The William Lowell Putnam Exam is the premier undergraduate Mathematics competition in the US and Canada. It is given annually on the first Saturday in December and consists of 6 problems in each of two 3-hour sessions. The problems are always challenging, and a score of one correct problem usually places a student in the top quartile.
I will be running Putnam problem solving sessions for ISU undergraduate students on Fridays at 1pm beginning September 6. Typically we will talk about problems from the previous week, discuss a new idea or problem strategy, and hand out problems for the following week. The hope is that students might solve a couple and be willing to present solutions a week later.
2024 Problem Sets:
2023 Problem Sets:
2022 Problem Sets:
2021 Problem Sets:
2020 Problem Sets:
Older Problem Sets:
Problem Set 1 (Induction and Pigeonhole Principle)
Solutions
Problem Set 2 (Polynomials)
Solutions
Problem Set 3 (Calculus)
Solutions
Problem Set 4 (Abstract and Linear Algebra)
Solutions
Past ISU Putnam Team Results
Year | Team Rank | Top Individual |
---|---|---|
2023 | - (1st among Iowa schools, no overall rank reported) | Marshall Moats - 25 pts (Rank: 580) |
2022 | 56th | Andrew Osborne - 31 pts (Rank: 235) |
2021 | 64th | Andrew Osborne - 24 pts (Rank: 265) |
2020 | - | Evan Hilton - 9 pts |
2019 | - | - |
2018 | 64th | - |