Putnam Competition

The School of Mathematics regularly takes part in the Putnam Exam, an activity currently managed by Matt Baker. All Georgia Tech undergraduates are welcome to take the exam. MATH 4802 is taught each fall semester as a preparation for the exam. This is a nationwide exam with about 4000 students participating. The problems are really difficult and the median score is often zero.

See http://kskedlaya.org/putnam-archive/ for the problems, solutions, and results of the past competitions. Please contact Matt Baker if you have any questions.

For more information and a full history of the competition, see the MAA Putnam Competition website.

The 2025 Putnam exam was held on Saturday, December 6. 43 Georgia Tech students participated. Evan Tian placed in the top 100, and Nitipon Trimaitreepituk and Andres Zacapa placed in the top 500, out of a total of 4,329 students nationwide.

Note the change of format for 2026. The MAA has restructured the exam: instead of two three-hour sessions, the competition now consists of four ninety-minute sessions with more frequent designated breaks, and start times are staggered by time zone so that the sessions run synchronously across North America. Outside of the designated breaks, students may not leave and re-enter the exam room during a session. The MAA has stated that these changes were made in anticipation of challenges posed by AI to competition security.

Registration opens September 8, 2026. Full details are at https://maa.org/putnam/