Who Wants To Be a Mathematician
Who wants to be mathematician?
American Mathematical Society conducts this competition for high school students across the US for the cash prize of $5000.00 for winner.
There are two versions of Who Wants to Be a Mathematician, National and Regional. Both involve high school students answering multiple choice math questions for cash and prizes. Questions for the game are taken from pre-calculus math and can include algebra, geometry, trigonometry, probability, combinatorics, math history, and logic.
Regional:
Regional games occur across the country throughout the school year. There are usually six regional games held at colleges and universities during the school year at which 6-10 contestants compete for a first prize of up to $3,500. Every school that participates in qualifying receives a gift certificate from Art of Problem Solving.
How to participate?
For all games your teacher or parent (or Math Circles organizer for home-schooled students) need to administer a 15-minute qualifying test. If you’re interested in competing, you may ask your teacher to email to paoffice@ams.org, with his or her name, school, and the courses he or she is teaching in the fall semester, and they will send information.
National:
In the national version, students from schools in nine regions in the U.S. and nearby the host city for the annual Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM) compete for a $10,000 first prize at the JMM in January. The 10 students qualify for the national game by taking two rounds of tests in the fall, most doing so online courtesy of our technology sponsor Maplesoft. Every school that participates in qualifying receives a gift certificate from Art of Problem Solving. Those who score 8 and above (out of 10) on the round one test, move on to round two. The top scorers in each of the regions (often determined by tie-breakers) compete in the semifinals at the JMM (five contestants per semifinal). The semifinal winners go on to the finals, also at the JMM. Each cash amount won by the contestants is matched by the AMS and awarded to the math department of his or her school (or for homeschooled students, to their homeschool association). So the first-place winner receives $5,000 as does his or her math department. The AMS pays for (reasonable) travel, food, and lodging for each contestant and one accompanying adult.
For the national Who Wants to Be a Mathematician game, held in conjunction with the annual Joint Mathematics Meetings in January, teachers in schools in the U.S. administer the Round One qualifying test (either online or with paper copies) and proctor it. Each fall the Round One test is available for two weeks, usually from mid-September to the end of September or beginning of October. No calculators, internet, books, or other help is allowed. Those who score 8 or above (out of 10) in Round One qualify for the Round Two test, which also lasts for two weeks, but which is harder. After the Round Two test, qualifiers are selected from 9 regions in the U.S. and the local area surrounding the Joint Mathematics Meetings host city based on their scores on the test.
The online qualifying tests are provided by our Technology Sponsor, Maplesoft. Due to federal law, students under 13 must take the paper version of the national qualifying test.
2017 national competition will take place on Jan 7th at Atlanta. For 2016 Ankan Bhattacharya was winner and Karthik Karnik was runner up.
Ankan Bhattacharya won $10,000 in the 2016 national Who Wants to Be a Mathematician on January 7 at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Seattle. Ankan, a junior at International Academy East in Michigan, astounded the audience in the finals, answering very quickly and offering wonderful explanations. Ankan will receive $5,000 for his win. The math department at International Academy East will also receive $5,000.
Karthik Karnik, a senior at the Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science, is the 2016 runner-up. He won $3,000 for himself and $3,000 for the academy.
Mission of AMS is To further the interests of mathematical research, scholarship and education, serving the national and international community through publications, meetings, advocacy and other programs. The AMS headquarters is in Providence, Rhode Island, with the office in Ann Arbor, Michigan,
For more information visit http://www.ams.org/programs/students/wwtbam/contestants-2017
