Contact InfoVisitor Info
About Us
Department Members
Research
Seminars & Conferences
Undergraduate Information
Graduate Information
Alumni Information
Related Sites
VIGRE Program

 

  

University of Georgia
Department of Mathematics
Putnam Exam


News:

March 2008:  The results of the 2007 Putnam Exam are in.  The UGA team ranked 62nd out of 516 participating institutions in the US and Canada.  The top scorer at UGA was Phillip Mote with a score of 24 (rank 291.5).  Other high scorers at UGA were Alex Rice (score 22, rank 367), Will Whiteside (score 21, rank431.5), and John Doyle (score 20, rank 503.5).  We had 17 students participate this year, 12 of whom scored at least one point. Those interested in more detailed results should contact Malcolm Adams at adams@math.uga.edu or drop by his office (room 405 Grad Studies).

 

HISTORY:  Here is a tabulation of some data of Putnam participation at UGA since 1991

Year Team Rank High Scorer   Participants
1991 -- Paul Jones/Eddie Fuller 11
5
1992 133 Paul Jones 13 10
1993 118 Paul Jones 27 8
1994 106 Stephen Griffin 23, 4 7
1995 102 Adrian Daigle 22 9
1996 42 Stephen Griffin 21 10
1997 54 Shawn Walker 20 6
1998 37 Charles Mathis 60 10
1999 88 Paul Pollack 30 15
2000 20 Paul Pollack 40 13
2001 57 Paul Pollack 69 7
2002 39 Boris Alexeevc 59 9
2003 -- Penny Ridgdill 11 10
2004 -- Adam King 28 12
2005 101 Paul Morrill 27 11
2006 43 Tyler Kelly 21 17
2007 62 Phillip Mote 24 17

 

The William Lowell Putnam Competition

The William Lowell Putnam Competition is an annual student math competition sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America. More than 3500 students from colleges and universities in the United States and Canada participate in this contest each year. The Putnam competition is held simultaneously at participating universities, usually on the first Saturday of December.

The Putnam competition consists of a morning session and an afternoon session of three hours each. In each session, six problems are to be solved. The problems are graded on a 0 - 10 point scale, for a maximal score of 120 points. The problems are challenging and require considerable ingenuity and insight, but little technical knowledge beyond high school mathematics. It is extremely rare that a contestant solves all 12 problems. For example, in the 2007 Putnam competition, the highest score was 98 points, and a score of 10 (the equivalent of a single problem solved correctly) would have placed a contestant among the top third of all 3753 participants!

The Putnam competition is open to all full time undergraduate students. In addition to the individual competition, there is also a team competition among participating colleges. The team rank of a college is determined by the scores of three participants from that college who have to be named in advance. The team members will, of course, still be ranked as individual contestants. The 25 highest scoring individuals and the five highest scoring teams receive monetary awards.

 




last updated April 4, 2008