English 467 - Journalism - Prove It - by Jeremy Lent

Aug 23, 2026

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An essay examines the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition and how Yale’s math ecosystem affects its performance. It outlines the test’s structure, scoring, and prestige, then contrasts dominant schools like Harvard and MIT with Yale’s lower participation in upper-level mathematics. Through examples such as Xiaosheng Mu’s breakthrough and quotes from Yale students and faculty, the piece analyzes factors including limited math majors, recruiting pipelines from high school olympiads, institutional “math culture,” and the balance between test preparation and deep curriculum learning.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time34 min

AccessFree to download

Prove It

The Putnam’s structure and prestige

Yale’s participation and upper-level pipeline

From IMO winners to recruiting tradition

Faculty perspectives and “math culture”

English 467: Journalism Professor Jill Abramson By submitting this essay, I attest that it is my own work, completed in accordance with University regulations.—Jeremy Lent Prove It by Jeremy Lent Top U.S. college math students have been wrestling with the six-hour, twelve-question William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition nearly every December since 1938. The past few decades have seen 2,000, then 3,000, and now 4,000 competitors per year. Each question is worth ten points, for a total possible score of 120. The median score is one or two points. Do the math: It’s a hard test. Each year ’s top five test-takers, who usually score around 100, are crowned as Putnam fellows and receive $2,500, along with eternal bragging rights in the math community. There’s also an inter-college competition. Each participating school designates three students—usually the ones expected to score highest—whose individual rankings are combined to give a team score. The top five teams get bragging rights as well, at least until the next year ’s exam. The list of individual and team winners isn’t terribly surprising. Harvard’s team has placed in the top five 55 times in the last 72 years (19 times in the last 20), alongside MIT’s 39 and Princeton’s 28. Harvard has also spawned 98 top-five individuals since 1938, with nearly one per year for the past 20 years. When Xiaosheng Mu, a Yale freshman from China, settled into the test last December, Yale hadn’t produced a top-five team since 1991, or a top-five individual since 1989. Mu couldn’t help with Yale’s team-win drought: Freshmen never make the Yale team, since members are chosen based on at least one previous Putnam performance. But Mu did something right in the ensuing six hours. Actually, more like 11 or 12 things right. On March 23 this year, the Mathematical Association of America named Mu as one of the five 2009-2010 Putnam fellows. Once word got out, Yale’s student newspaper and press office made good use of the bragging rights. However, none of the articles or press releases mentioned that Yale’steam had scored about thirtieth. Out of a record 439 teams in 2009, that was respectable, but not anything that will keep Harvard’s team up at night. Aside from the two-dozen other Yalies who sat for the Putnam along with Mu, very few students at Yale likely have any idea (or a desire to have one) what the upper echelon of mathematics looks like. For the last ten years, Yale has graduated an average of 11 math majors each year (out of about 1,250 students per graduating class), down from an average of 22 majors between 1976 and 1998. The number of Yalies enrolled in math classes has dropped as well, from around 1,900 students in 1978 to about 1,500 today. Over half of those students took one of the introductory calculus or linear algebra classes, prerequisites for many other majors besides math. Unless Yale students stick around for an upper-level math class—which few do—they never get a taste of the kinds of problems on the Putnam, whose answers (if you ever reach them) are page-long proofs, and not just a few numbers. Is it the small and shrinking pool of upper-level math students that’s kept Yale far behind its Putnam rivals? That’s probably part of the picture. Harvard’s math department has shepherded through about 250 majors annually in recent years, and MIT has seen around 350. (Yale’s graduating classes are smaller than Harvard’s, and larger than MIT’s, by about 250 students). According to Noam Elkies, a math professor at Harvard since 1990 and a Putnam fellow himself, somewhere between 50 and 100 Harvard students take the Putnam each year, compared to Yale’s 20 or 25. But as Salah Ahmed, a current math major at Yale, pointed out, Yale would need only a few of the world’s top math students to win big in the Putnam.“If all the IMO [International Mathematical Olympiad] gold medal winners from China apply to Yale, and Yale accepts them all, then Yale will have a stron

FAQs

What is the format and scoring of the Putnam competition discussed in the essay?

The Putnam runs for six hours with twelve questions, each worth ten points for a total of 120. The median score typically lands around one or two points, making it a very hard exam.

Why does the essay argue Yale struggles compared with Harvard and MIT?

It points to a shrinking pool of upper-level math students, fewer students taking the Putnam, and broader participation trends in math classes. It also highlights limitations in recruitment and institutional support for math pursuits.

How does the essay connect Yale’s recruiting to high school olympiads like the IMO?

It notes that leading IMO gold medalists often go elsewhere because Harvard and MIT attract the top teenage math talent and run major high-school competitions. The essay also includes the view that tradition and name recognition influence where students apply.

Aug 23, 2026

Upload by Rowan