Putnam Competition

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2013 Freshman Prize Information

2013 Rochester Olympiad Information



Announcements

First Meeting: Wednesday October 2 at 4:45 in the Malott fifth floor lounge.

Introductory information and some "Fun Problems." Light refreshments will be served.

The 2013 Putnam is Saturday Dec 7. from 10 to 1 and 3 to 6



A very nice Putnam preparation book is Putnam and Beyond by Razvan Gelca and Titu Andreescu.

On campus, just clicking the above link will get you to the book. Off campus, the following webpages from the Cornell library explain how Cornell Community members can access the book as well:


Other good problem books available this way as well as information about the whole range of newly accessible materials are in the electronic links below: The Math Library has the following (physical) books on reserve during the Fall in a Putnam Section:
  • Putnam and Beyond/ Gelca, Razvan, Andreescu, Titu (Our Prime Reference)
  • The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition problems, solutions, and commentary : 1985-2000 /Kedlaya, Poonen, Vakil (Beautifully Put Together)
  • Problem-solving strategies / Engel (Very Valuable )
  • Problem solving through problems /Larson, Loren C. (Very Valuable)
  • 102 Combinatorial Problems/Andreescu, Titu
  • 103 Trigonometry Problems/Andreescu
  • 104 Number Theory Problems : from the training of the USA IMO team / Andreescu, Titu
  • A First Step to Mathematical Olympiads/ Holton
  • A Second Step to Mathematical Olympiad Problems/ Holton
  • Cauchy-Schwarz Master Class : an introduction to the art of mathematical inequalities / Steele, J. Michael
  • Complex Numbers from A to Z/ Andreescu
  • Differential Equations : A dynamical systems approach / Hubbard, John H.
  • Geometric Problems on Maxima and Minima / Andreescu, Titu
  • Index to Mathematical Problems, 1975-1979 / Rabinowitz
  • Index to Mathematical Problems, 1980-1984 / Rabinowitz
  • Mathematical Olympiad Challenges/Andreescu
  • Number Theory Structures, Examples, and Problems/Andreescu
  • Polynomials / Barbeau, Edward
  • Primer for Mathematics Competitions/ Zawaira
  • The Red Book of Mathematical Problems/ Williams, Kenneth
  • The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition : problems and solutions, 1938-1964 /Gleason
  • The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition Problems and Solutions: 1965-1984/Alexanderson

    Practice Putnam Exam 2010

    Practice Putnam Exam 2008

    2013's Putnam practices will be organized by Prof. Fontaine, Prof. Shokrieh, and Dr. Back.

    Last Update: Oct. 8, 2013

    E-mail to
    putnam@math.cornell.edu
    is one way to be added to our Putnam preparation mailing list and registered for the exam.


    One of the most beautiful Putnam preparation books is the 1985-2000 collection by Kiran S. Kedlaya, Bjorn Poonen, and Ravi Vakil. Available from the MAA or e.g. Amazon.

    Older Materials

    Some Resources

    William Lowell Putnam Competition Archive.
    Excellent source for solutions 1995-present.
    John Scholes Putnam Problems
    Huge and amazingly complete, but with rephrasings due to copyright needs, and often brief solutions.
    (Original Link no longer working?)
    Wayback Machine with Archives of the Web from the Past
    John Scholes IMO site.
    International Math Olympiad Problems are sometimes at a similar level to Putnam ones.
    (Link no longer working?)
    Currently Working Copy of John Scholes Site
    Dave Rusin's Putnam Page
    Official Awards Site
    Google Problem Archives Pointers
    Official Website for Putnam Competition
    American Mathematical Monthly via JSTOR
    Archives here contain annual writeups (e.g. Oct. 85-87, 89, 93-98) of the competition. More months listed here.
    wuriddles.com
    Prof. Kahan's Berkeley Preparation Notes
    Many years worth in one place.
    International Mathematics Competition for University Students
    Canadian IMO Site
    IMO Compendium
    IMO Compendium Olympiad Training Materials
    Putnam Fellow
    from the Wikipedia. Includes some interesting historical information.

    E-mail to
    putnam@math.cornell.edu
    will be forwarded to this year's local organizers. (Bruce Fontaine, Farbod Shokrieh, Allen Back)

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