Cal Poly Math Students Place in Top 7 Percent at Putnam Mathematical Competition

April 16, 2014

Brian Jones works on the Putnam Math Exam. Jones was Cal Poly's top scorer with 30 points.
The median score at this year's competition was one.

Cal Poly placed an impressive 36th out of 557 schools participating in the 2013 Putnam Math Competition. This was Cal Poly's second top-50 finish in three years on the notoriously difficult annual exam taken by undergraduates.

"To put it in perspective, this is like making it to the third round of the NCAA basketball tournament but with 200 more teams vying for a spot to begin with," said Professor Jonathan Shapiro, who coached the team in past years.

The six-hour exam consists of 12 problems solved in two three-hour sittings, no calculators allowed. Each school selects three students whose scores determine that school’s ranking. Out of a possible 120 points, the median score for the 2013 exam was one point.

Brian Jones was the top scorer for Cal Poly with 30 points and an overall ranking of 266th out of 4,113 competitors, which placed him in the top six percent. Matthew Rodrigues scored 28 points for a rank of 365th, and freshman Michael Boulos scored 10 points for a rank of 1,324th. 

Other Cal Poly students who scored on the Putnam Exam but whose scores did not count toward the final ranking include Lumin Sperling and Tyler Jorgens with 10 points each and Derek Tietze and Michael Bower with eight points each.

"We are very excited about our students' performances," said Professor Morgan Sherman, who coached the team this year. "The exam focuses on creativity and problem-solving skills, areas where Cal Poly students excel, and we see that they can compete with some of the best schools in the country."

For more on the competition and the 2013 results, go to the website for the Mathematical Association of America.