Frequently Asked Questions
Who can be on a team?
Any student in high school (or a highly gifted middle school student) may participate. A full team will have 6 competitors for both MMATHS and Girls in Math. A team can have members from different schools. If you can't make a full team, the contest organizers can attempt to pair you with other students for the team round.
What's the format of the contest?
The individual round is a 12-question, 75-minute test. All of the questions are weighted equally and have only numerical answers.
The team round is a 10-question, 45-minute test. All questions are weighted equally, and you may work with your team to solve the problems. Again, all answers are numerical.
The Lightning Finals serves to determine the top three individuals in the contest. The top 12 individuals will compete two-at-a-time onstage in a double-elimination-style bracket tournament. For each match, a problem will be read and projected and the students will have 60 seconds to solve the problem. When a student has an answer ready, they may buzz in and answer and time is paused. If it is correct, they gain a point. If it is incorrect, time is resumed and the other student will have the remainder of the time to buzz in and answer. The first student to two points wins the match, and this process is repeated until a first-place winner is decided.
The team round is a 10-question, 45-minute test. All questions are weighted equally, and you may work with your team to solve the problems. Again, all answers are numerical.
The Lightning Finals serves to determine the top three individuals in the contest. The top 12 individuals will compete two-at-a-time onstage in a double-elimination-style bracket tournament. For each match, a problem will be read and projected and the students will have 60 seconds to solve the problem. When a student has an answer ready, they may buzz in and answer and time is paused. If it is correct, they gain a point. If it is incorrect, time is resumed and the other student will have the remainder of the time to buzz in and answer. The first student to two points wins the match, and this process is repeated until a first-place winner is decided.
What is the schedule of events?
See the Registration page for our tentative schedule.
What type of math will be tested?
Questions will challenge students' problem-solving abilities in areas such as algebra, geometry, number theory, and combinatorics. No questions will require the use of mathematics beyond precalculus.
How many teams can each school send?
There is no limit to the number of teams an organization can send to MMATHS.
Is there a registration fee?
There is a $15 fee for registration if paid before the contest date, $20 if paid for on-site.
What if I have a question that isn't answered here?
Odds are, someone else has that same question! So please message us under the "Contact" tab, and we'll try to answer your question. We’ll add your question to this page if enough people ask about the same thing. Thanks for your interest!
