Math student counts down to competition

Saint Maryʼs third-year math major goes head-to-head with ivy-league schoolsJeremy Chabot stands outside the math and sciences building and Saint Mary's University where he will write the Putnam in December.' Photo: Ben MacDonald

Jeremy Chabot stands outside the math and sciences building and Saint Mary's University where he will write the Putnam in December. Photo: Ben MacDonald

In a few short weeks, Jeremy Chabot will become one of 5,000 undergrads to compete in one of the most difficult mathematical competitions in North America.

The William Lowell Putnam Math Competition, or simply the Putnam, attracts some of the best and brightest undergraduate students from across the country.

This year, Chabot will be the only student from Saint Mary's University in Halifax to attempt to win the grand prize - a potential $25,000.

But that's not really what Chabot is after. He has been a computer science enthusiast since he was in grade school and his favorite hobby is solving puzzles.

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A student draws out a Putnam practice problem on a classroom chalkboard. Photo: Ben Macdonald

The Putnam is a six-hour marathon of mathematical problem solving and skill testing. Students are given a total of 12 questions, each worth 10 marks for a total of 120 points.

The test is free for any student without an undergraduate degree. To compete, you simply sign up online and take the test at your school in a designated room supervised by a professor.

However the median scores for the average test-taker are only around one or two out of 120, and since the competition began in 1938 there have only been four perfect scores.

"People like Jeremy thrive on working on things that are well-known to be difficult," says John Irving, associate professor in the department of mathematics and computer science at Saint Mary's University.

"Such students become quickly bored with the very routine type of calculations that one works through in a typical calculus course," he says.

The competition is held on the first Saturday in December and this will be the second time the 20-year-old student has attempted to defeat the rigorous exam.

Among the other competitors will be students from universities such as Princeton, MIT and Harvard, which still holds the record for most first-place finishes with 27.

Last year, Chabot only received one or two points - still reaching the median score - but every year his motivation comes from the challenge itself and the creative nature of the test.

"Points" says Chabot "are more important than answers. They are very strict about how you prove what you wrote."

Chabot emphasizes that the test doesn't necessarily require contestants to have more knowledge or education beyond what the regular math undergrad might have.

"Sometimes the questions just require you to be quick thinking or witty... you just approach it from a certain direction, but some ways are easier than others," he says.

What does being witty have to do with mathematics? For those who left complex problems behind in high school math might still seem to be black and white - you're either right or wrong. But for students such as Chabot it begins to look like writing a poem.

Beyond the basic grammar of an equation lies a world of free-play and creativity - Shakespeare for Chabot.

"Jeremy is certainly one of our best students," Irving went on to say. "He's a clever guy and very keen to respond to a challenge."

For the next month, Chabot will take a number of online practice tests.

He will then review his work with professors and previous competitors in hopes of developing new techniques and getting just a little bit closer to that perfect score.

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