About

The Princeton University Mathematics Competition (PUMaC) is an annual competition run by the Princeton University Math Club. PUMaC is an entirely student-run competition; Math Club volunteers have organized PUMaC since 2006. We are now in our 14th year! In the competition, participants from all over the US and various international teams come to the Princeton University campus and spend the day taking various mathematics assessment tests and having fun.

Aims

The goals of PUMaC are simple. We want to motivate high school students to both enjoy the study of and foster a love for mathematics. We aim to expose these students to the creative thinking and rigorous application of skills necessary for a successful future in mathematics. We hope that through our competition, students get to enjoy solving certain kinds of problems, and they get a feel for the fun inherent within a subject traditionally viewed as dry and esoteric. Furthermore, PUMaC also aims to introduce students to the beautiful Princeton campus, in the hope that they will consider applying here and will one day become part of the Princeton family.

As a competition, we hope to one day be one of the premier high school math competitions in the world.

History

PUMaC started on December 16, 2006, when the 1st PUMaC was held on the Princeton campus with 200 participants in teams of ten or fewer. At the time, PUMaC was a small competition in its tentative first year. Today, it is already one of the premier high school mathematics competitions in the United States, and is one of the first of its level to go international. PUMaC has witnessed some of the best mathematical minds of the world at work, representing some of the best schools. We know this event will only continue to expand as the years pass. Past competitors have been admitted to some of the best universities in the world, including Princeton and its peers.

More Information

If you’d like to know more about Princeton University or our math department, please visit the University homepage by clicking here. The homepage of the Princeton University Mathematics Department is located here.