get, say, 112 points, in a subject (biology for example), yet your total is 118 (placing not very high), yet no one tied nor obtained a higher score in that subject, then you move on. However, if someone did obtain 120 (which is the max for a subject), then you won't move on. However, that is typically the path some people take since not everyone is great in all three subjects.
Like me for example, I going for top Chem and Phys, and maybe Bio when I finish studying up on it this summer so I can review.

Just go for what your you're best in, and more wouldn't work if you work for it.

Oh, and if multiple people obtain the top score in a subject, I believe that nearly all of the time, all who tied for first, would move on. Reason being that they break ties by percent accuracy (in a subject if tied for top scorer in a subject, overall if tied overall). However, since when ties with a score of around 112 or even 104 or so in a subject tend to have the same percent accuracy in a subject, thus all moving on.

Just something you should know I suppose.

[Kylin]

Okay.....good to know...thnx

[Kylin]

So even if you don't place overall top 6...in TMSCA....you can still get a trophy if you are tope six in your grade???

[nsguy1350]

[Kylin]

That is GREAT!!...when you said that all grades compete as one...my hopes were shattered....but now...Its great to know!....thnx

[nsguy1350]

Well, remember that this TMSCA State. In high school, TMSCA State is not nearly as important as the UIL competitions. TMSCA State comes before the District competitions, which determine who advances to Region and State, and can be thought of as a final "warm-up" meet before the real season - District/Region/State - begins. In those, all grades do compete as one. Don't focus on TMSCA State. It's the biggest "practice meet" there is, but that doesn't mean it's not still a practice meet. Remember that high school and middle school are different in major organization for math competitions in Texas, switching between TMSCA and UIL. Focus on UIL competitions, where you compete with everyone.

[Kylin]

And UIL has Math,Number Sense,Calculator, and Science??

[nsguy1350]

UIL has Number Sense, Math, Calculator, Science, Computer Science, Spelling and Vocabulary, Current Events, Social Studies, and several other events. TMSCA only offers four events, while UIL offers, if I remember correctly, around 18 to 20 or so.

[Kylin]

Im still confused...sorry I learn slow...but its a weird change from the middle school to the high school....
Can anyone explain thoroughly so I can clearly understand....(as much as possible)

[FabensMath]

TMSCA is the practice for the real thing which is UIL. TMSCA State Meet is open to anyone, even private schools.

TMSCA State Meet offers mathematics, number sense, calculator applications, and science. On this one you only compete with people from your same grade level and same conference(1A,2A,3A,4A,5A). I believe top 6 individuals get recognized and top teams in each respective contest. I'm unsure about what the awards are, trophy i think. This meet is the saturday before UIL district competitions begin.

UIL on the other hand offers the math/science plus other academics like writing and speaking events. For this one you compete against all grades, but still closed under your own conference (1A,2A,3A,4A,5A). For UIL you actually have to advance, first you make top 4 individuals from your school, then compete at district, advance to region, and advance to state. To advance you need to either place 1st,2nd, or 3rd individually or be part of the winning team, this works for both advancing from district to region, and from region to state. This one is THE MEET, so don't be scared about competing against all grades. Good example is Ross Coker from Argyle, who being a freshman placed 1st number sense, 1st mathematics, 1st physics, and 3rd calculator in the 3-A conference, so if you've been practicing good during middle school, transition shouldn't be hard at all. Just wait till school starts, you'll get used to it quickly.

[nsguy1350]

Actually, top 10 get recognized at TMSCA State (7-10 get ribbons, 1-6 get trophies.)

Just remember that UIL is what you're worried about; anyone who does TMSCA only is missing out on a lot. Just because you are an incoming freshman doesn't mean you won't make some noise. Ross is a great example; as a freshman he easily dominated 3A. Miguel there, although not a freshman, went from 6th at Region (I saw Region 1 in your signature and looked it up) in 2011 to 3A Calculator state champion. And then the ultimate example, Bobby Shen, who won math 5A and did well in other events as a freshman (and sophomore, and junior), although he's pretty exceptional in general.

As another example, this year's 5A number sense top 6 only had one senior (who was 6th.) Bobby Shen was a junior, while 2-4 were sophomores. I think #5 might be a freshman, although I'm not sure. There were a couple of sophomores in math too, and I have no idea what grade the people in Calculator were in, but there were probably a few underclassmen too.
Across all conferences, you don't see the top 6 being all seniors, with maybe a junior or two here and there. You see all grade levels! You definitely have a shot next year.

[Kylin]

You make it seem like TMSCA is mud...but its still pretty important right??....and can make anyone pretty happy if they place in TMSCA state??

And so...the math/science events on both TMSCA and UIL are similar??...so if you practice your butt off in them...you can pretty much do great on both TMSCA and UIL??