The Rules of the Competition

All competitions have certain rules and restrictions.  The rules for the MATH Challenge are:

1. Eligibility

The competition is open to all full-time or part-time undergraduate students who are currently enrolled at your institution.

2. Teams

A team must consist of 2 or 3 students.

3. External Aids

Participants are NOT permitted to bring any books, notes, rulers, calculators, computers, etc., into their team's exam room.

4. Administering the Exam

Several days in advance of the competition, faculty advisors will receive an envelope containing:

• a sealed test packet for each team entered in the competition;
• a sealed envelope containing one copy of the exam (for the faculty advisor) to be opened NO EARLIER than 9:00 a.m. on the day of the exam;
• a second sealed envelope containing a single copy of the solutions (for the faculty advisor) to be opened AFTER all teams have started the exam; and
• an addressed envelope for returning the solutions to the grader.

  On the day of the exam, faculty advisors are expected to begin the exam promptly at 9:30 a.m. and collect it at 12:30 p.m. In addition, advisors are expected to provide each team with an adequate supply of 8.5 x 11 unlined paper.

5. Supervising the Exam

Faculty advisors will arrange to have each team work in a separate room. While faculty advisors are not required to monitor the students' work (like supervisors for the Putnam), they are expected to "be around" during the entire three hour period.

6. Returning the Exam

Each team will receive a separate envelope in which to seal its solutions. At the end of the exam, the faculty advisor will collect these envelopes and mail them to the exam's author on the Monday following the exam. After collecting the team envelopes, faculty advisors are encouraged to distribute copies of the solutions to all team members.