William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition

The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition is a highly challenging proof-oriented mathematics competition for undergraduate students in North America.

Top scoring students on the Putnam exam are named Putnam Fellows.

The Competition

The Putnam Exam is a two-day undergraduate exam in which there are 6 hours in each sitting. There are 6 problems each day. Each problem is graded on a scale of 0-10. This makes a perfect score a 120. The "Putnam Fellows" are the winners of the competition, the top 5. Students from the same school can compete together on a three-person team, in which the team's score is determined by the sum of the scores of the students on that team.

Placings and Prizes

The prizes are as follows:

-Individuals

• Putnam fellows
  • $2,500
• The next top ten individuals
  • $1,000
• Next Ten Individuals
  • $250

-Teams

• First Place team
  • Team members recieve $1,000
  • School recieves $25,000
• Second Place Team
  • Team members recieve $800
  • School recieves $20,000
• Third Place Team
  • Team members recieve $600
  • School Recieves $15,000
• Fourth Place Team
  • Team members recieves $400
  • School recieves $10,000
• Fifth Place Team
  • Team members recieve $200
  • School Recieves $5,000

• Elizabeth Lowell Putnam Prize- The Elizabeth Lowell Putnam Prize will be awarded periodically to a woman whose performance on the Competition has been deemed particularly meritorious. This prize would be in addition to any other prize she might otherwise win. Women contestants, to be eligible for this prize, must specify their gender.
  • $1,000

Problem Books

• 1938-1964 -- A good book for students just learning to solve Putnam Problems.
• 1965-1984
• 1985-2000 by Kiran Kedlaya, Bjorn Poonen, and Ravi Vakil. The three authors are among the most successful Putnam participants of all time.

Resources

• The Putnam Forum at AoPS.
• Putnam problem and solution database in the AoPS Contest Database.
• How to Write a Solution by Richard Rusczyk & Mathew Crawford.
• List of United States college mathematics competitions