The Putnam Mathematical Competition in the United States began in 1938 with the support of a foundation founded by Elizabeth Lowell Putnam and administered by the American Mathematical Association. Originally a competition between students from prestigious North American universities, the Putnam Mathematics Competition has become a global benchmark for collegiate mathematics competitions, attracting many young challengers who are interested in solving mathematical problems.
With the consent and authorization of the Putnam Mathematics Competition Organizing Committee, Qiuzhen College have been organizing Qiuzhen College's students to participate in the Putnam Mathematics Competition simulation competition starting since 2022. The competition lasts for 6 hours and is divided into two sessions, morning and afternoon, each containing 6 complex mathematical problems, with a full score of 120 points, mainly testing the participants' ability to solve problems independently, innovation ability and depth of understanding of mathematics. Very few people get a perfect score in this competition, and the median score is usually 0 or 1 point.
Recently, the American Mathematical Association announced the final results of the 84th Putnam Mathematics Competition, and the students of Qiuzhen College once again achieved excellent results in the simulation. Compared with the ranking of global candidates, the average score of the 49 students participating in the competition is 48 points, of which the highest score is 79 points, which is equivalent to the 9th place in the overall ranking, 12 students can enter the top 50 in the overall ranking, and 20 students can enter the top 100. Most of these students are first- and second-year undergraduate students, and they have not received special training before the exam. In addition, Qiuzhen students who have participated in the 2022 Putnam Competition simulation competition and scored more than 60 points will not be registered for the competition.
Graph: Qiuzhen students' 2023 Putnam simulation race results distribution
Score |
number of people |
70-79 |
5 |
60-69 |
7 |
50-59 |
8 |
40-49 |
16 |
30-39 |
8 |
20-29 |
4 |
Graph: Qiuzhen students 2023/2022 Putnam simulation results comparison
Year |
Total number of participants |
Top 100 |
Top50 |
Top25 |
2023 |
49 |
20 |
12 |
7 |
2022 |
27 |
17 |
9 |
5 |
Colleges and universities in North America have always attached great importance to the Putnam Mathematics Competition and have often actively prepared for it. Judging from the results of the 2023 Putnam Mathematics Competition released by the American Mathematical Association, the MIT team has won the championship for four consecutive years, occupying the top five, and 68 students have entered the top 100. Six students from the Harvard University team finished in the top 100, with a top ranking of 7th. Four students from the Stanford University team finished in the top 100, with a top ranking of 27th. Only one member of the Princeton team made it to the top 100.
The Elizabeth Lowell Putnam Prize was established in 1992 by the Putnam Prize to be "regularly awarded to women who have performed exceptionally well in their competitions." A Qiuzhen female student who participated in the simulation competition scored 65 points, which is equivalent to 29th overall, which is higher than the results achieved by the Elizabeth Lowell Putnam winners announced in the North American region.
The Putnam Mathematics Competition is held in December each year and covers a range of topics in undergraduate mathematics, including linear algebra, abstract algebra, analysis, and the basic concepts of number theory.
Detailed report of the 2023 Putnam Mathematics Competition:
https://maa.org/programs-and-communities/member-communities/maa-awards/putnam-competition-individual-and-team-winners
Reviewing | Bai Shuliang, Yitwah Cheung, Chen Zhijie
Organizing | Guo Youran
Audit | Wang Xiaofang