NES/MAA Collegiate Mathematics Competition

The NES/MAA Collegiate Math Competition (CMC) is a team competition held during the Northeastern Section of the MAA's fall meeting. The CMC is a team competition for undergraduate students enrolled in any college or university in the Section. This will be great fun for both first-time competitors and seasoned veterans! It can also be an excellent warm-up for the Putnam exam, which takes place a couple of weeks after the CMC. The questions are meant to be stimulating, but not as difficult as those on the Putnam exam.

Official Rules

  1. The competition is open to teams of undergraduate students from all two- and four-year colleges and universities in the New England states (Connecti- cut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine) and the Maritime Provinces of Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island).

  2. All teams must have no fewer than two students but no more than three. (In particular, no individual competitors will be accepted.) A single institution may enter as many teams as it wishes. (Please fill out separate registration forms for each team.)

  3. Each team will be allowed to bring one non-graphing calculator to the com- petition, but no books, laptop computers, PDAs, mathematical tables, or notebooks of any kind will be allowed in the room during the competition.

  4. Teams will have one hour and 30 minutes to solve the competition prob- lems. The problems may come from several areas of mathematics, including: calculus, differential equations, real and complex analysis, probability and statistics, geometry, number theory, combinatorics, abstract algebra, linear algebra.

  5. Team members can work in any manner they choose during the competition. They may consult with one another and work together on the problems. They may divide the problems amongst themselves for individual work. In the end, one set of solutions must be handed in per team. (Do not hand in multiple solutions from a team.)

  6. Exams will be graded immediately after completion of the competition. To receive full credit, all work must be included and legible. Partial credit will only be given for substantial progress toward the correct solution. Any work that a team deems relevant must be attached to the exam paper at the end of the competition. Leaps of faith and flights of fancy will be given little if any credit.

  7. Results will be announced, prizes will be awarded, and solutions will be distributed at the end of the banquet on Friday night.

  8. All team members must be registered for the Fall NESMAA meeting, and have paid the registration fee, but there is no additional cost for the compe- tition.

  9. HAVE FUN! Enjoy the math, get to know students from other colleges, see some great student talks, share a meal.

Past Questions and Solutions