The Putnam Competition is held every year on the first Saturday in December (8:00 - 11:00 and 13:00 - 16:00)

• An aperitif. Consider the positive integers whose usual decimal digits are alternating zeros and ones beginning and ending with a one. Which of them are prime numberss?
  The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition is an annual student competition sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America, written on the first Saturday of December every year. It is usually written by about 2500 undergraduate students in the USA and Canada. It consists of 12 questions and is written in 2 sessions of 3 hours each.

  The Putnam is the most prestigous and challenging mathematical competition at the undergraduate level. The examination is constructed to test originality as well as technical competence. Questions that cut across the bounds of various disciplines, and self-contained questions that do not fit into any of the usual categories may appear. The problems are challenging and the median score has always been between 1 and 10 out of 120. Usually a score of 30 out of 120 is achieved by less than ten percent of contestants. In 1993 only five students achieved a score of 60 or higher and a score of 51 meant a ranking of 25th and a monetary prize.

  Although some of the questions may require advanced undergraduate mathematical knowledge, there are enough questions that require very little university mathematics. The competition is sometimes won by a first year student.

  The Competition is open to all full-time undergraduate students in the U.S. and Canada who do not have a University degree. A student may participate no more than four times. (If you are in co-op, you may want to consider this.)
  For details on how to enter click on the link below.

  • How to enter the Putnam competition:
    Each institution is required to submit a list of participating students early in October. Students on that list are guaranteed entry in the Putnam, but are under no obligation to do so. Others may still participate provided there are sufficiently many "no-shows" at the contest so that examination material are available. To register, send me your name and student number before 4 October. There are no registration fees.

  • Training Sessions TBA

    WHY WRITE THE PUTNAM EXAM?

    • For fun. Many who love problem-solving enjoy attempting hard questions.
    • For fame and fortune. The top 25 contestants get prize money and the top five get automatic Harvard graduate scholarships.
    • A good performance in the putnam will get you in a good graduate school with a good scholarship.
    • There are two UVic awards given to those to do very well in the Putnam.
    • You get a free lunch at a fancy restaurant on the day of the competition.