Frequently Asked Questions
What is MMATHS? What is Girls in Math?
Both contests are organized by the same club: Yale Math Competitions. They follow the same contest format, scoring, and general schedule.
MMATHS:
- Fall
- Multiple sites across country
- Open registration
Girls in Math:
- Spring
- Hosted at Yale
- For female-identifying or nonbinary students
MMATHS:
- Fall
- Multiple sites across country
- Open registration
Girls in Math:
- Spring
- Hosted at Yale
- For female-identifying or nonbinary students
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 12-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.
In the Lightning Finals, 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 Guts Round is a 24-question, 60-minute test. In this contest, problems are given in sets of 3, and each set of problems is only provided once the previous set is submitted.
The team round is a 12-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.
In the Lightning Finals, 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 Guts Round is a 24-question, 60-minute test. In this contest, problems are given in sets of 3, and each set of problems is only provided once the previous set is submitted.
How is the contest scored?
For individual placements, scoring is 1 point per question, with ties broken by item analysis. Site-specific ties (to determine Lightning Round finals) will be further broken by the Tiebreaker round.
For team placements, scoring is as follows:
- 1 point per individual round problem, summed over all team members
- 6 points per team round problem
For teams of 5, individual round scores are multiplied by 6/5, and for teams of 4 or less, individual round scores are multiplied by 6/4. In particular, having a team of 4, 5, or 6 does not put you at a significant disadvantage in terms of the composite individual score (but may naturally make the team round more difficult).
Formally, if a team solves n total individual round problems, m team round problems, and has k team members, their total team score is:
For the team round, ties will first be broken by item analysis on the team round, and then item analysis on the individual round.
For team placements, scoring is as follows:
- 1 point per individual round problem, summed over all team members
- 6 points per team round problem
For teams of 5, individual round scores are multiplied by 6/5, and for teams of 4 or less, individual round scores are multiplied by 6/4. In particular, having a team of 4, 5, or 6 does not put you at a significant disadvantage in terms of the composite individual score (but may naturally make the team round more difficult).
Formally, if a team solves n total individual round problems, m team round problems, and has k team members, their total team score is:
- min(6/k, 6/4) * n + 6m
For the team round, ties will first be broken by item analysis on the team round, and then item analysis on the individual round.
What is the schedule of events?
See the Registration page for more information on each site's 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.
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?
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