MAA has set a single window for the 2027 AIME: Friday 5 and Saturday 6 February. Lunar New Year’s Day 2027 falls on Saturday 6 February, so the window covers New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day itself, and MAA says there are no alternate dates, make-ups or exceptions. If you could plausibly reach 100 on the AMC 10 or 85 on the AMC 12, keep both days free before booking anything you cannot cancel.
How much this matters depends on where you sit the AMC. A Chinese student at a school in the United States or Canada falls under MAA’s own process, and the date is as fixed as MAA says. A student sitting at an authorised centre in China is in the AMC international program, where MAA points to the International Group Leader for the country or region — and MAA has not published how that route’s 2027 AIME will run. Below we separate the two cases, set out what is confirmed, and give a planning sequence that holds under either answer.
Two calendars, the same two days
The collision is plain calendar arithmetic, and it is easy to miss because the AIME is announced in English while the festival is planned in Chinese. MAA states that the AIME must be taken during the window of 5–6 February 2027, that there will be no alternate dates or make-up administrations, and that no exceptions will be made for students who cannot take part on the scheduled dates. It also states that qualified students may take the AIME once within that window.
| Date | MAA’s 2027 AIME | Chinese calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 5 February 2027 | First day of the single competition window | New Year’s Eve (chuxi), the night of the reunion dinner |
| Saturday 6 February 2027 | Last day of the window | Lunar New Year’s Day, the first day of the Year of the Goat |
| Everything around them | No alternate dates, make-ups or exceptions | The official 2027 public-holiday arrangement had not been published when we wrote this |
Two details make the clash sharper than a one-day overlap. Both days sit inside the window, so there is no second day to fall back on. And the Eve is a Friday: families who travel for the reunion usually do so before the Eve, which means the practical conflict can begin earlier than 5 February.
Who the date binds, and who is still waiting for an answer
This is not a niche problem for families like the ones we teach. In the 2025–26 cycle, per Hanlin’s own records, our students recorded 379 AIME qualifications on the AMC 10 under that season’s rules; results vary by student, and the line has since changed. What differs between families is whose rules apply.
| Where you sit the AMC | Whose AIME arrangements apply | What the Spring Festival clash means |
|---|---|---|
| A school in the United States or Canada, including Chinese students at boarding or day schools there | MAA’s: an invitation to the email address on record in the MAA competition portal, then self-scheduling at a Pearson Professional Center | A trip covering both 5 and 6 February costs you the AIME, and MAA offers no alternate date |
| An authorised centre in China, through the AMC international program | The International Group Leader for China, per MAA | Unconfirmed. MAA has not published this route’s 2027 arrangements; do not assume the Pearson process applies |
| A student who will not yet be 13 | None this cycle: MAA says only students aged 13 and older are eligible for the 2027 AIME | No AIME clash to plan around, although MAA has not published how age is measured |
For the first group, MAA adds two details worth knowing before a flight is booked. There are more than 200 Pearson Professional Centers across the US and Canada, and MAA says financial assistance will be available for students in need who must travel a significant distance to reach a test centre. Neither changes the date. Both mean that the real question for a student at a US boarding school is not whether a centre exists, but which slot to book before the flight home.
For the second group, the honest position is that the date may or may not match. MAA’s statement is that participants in the AMC international program “should follow the policies of the International Group Leader for their country/region”, and that sentence is the whole of it. Nothing in it says candidates in China will sit on 5–6 February, and nothing says they will not. Plan as if they might, and get the actual arrangement in writing once qualification is confirmed.
What is confirmed, and what is not
| Confirmed by MAA for the 2027 AIME | Not published for candidates in China |
|---|---|
| One competition window: 5–6 February 2027 | Whether the China route sits inside that window |
| No alternate dates, make-up administrations or exceptions | Whether any regional arrangement differs |
| Each qualified student may take the AIME once | Venue arrangements on the China route |
| Qualification at 100 or above on the AMC 10, or 85 or above on the AMC 12, with MAA’s other eligibility requirements | How qualification is administered on the international route |
| Only students aged 13 and older are eligible | How age is measured |
| A fee of US$85 plus tax, with financial assistance available | Any fee on the international route |
| Two 90-minute parts, eight questions then seven, answered electronically | Whether the same format and conditions apply to a China-route sitting |
We have covered the wider overhaul separately. The point here is narrower: every item in the right-hand column can move a family’s Spring Festival plans, and none of them will be answered by a US-facing booking page. The reliable source for that column is your own centre, relaying the Group Leader’s policies.
A planning sequence from now to February
The sequence below is built to survive either answer from the Group Leader. Its logic is simple: keep options open cheaply until the arrangement is known, then commit.
| When | What to decide | Why it cannot wait |
|---|---|---|
| Now to early October | Decide your AMC sittings. If your timed mocks sit near or above 100 (AMC 10) or 85 (AMC 12), keep 5 and 6 February free and avoid non-refundable travel that overlaps them | At our China-region centres a cancellation is refunded only before 10 October, so the AMC entry is your first real commitment |
| November | Sit the AMC under the 2026 in-person rules. MAA’s dates are 5 and 13 November; our China-region centres sit on Friday 6 and Saturday 14 November | Your own estimate of the paper is a guess, not a result; do not change travel plans on it |
| When official results reach you | If you have reached the line, ask your centre in writing for the AIME date, venue, fee and format on your route | This answer, not a US booking page, decides your February |
| December and January | Prepare for MAA’s published format of two 90-minute parts while you wait to confirm what applies on your route | End-of-term assessments and the festival build-up both eat into the final weeks |
| Once the arrangement is confirmed | Book travel around the sitting, not the sitting around the travel | Flexible or refundable tickets keep both options open until this point |
| 5–6 February 2027 | The AIME window, per MAA | One window and one sitting per qualified student |
None of this touches the November paper itself. Your AMC sitting runs under the 2026 in-person AMC rules and centre arrangements on whichever date you sit, and those rules are settled. It is only the step after the AMC that is still being written for candidates in China.
Three family situations, and how we would handle each
- A Grade 10 student in Shanghai whose mocks sit around 100. Keep 5 and 6 February clear, and if a reunion trip is planned, book it on refundable terms. Do not cancel anything on speculation; the aim is to keep the option open at low cost until your centre confirms the route. Ask the question in November, not in late January, because a centre’s answer and a family’s tickets both take time to change.
- A Chinese student at a US boarding school who normally flies home for the festival. Here the rules are known, so the decision can be made early. If qualification is likely, look at the Pearson slots offered on each of the two days before choosing flights, and check which centres are within reach of school. Be precise about MAA’s travel assistance: it is described in terms of reaching a test centre, not a flight home.
- A Grade 12 applicant. The AIME sits after the early-January deadlines many US universities use for their regular rounds, so its result will not be part of an application already submitted. It still counts for something: MAA says selection for the USAMO and USAJMO will be primarily based on AIME scores, although its USAMO/USAJMO qualification policies are still to be posted and those olympiads sit at sites across the US and Canada, so confirm whether that route is open to you; the AIME score is also a result you can report alongside the AMC score that earned it. Whether that outweighs the reunion is a genuine family decision — make it on purpose, not by default in February.
Across all three, one habit does most of the work: write the AIME question into the family calendar now, as an open item with a named owner, rather than discovering it on the day the travel booking opens.
Frequently asked questions
When is the 2027 AIME?
MAA has set a single window, Friday 5 and Saturday 6 February 2027, with no alternate dates, make-ups or exceptions under its process.
Does the 2027 AIME clash with Chinese New Year?
Yes. Lunar New Year’s Day 2027 is Saturday 6 February, so MAA’s window covers New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
Do students in China take the AIME at a Pearson centre?
MAA has not said so. It directs AMC international program participants to their International Group Leader, so confirm your route with your centre.
Can I sit the AIME on another date if I am travelling?
Under MAA’s process, no: there are no alternate dates or make-ups. Candidates in China should confirm their own arrangement in writing.
This site is an independent guide operated by Hanlin Education for China-based international-school students. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the MAA (the Mathematical Association of America). AIME dates, eligibility and procedures are the MAA’s to set, arrangements for candidates in China are set through the International Group Leader, and several 2027 AIME policies remain unpublished — confirm current details on maa.org and with the centre that will seat you. Errors reported to our editorial desk are corrected within 7 working days.