Putnam Club Archive

Putnam Club - Fall 2011

Organizers: Andrei Caldararu, Uri Andrews, Brian Rice

The Putnam Exam, offered by the Mathematical Association of America, is the premier American math competition for undergraduate students. It is given each year on a Saturday in early December. The exam consists of 12 problems, 6 in the 3 hour morning session and 6 in the 3 hour afternoon session. Each problem is worth 10 points, so the maximum score is 120. National winners usually get around 100 points. The average score of all 5000 or so participants is surely less than 10. So the exam is hard and hence fun.

Old exams and more information on the Putnam competition.

The Putnam Club will help you prepare for the exam by practicing on problems from previous years and other olympiad-style problems. We will meet on Wednesdays 4:30-5:30 to practice on the ninth floor of the Van Vleck building.

• September 21: Pigeonhole principle (B. Rice)