The Advantage Testing Foundation Math Prize for Girls, often referred to as The Math Prize for Girls, is an annual mathematics competition open to female high school students from the United States and Canada. The competition offers the world’s largest single monetary math prize in a math contest for young women. In 2017, the First-Place prize was $46,000 (split equally amongst the three-way tie for first) with another $9,000 divided among the remaining finalists. Girls may win a maximum of $100,000 by participating in the competition over multiple years. Organized each year by the Advantage Testing Foundation, the competition is considered to be the preeminent female math competition for young women in North America.
The single-day annual contest is open to female high-school students in 12th grade or below, from the United States and Canada who have attained a qualifying score on the American Mathematics Competitions Exams, specifically the AMC 10 or AMC 12 given in February each year. Up to 300 participants are then selected each year for the competition. Participants must complete 20 short-answer problems in geometry, algebra, trigonometry, and other math topics in 150 minutes. The exams are then reviewed by a panel of judges, who award cash prizes to the top-scoring participants.
History
The competition was founded in 2009 by Arun Alagappan and Dr. Ravi Boppana in an effort to inspire the next generation of female mathematicians and create a community of young women who share a passion for math. Boppana, the competition’s cofounder and Director, said in a statement that "the Math Prize was created to debunk gender stereotypes, and to support young women who see higher-level mathematics as a pursuit that is challenging, fun, and incredibly rewarding.” The first two years of the competition were held at NYU, and since 2011, the competition has been held annually at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Winners
The annual first-place winners of The Math Prize for Girls are listed in the table below:
The competition was not held in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Year | Overall Winner (s) |
|---|---|
| 2022 | Jessica Wan |
| 2019 | Jessica Wan |
| 2018 | Katie Wu, Yuxuan Zheng |
| 2017 | Katie Wu, Megan Joshi, Claire Zhou |
| 2016 | Qi Qi, Katie Wu |
| 2015 | Rachel Zhang |
| 2014 | Celine Liang |
| 2013 | Danielle Wang |
| 2012 | Victoria Xia |
| 2011 | Victoria Xia |
| 2010 | Danielle Wang |
| 2009 | Elizabeth Synge |
Additionally, the Math Prize for Girls awards Youth Prize to the highest scoring student in grade 9 or below.
Advisory board
As of 2017, the competition's Board of Advisors has the following members:
- Ravi Boppana, Director of Mathematics at Advantage Testing, Inc.
- Ioana Dumitriu, Professor of mathematics at the University of California, San Diego
- Maria Klawe, President of Harvey Mudd College
- Richard Rusczyk, Founder of Art of Problem Solving, Inc. and Director of the USA Mathematical Talent Search
- Michael Sipser, Professor of Applied Mathematics and Dean of Science at MIT
- Gigliola Staffilani, the Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor of Mathematics at MIT
- Lauren Williams, Professor of mathematics at the Harvard University
- Joseph Woo
- Melanie Wood, Professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
References
- Chu, Jennifer (21 September 2011). "MIT hosts Math Prize for Girls". MIT News. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
- "Prizes - Math Prize for Girls". Advantage Testing Foundation. Math Prize for Girls. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
- Xia, Victoria (Nov 2013). "Reckoning with Randomness" (PDF). Imagine Magazine: 12–14. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
- Peterson, Chris (8 March 2011). "Math Women Rock". MIT Admissions. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
- "Advantage Testing Foundation". Microsoft New England. September 10, 2013. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
- "MIT to Host Math Competition for Girls". Mathematical Association of America. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
- Schroeder, Bendta (23 September 2014). "Math Prize for Girls offers inspiration and mentorship to participants on MIT's campus". MIT News. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
- Elfman, Lois (19 September 2011). "Math Prize for Girls Thrives at MIT". Diverse Issues in Higher Education. CMA. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
- Smith, Jennifer (September 27, 2014). "For girls, a rare chance to flex math muscles at MIT". Boston Globe. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
- Liebman, Lydia. "MIT President Susan Hockfield applauds 250 High School Women in Math". No. Nov/Dec 2011. Education Update. p. 4.
- Bopanna, Ravi (August 23, 2017). "Math Prize 2016 Award Winners". Art of Problem Solving. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
- "Board of Advisors - Math Prize for Girls". Advantage Testing Foundation. Retrieved August 27, 2017.