Following up on its success last year, The College of New Jersey’s team of Mary Ambrosino, Richard Castellano, and Calvin Woo placed 91st out of 572 collegiate teams in the 2012 William Lowell Putnam Competition. This is the second time that TCNJ has placed in the top 100. Dubbed “the world’s toughest math test” by Time Magazine, the prestigious collegiate contest was held on December 3, 2011. The exam consisted of twelve challenging problems to be solved over a grueling six hours. The competition was won by Harvard University.
Founded in 1938 as a way to stimulate healthy rivalry in mathematical studies among colleges in the United States and Canada, the Putnam Competition serves as a rite of passage for brilliant young mathematicians. The day is composed of two three-hour sessions, with a two-hour break in between. Calculators and notes are banned, and the exam is extremely difficult, with the median score on last year’s test being 1 point out of a possible 120 points.