World’s Toughest Math Exam
The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition
Mathematics is one of my favorite subjects. I love it because it is beautiful, it is logical and we can use it to explain any physical phenomena of the universe. It is the language we use to understand the world around us. It is the language we use to buy and sell things, to measure things, to count things, to compute, and innovate things. But it can be hard sometimes, especially for those of us who do not really understand it, find it tough. When it comes to examinations, it is particularly the subject most of us fear, as it incorporates loads of axioms, theorems, principles, formulae, and geometry.
In this article, I shall be talking about the toughest math exam in the world, The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. It is an annual mathematics competition that takes place in the United States and Canada on the first Saturday of December every year. Even though it takes place in the States, the competition is open for students of all nationalities. It is administered by the Mathematical Association of America. The competition is primarily for undergraduate students, and definitely not for the students who hate math. The Putnam as competition has been going on since 1938. It was established by Elizabeth Lowell Putnam in the love of her husband William Lowell Putnam, an American lawyer who was also an advocate and preacher of inter-college and university of academic competitions.
It consists of a six-hour-long test. The participants sit for two three-hour sittings separated by a short break to solve a total of 12 mathematical problems each of which are graded from zero to ten point scales making a total of 120 scores. The competition is not just for the individual students but also for the departments of mathematics they come from. In the end, the prizes are awarded to the students as well as the five University Mathematics Departments sum of whose top three scores are the greatest. A student cannot participate in the competition for more than four times as per the association.
The questions in the competition require some great levels of cleverness and critical thinking. They are specific and so require optimum mathematical knowledge and logical imagination. Here’s the first page of the question paper from the 1958 Putnam Mathematical Competition:
To get an idea as to how tough the questions are, you can have a peek at a video posted by the mathematical YouTube channel 3BlueBrown on a 6th question (about geometry) of one of the Putnam competitions:
If you are really interested in mathematical problem solving then this platform is for you. It definitely tests your critical thinking skills, your problem solving skills and gives you a great exposure to some of the great logical thinkers from across the world.
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