Questions

1. How many teams does Chicago have?
2. Who is eligible to be on the teams?
3. How are students selected for the teams?
4. How successful are the Chicago teams?
5. What time commitment is involved in being on the team?

Answers

1. How many teams does Chicago have?
   For the past several years, we have sent four teams to ARML. When the only competition was at Penn State, travel costs were more prohibitive and we only sent two teams.

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2. Who is eligible to be on the teams?
   Technically, to be eligible you must be a student who has not completed 4 years of high school and you must live in the state of Illinois, above 39° north latitude.
   What this means is that you must be a high school student (or possibly a middle school student) and that you must live in the northern approximately two-thirds of Illinois. In addition to the Chicago metropolitan area, this includes Rockford, Springfield, Peoria, Bloomington-Normal, and Urbana-Champaign.

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3. How are students selected for the teams?
   Principally through the tryouts. In general, a student must attend tryouts in order to be considered for the team. On the night of the tryouts, approximately the top 30 students will be announced and offered spots on one of Chicago’s top three teams. Soon after tryouts, an additional 15 or so students will be offered similar positions, based on a combination of tryout score, recommendations, and history. An additional 15 or so students will be selected for Chicago’s fourth team (the D-Team), composed of Freshmen and Sophomores, selected by coaches’ recommendations and tryout scores.
   Students selected will be required to attend practices in the time between tryouts and the competition. Students who do not attend practices, do not participate at practices, or do not do their homework may not be taken to the competition in Iowa City.

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4. How successful are the Chicago teams?
   Chicago A (the top Chicago team) won the national ARML competition in 1988, 1989, and 2000; placed second in 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1993, and 2005; placed third in 1984, 1987, 2002, and 2003; placed fourth in 1977, 1980, 1985, 1998, and 2001; and placed fifth in 1978, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2004, and 2006. That’s a total of 27 top-5 finishes in 32 years of ARML, more than any other team.  (Only New York City has more top-4, top-3, and top-3 finishes than Chicago.)

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5. What time commitment is involved in being on the team?
   In order to make the team, you need to come to tryouts (Thursday, January 28 from 4 to 10 pm). If you make the team, you must attend four practices at Glenbrook North HS (dates TBD). We will leave for Iowa on Thursday, June 2, late enough that you will probably be able to attend classes on Thursday. We will practice in Iowa City on Friday and compete on Saturday, returning Saturday in the late afternoon.

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