The William Lowell Putnam Competition

The William Lowell Putnam Competition

The William Lowell Putnam Competition (commonly known as the Putnam Exam) is an annual mathematics competition for regularly enrolled undergraduates in colleges and universities of the United States and Canada, who hve not yet recieved a college degree. The exam itself is offered on the first Saturday in December, and is composed of two three hour sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, with six questions each.

The official announcement for this years Putnam Exam at KU can be found here

The Putnam exam tests originality, technical competence, and familiarity with a range of topics at the undergraduate level. Many of the problems are very interesting, cutting across the boundaries of various disciplines. Solutions typically require a clever approach combined with some ingenuity and, oftentimes, perseverance. To help students develop their problem solving skills, we offer a series of introductory ``training sessions`` each year.

On this page, you will find information on this years Putnam exam and training sessions at KU.

The Putnam at KU

The Seventy Fifth Annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition will be held on Saturday, December 3, 2016 in 306 Snow Hall. The morning session will be from 9:00-12:00 and the afternoon session from 2:00-5:00.

The Putnam training sessions are organized by the KU Department of Mathematics as a way to help students prepare for the Putnam exam. In each session, students will work through and discuss a series of problems centered around that sessions particular problem solving topic. Unless otherwise announced, all Putnam training sessions at KU are held from 5:00-7:00 in 564 Snow Hall. This years Putnam training schedule:

Online Putnam Resources

Lots of information regarding Putnam preparation and other problem solving resources can be found by simply searching around online. Here is a list of a few of the resources that might be helpful.