Frequently asked questions!

• When and where will the tournament be held?

Saturday, November 14, 2026, Lincoln Hall, 8 am - 7 pm.

• How do I get to and from the tournament and/or the Champaign/Urbana area?

Great question! Depends on whether you're driving or flying in:

Driving: To get to the Illini Union, merge onto I-80 (particularly if driving in from out of state) and continue onto I-74 through Mahomet. Take exit 183 for Lincoln Ave, then turn right onto N Lincoln Ave. Continue for ~1 mile, then make a right onto W University Ave (you should pass over train tracks). You'll see a Dairy Queen on your left; if you continue for about a mile, you'll end up at Illinois Terminal, where you can get day parking. From Illinois Terminal, there are several bus routes (5/50E Green, 20 Red Urbana, 120E Teal) that will take you to the Illini Union, probably the most convenient of which is 5/50E Green. (Bus schedules are available here.) From N Lincoln Ave, you can also continue straight until W Green St and then make a right, which will take you straight to Illini Union. The Union has metered parking 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

From https://union.illinois.edu/parking:

• If parking in Lot D10, metered spaces are available to the public and can be paid with coins and with the MobileMeter, ParkMobile, or PayByPhone apps.

• If parking in Lot D11:

  • ORANGE signs are reserved for Illini Union Hotel guests. Permits are provided at check-in.

  • WHITE signs are public parking paid hourly with the MobileMeter, ParkMobile, or PayByPhone apps.

  • DO NOT park at any BLUE signs.

More useful parking information can be found at UIUC's Parking Department website.

Flying: The local airport is Willard Airport (CMI), 11 Airport Rd, Savoy, IL. Only ORD (Chicago O'Hare) and DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth) serve CMI, so please be sure to plan your flight accordingly! Once you arrive at CMI, you can take an Uber/Lyft to your hotel/Illini Union Hotel if arriving on Friday night, or directly to Lincoln Hall if arriving early on Saturday morning. Alternatively, you can take MTD public transit (fare is $1 each way for non-UIUC students/alumni). Please make sure to bring your own cash (in exact change!) beforehand! Very helpfully, the Illinois Terminal does have ATM machines, if you forget. (Hey, we've all been there!! 😅)

If flying in on Friday night:

• 100N Yellow (Weekday, Night) leaves the Savoy Walmart bus stop starting from 6:35 PM and stops at the Transit Plaza (right near the Illini Union). From Savoy Walmart to CMI it is walking distance (~1.5 mi), which can also be covered via Uber/Lyft.

If flying in on early Saturday morning:

• 100N Yellow (Saturday, Day) leaves the Savoy Walmart bus stop starting from 7:52 AM and arrives at the Transit Plaza at 8:28 AM. This is still early enough to complete registration on time, but it may be a bit close for comfort for high school competitors, since the Theme Round starts promptly at 9 AM on Saturday.

100S Yellow (Sunday, Day) leaves the Transit Plaza bus stop starting from 9:17 AM, and the Illinois Terminal bus stop starting from 10:07 AM, on Sundays. Unfortunately, there is no Yellow South bus route running within walking distance of CMI airport on Saturdays, nor is there any other bus route with stops reasonably close to CMI. If flying out on Saturday night, Uber/Lyft to get back to CMI from the UIUC campus are strongly recommended.

As another option, you can fly in to O'Hare (ORD) and take the CTA Blue Line from O'Hare to Clinton Station. Information on how to get to the O'Hare Blue Line station from within ORD is located here. From Clinton Station, it is about 0.3 mi (walking distance!) to the Chicago Union Station (225 S Canal St, Chicago, IL). Once you arrive at Union Station, the Amtrak from CHI (Chicago) to CHM (Champaign/Urbana) will take you directly to the Illinois Terminal; it departs from CHI at 8:15 AM, 4:05 PM, and 8:05 PM, and arrives at CHM at 10:47 AM, 6:36 PM, and 10:50 PM, respectively. More information on train schedules is available here.

For travelers flying in to ORD on Friday afternoon, we recommend taking the 4:05 PM CHI Amtrak train so you can arrive in Champaign by 7 PM in time for dinner and hotel check-in, or 8:05 PM for travelers flying in to ORD later on Friday. For travelers flying in early on Saturday morning, the Amtrak will not arrive in time for the tournament, so please fly in to CMI rather than ORD.

For Saturday night departures, we recommend the 7:08 PM train from CHM to CHI, which will arrive at Union Station at approximately 9:45 PM. For Sunday morning departures, we recommend the 10:24 AM train. From there, the CTA Blue Line will take you back to O'Hare airport. The CTA Blue Line runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

• Will lodging/accommodations be provided by IMT staff?

TBD. We are currently working with the Illini Union Hotel to see if room reservations can be made for the day before/the day of the tournament.

• What hotels would you recommend near the area?

Information about nearby hotels can be found here!

• How hard are the questions going to be?

For Middle School, you can expect about an AMC 8-10 or MATHCOUNTS State level; for High School, an AMC 12 or early-mid AIME level. Sample questions (with solutions!) are available here! (Note: these are not necessarily representative in difficulty of the actual questions you'll see on test day, and are merely intended to give you a general idea of the test structure.)

• Will calculators be allowed?

No, calculators will not be allowed on any part of the contest.

• Will I still enjoy IMT if I've never done a math contest before?

Yes! (Hopefully!) IMT is meant for everyone, whether you're a contest veteran or this is your very first math contest! We'll have a wide variety of problems in every subject area, so every student can sink their teeth into at least a few problems and come away having learned something :D

• When will score reports be provided?

Score reports will be emailed to coaches (at the email address provided in the Google Form during registration) within a week of the competition.

• What are your lunch recommendations?

Information about lunch options can be found here!