Mathematics Competitions at UNLV

The Mathematics Department, through the work of Professors Bachman, Baragar, and Burke, sponsor two mathematics competitions and a workshop.

Important dates for Fall 2002:

The Annual UNLV Mathematics Competition is a UNLV undegraduate prize exam that usually runs 9:00am -- 12:30pm.  It used to be held the second Saturday in November, but this year, it will be held October 19th.  Prize money has ranged from $600 -- $1000 (total per year). The exam emphasizes mathematical creativity and insight rather than education.  The questions are challenging, but (usually) require only a modest mathematical background.  The following are past exams (in pdf format --   Acrobat Reader, the software required to read pdf files, is available for free from the vendor).  To be eligible to take this exam, a student must be currently enrolled in an undergraduate program at UNLV and cannot have a bachelors degree (or higher) from any institution. The William Lowell Putnam Competition is an international competition open to undergraduate students in North America.  It is a two part exam held 8:00am -- 11:00am and 1:00pm -- 4:00pm on the first Saturday in December.  Entrance is free and not limited, except that all but two competitors must be registered before hand (see deadline posted above).  Of those who participate, we pick a three person team (usually but not exclusively based on the results of the UNLV competition) to represent the University.  The combined scores of these three individuals constitute our team score.  UNLV first sponsored a team for the 59th Putnam competition held in 1998.  In 2000 our team earned a remarkable 50th place.  About 320 teams compete each year, and roughly the top 125 teams are ranked. The Competition Workshop is a workshop designed to help prepare students for these competitions.  These workshops will be largely independent from each other and those not able to attend all of the sessions are encouraged to participate as often as possible.  If you are not able to attend these sessions on a regular basis, you still might be able to take advantage of them (please see one of the organizers).  High school students interested in math competitions are also welcome to attend.  Since math competions rarely based on background, these workshops should be accessible to high school students.
UNLV Home Page
URL: http://www.nevada.edu/~baragar/competitions.html
e-mail: baragar@nevada.edu
This page was launched August 19th, 2001.