We take part in many local and national math competitions. You'll have a chance to participate in many events, including the
- Alfred R. Schmidt Freshman Mathematics Competition (September)
- Virginia Tech Regional Competition (October)
- Putnam Competition (December)
- Modeling Competition In Mathematics (February)
- Indiana College Mathematics Competition (March)
Our students and faculty also help with many K-12 competitions, encouraging young people to improve their math skills! We host K-12 events and assist with events such as
- The Rose-Hulman High School Contest
- MATHCOUNTS program (middle school)
- Girls' Adventures in Mathematics (elementary and middle school)
- ARML Competitions
Our College-Level Competitions
Starting in September, our first contest is the Alfred R. Schmidt Freshman Mathematics Competition which has been in operation for more than ten years. We typically have about 5%-10% of the freshman class turn out for this contest. It helps us get to know our new problem solvers.
Next, in October, we participate in the Virginia Tech Regional Mathematics Contest. Our usual turnout for this contest, which Rose-Hulman first participated in in 1996, is about 10-15 students. The contest is considered by many schools as a warm-up for the Putnam competition. It is not as long as the Putnam and the problems are of intermediate difficulty between our ARS Freshman Contest and the Putnam Competition.
In early December comes the grande dame of mathematics competitions, the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. This takes a full Saturday with a three-hour stint at six tough problems on part A, a break for lunch with the faculty, and then another three hours at the six problems for part B. The typical turnout is about 20 and we have been participating as long as anyone can remember.
In February comes the grueling Mathematical Contest in Modeling. The contest is 86 hours in length. Teams of three students get to work on a single problem selected from a choice of two. We have participated since the contest's inception and in each of the last few years, we have fielded four teams, the maximum number allowed per institution. In the last few years, an interdisciplinary contest has been added. Recently, the Civil Engineering Department fielded a team for this contest.
Finally, at the spring meeting of the Indiana Section of the Mathematical Association of America, we take our traveling teams of 4-5 three-person teams to The Indiana College Mathematics Competition. In addition to taking part in the competition, students get a chance to listen to interesting mathematical talks and participate in workshops.
K-12 Contests supported by Rose-Hulman
Rose-Hulman holds its Annual Rose-Hulman High School Contest* on the second Saturday of November. The contest is structured so that all high school levels may compete. This contest has been run for about 50 years and has satellite sites in St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Kentucky. About 2,000 students compete annually.
*The High School Math Competition will not be offered during 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The MATHCOUNTS program is targeted at middle school and is a year-long program. During the Fall term, students meet with their MATHCOUNTS coach on a regular basis. In the Spring term, there are school, regional, state and national competitions. Rose-Hulman hosts the regional competitions and the state competition recently. The Rose-Hulman contact is Leanne Holder.
The American Regional Mathematics League (ARML) holds an annual competition in June, at three different sites, in which various regional teams compete. The Rose-Hulman contact is John Rickert.
