Stanford Math Tournament 2011 Scoring Details

The scoring system has changed significantly since the 2010 Stanford Math Tournament. In 2010 and earlier years, scoring was done without normalization of scores, therefore biasing scores towards easier subject tests and towards the easier general test. Starting in 2011, scores are normalized to compensate for differences in difficulty between tests.

The procedure for score normalization is as follows. For each test, all scores are divided by the top ten average, which is the mean of the ten highest scores. For individual tests, the normalized scores are then multiplied by 50 for subject tests and 75 for the general test to produce a weighted score. This is to make the easier general test worth approximately 75% as much as two subject tests. An individual's total contribution to his/her team's overall score is the sum of the weighted scores on the two subject tests he/she took, or the weighted score on the general test. For the team and power tests, the normalized scores are multiplied by 400 to produce a weighted score.

A team's overall score is the sum of the weighted scores on the team test, the power test, and all of the team members' individual tests. In this way, individual tests will be expected to contribute around 50% of a team's overall score, and the team and power tests will each contribute around 25%. The top scores on the team, power, and individual tests can be determined using just the raw scores, while the final team results will be determined using this weighted scoring system.

If your team is not taking the team test, then your overall team score will be the same as if your team received a score of zero on the team test. It is highly recommended that your team takes the team test in order to maximize your final score. The same applies for the power test. Similarly, if an individual only takes one subject test (not the general test), then the individual's contribution to his/her team's overall score will be the same as if the individual received a score of zero on the second subject test.

Please direct any questions regarding scoring details to Huaiyu Wu (huaiyu.wu2014 at stanford dot edu).