Woo Math Students Perform Well on Annual Putnam Exam
Emily Gamber

     On Saturday, December 5, 1998 while most COW students were scrambling around trying to get the right bar codes during course registration, a group of 8 dedicated math students slaved over a 6-hour exam. The time had come for the infamous Putnam Exam. Donuts and pencils (and for some a red dot) in hand, these students tried desperately to remember everything they had ever learned in their 13 to 16 years of schooling about mathematics.

     The exam features twelve questions to be answered in two sessions, a 3-hour morning session and a 3-hour afternoon session. Many of the questions did not require much more than a calculus background to solve, but the creativity and ingenuity needed proved to either make or break the solution. There is no real way to study for this test, as the questions are of contest nature and are unpredictable. However, students enrolled in Problem Seminar, Math 299, instructed by Dr. Hampton in an attempt to become more familiar with the types of questions often asked.

     Each problem is worth a total of 10 points; partial credit is often awarded. President Stan Hales explained the grading process to the class, as he has been a grader for the Putnam numerous times in previous years. If a student gets the problem exactly right, the score is a 10. A good start warrants a 1 or a 2, while having a good handle on the solution with only one or two minor mistakes deserves an 8 or a 9. Hales noted that "it is often tough to distinguish between a 2 and an 8." Middle scores (3 - 7) are not given, as a rule.

     Rumor has it that the median score for the Putnam is 0. This year, Wooster students scored very well, with totals higher than recent years have seen. Sophomore Dilip Raghavan led the field for Wooster with a score of 29. He was followed by fellow sophomore Dan Bates, who tallied 12 points. Sohil Parekh (’99) and Sridharan Raman (’00) each received 9 points, while Shoaib Farhat (’00) rounded out Wooster’s scoring with 8 points. Others taking the test were Oana Stelea (’00), Emily Gamber (’01), and Angela LaLumia (’02). Dilip’s efforts were enough to put him on the list of top 500 test takers this year.

     Although this is an individual test, there is a team competition as well. Each school which participates in the exam must designate 3 students as the team. Wooster’s team was comprised of Bates, Parekh, and Raman, and combining the individual scores, the team scored 30 points. Why wasn’t Dilip’s 29 counted in, you might ask? "Unfortunately, at the time when the names of the team members needed to be submitted, I didn’t even know who would be taking the test for sure!" exclaimed Dr. Hampton. The team winner this year was Harvard. As a final note, there have only been several perfect scores on the Putnam since its conception. Hales’ brother can lay claim to two of those 120 scores.