Art of Problem Solving
AoPS Online AoPS Online
Math texts, online classes, and more
for students in grades 5-12.
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Books for Grades 5-12 Online Courses
Beast Academy Beast Academy
Engaging math books and online learning
for students ages 6-13.
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Books for Ages 6-13 Beast Academy Online
AoPS Academy AoPS Academy
Small live classes for advanced math
and language arts learners in grades 1-12.
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Find a Physical Campus Visit the Virtual Campus

Dive into learning adventures this summer with our math, science, and contest courses. Enroll today!

Choosing a Course

Our general course recommendations can be found on our Recommendations page. A special note to parents whose students are finishing up Art of Problem Solving's elementary school curriculum, Beast Academy, can be found on this page.

If you are new to AoPS, you may have heard from other AoPS students and parents that our classes are very challenging. That's true. It's not unusual for students to struggle at first with this sudden increase in difficulty before hitting their stride and adjusting to the greater complexity of our curriculum. Our main sequence may appear to parallel the standard prealgebra-to-calculus school curriculum, but our classes have much greater depth both in mathematical content and in problem-solving strategies. It's not unusual that an AoPS student who has already taken a course at his or her local school chooses to "retake" the same-named course in our online school. This allows the student to explore some familiar topics in-depth while learning new problem-solving strategies and developing their ability to think more creatively about math.

Our Math 6: Prealgebra (Part 1) and (Part 2), Math 7: Introduction to Algebra (Part 1) and (Part 2), Math 7.1: Introduction to Counting & Probability, and Math 8: Introduction to Geometry courses are offered in both a weekly live format and a self-paced format. See our Weekly Live or Self-Paced? page for help choosing between these formats.

On this page:

Subject Course Syllabi

Each of our subject courses has a syllabus that includes a brief description, as well as a few sample problems from the course.

Math Subject Courses

Weekly Live

Self-Paced

Computer Science Subject Courses

Science Subject Courses

Our science subject courses are all offered in the weekly live format.

Pre- and Post-Tests

Many of our courses have a pre-test ("Are you ready?") and post-test ("Do you need this?") to help you determine which course will be the right fit.

Math Subject Courses

Each of our math subject courses are offered in one of two tracks: Scholars or Honors. All weekly live courses are offered in the Scholars track, while self-paced courses are offered in the Honors track. The one exception is Scholars Math 7.1: Introduction to Counting & Probability, which is offered in the Scholars track in both weekly live and self-paced formats. Learn more about our Scholars and Honors tracks here, and learn more about selecting the right format for your student, here.

Computer Science Courses

Science Subject Courses

Math Contest Preparation Courses

For a comparison between the AMC 8/MATHCOUNTS Basics + Advanced courses, please see our AMC 8/MATHCOUNTS Basics vs. Advanced Guide.

The AMC 10, AMC 12, and AIME courses each list a suggested mathematical background and score range on the respective test below the "Who Should Take?" heading on each course's information page. If your child has not yet competed in any of these contests, you might have them try a few practice or past AMCs or AIMEs under test conditions to help determine which of the courses would be the best fit for them at this time. You can find past years' exams linked from this page. These pages on our user-maintained Wiki describe each of the test formats and scoring process, so that you can calculate an approximate score: AMC 10, AMC 12, and AIME.

MathWOOT

MathWOOT is designed for students preparing for math olympiads. Students enrolling in this course should be able to consistently score at least 5 on the American Invitational Mathematics Exam (AIME). The MathWOOT syllabus rotates each year and is linked on the MathWOOT information page. There are two levels for MathWOOT. Level 1 is designed for AIME qualifiers ready to make the jump to Olympiads. Level 2 is designed for Olympiad qualifiers striving to make their best scores in national and international Olympiads.

Science Courses

Students enrolling in these courses should have an interest in science.

Scholars Middle School Physics (Part 1) will give a starting point to enter the world of physics. We recommend having taken our Math 7: Introduction to Algebra (Part 1) course or having the equivalent math knowledge to be successful in this course. More experienced students may consider Honors High School Physics: Foundations or Scholars High School Physics 1: Mechanics.

For physics students interested in preparing for physics contests, our F=ma Problem Series course focuses on classical mechanics as well as problem-solving strategies specific to the F=ma exam. Students can refer to this diagnostic test to see if they're ready for F=ma Problem Series.

For advanced scientists we have two advanced Olympiad-level courses: PhysicsWOOT and ChemWOOT. Students enrolling in these courses should have a solid background in their respective domains. A student can build this background by self-studying, or by taking a good Honors level or AP level course. To help decide if you're ready, we offer diagnostic tests for ChemWOOT and PhysicsWOOT.

Computer Science Courses

For students interested in learning computer science we offer three courses For budding computer scientists, our Introduction to Programming with Python is a first course in computer programming using the Python programming language. This course covers basic programming concepts such as variables, data types, iteration, flow of control, input/output, and functions.

For students with some computer science background, Intermediate Programming with Python explores intermediate programming concepts such as recursion, object-oriented programming, graphical user interfaces, and event-driven programming.

For students with advanced computer science skills, we have CodeWOOT, a 7-month Olympiad training program, which prepares students for top computer science competitions, such as the USA Computing Olympiad and the International Informatics Olympiad. . To help decide if you're ready, we offer a diagnostic test for CodeWOOT.

For students who can already write basic programs in C++, Java, or Python and have some familiarity with contest-style problems, we have USACO Bronze Comprehensive Training, which prepares students to advance to the Silver division of the USA Computing Olympiad. We also offer USACO Silver Comprehensive Training for students who are at or near the Silver division level and are ready to work toward advancing to Gold. While these courses help students prepare for the contest, they also teach high-level computer science problem-solving skills. To help determine if you're ready, we offer a diagnostic test for our USACO Bronze Comprehensive Training course as well as a diagnostic test for USACO Silver Comprehensive Training course.

Course Selection FAQs

  • How old should I be to take a certain class?

    Our courses do not have age restrictions. We work with many outstanding students, for whom their ages often do not tell us much about their content experience. For this reason, we base our recommendations on what level of math, science, or computer science students have already studied, rather than their numerical ages.

    The AoPS online school offers classes beginning with Math 6: Prealgebra (Part 1), which is designed for students who have completed an elementary school math curriculum (up through grade 5/6). If you're beyond Math 6: prealgebra (Part 1), check out the Recommendations page page for some guidance about what class could be a good starting place for you. If you aren't quite ready for for Math 6: Prealgebra (Part 1), please see our recommendations here.

    Parents, if you are concerned about enrolling your especially young student in one of our Prealgebra courses, note that our Prealgebra instructors are particularly mindful of the fact that their students are often new to online courses and even to typing. It's also fine if it takes a student time to adjust to the format of our online courses. Students can ask questions both in the live classes or on the course message board if they're not sure how a particular component of the course works.

  • What if I'm not ready for Prealgebra?

    Students who aren't quite ready for Math 6: Prealgebra (Part 1) should consider our elementary curriculum, Beast Academy and Beast Academy Online.

    As with all the curriculum developed by Art of Problem Solving, this series covers the core fundamentals and then goes well beyond these basics to present material at a deeper and more challenging level than a typical math curriculum. You can use the pre-assessments on this page to help you determine which level to start with.

    A student who has completed the Beast Academy series through level 5D should be ready for Math 6: Prealgebra (Part 1).

  • Do I really need to take Scholars Math 7.1: Introduction to Counting & Probability and Scholars Math 7.2: Introduction to Number Theory?

    While Scholars Math 7.1: Introduction to Counting & Probability is not part of our main sequence, it’s highly recommended for Honors and Scholars students who have completed Math Level 7: Introduction to Algebra (Part 1).

  • What should I do if my class is way too easy or too difficult?

    Our courses are rooted in the belief that students learn best by working through very challenging problems that ask them to think in new ways. Learn more about why our courses are challenging here.

    We want to make sure you're in the course that suits you best. If you feel that your class is much too difficult or too easy, please contact us, and we'll be glad to help you find the right class!

  • Do I need to take all the subject courses and contest courses?

    The main sequence highlighted in light green at the top of our Recommendations page provides a rigorous and complete curriculum on its own. The main sequence parallels the standard prealgebra-to-calculus school curriculum, but in much greater depth both in mathematical content and in problem-solving skills.

    We also encourage students to take our signature courses (including other subjects courses, contest-preparation courses, science, or computer science courses) as their time and interests allow.