Putnam Competition
Saturday 5 December 2026 — registration is open.
The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition is a North American undergraduate mathematics competition, entered every December by students at several hundred institutions. UTSA has been participating yearly since 2006. The Problem-Solving Club fall sessions emphasize Putnam preparation.
Please consider registering now.
UTSA’s registration deadline is Thursday 3 December 2026. The national organizers do not set one; this deadline is ours, so that we can arrange a room and materials before the Saturday.
Note: Sign-up must be done individually using the link above. Sign-in sheets for PS Club do not serve as registration.
Putnam Competition date
Saturday 5 December 2026, 9:00 a.m. to 6:15 p.m.
The competition format is changing this year. The exam now runs as four ninety-minute sessions with breaks between them. During each session, students may not leave the room and return.
Registration eligibility
Undergraduates who have not yet received a 4-year college degree. All majors are eligible. (Any student may take the Putnam at most four times.)
Really, (almost) all students are eligible!
Do not “wait until next year” to be “better prepared” to take the test. Start your freshman year, and repeat yearly up to 4 times total. Every one of UTSA‘s top-scoring students took the exam multiple times, and the first time was never the best one —but each of them started taking the Putnam their very first year in the PS Club. Several UTSA students have taken the Putnam the maximum 4-time limit.
How the club prepares
We meet weekly and work problems together, and several of the sets this term close with past Putnam problems (typically among the easier A1, A2, B1 and B2). Past sets are on the problem sets page. The mailing list carries the deadline reminders.
Note: Attending PS Club meetings is encouraged but not required to enter the Putnam.
Elsewhere
The competition’s official page: exam rules, archive of past problems, and an FAQ: maa.org/putnam.