If you are interested in competing in any of these competitions, contact Murphy Waggoner.

Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM) and Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling (ICM)

First or second weekend of February each year.

COMAP's MCM and ICM are unique among modeling competitions: they are the only international contests in which student teams work toward a solution.  The contests are held for four days early in February.  During that time, teams of up to three undergraduates research and generate a solution for an open-ended, real-world modeling problem.  The official COMAP website has details about the modeling competitions, including past problems and rankings of the participants.

There is an archive of the Simpson College MCM and ICM Participants including results, summaries and pictures for Simpson students participating in the MCM and ICM since 1997.

Putnam Examination

First Saturday in December.

Each student participating in this competition works individually on 12 rather difficult problems over a 6 hour period.  The scores of a group of 3 students can be combined for a team score.  Simpson students participate in this competition almost every year.  Information about the contest can be found on the Putnam Exam website.  Problems and solutions from previous exams can be found at the Putnam Exam Archive.  Here is a list of the Simpson College Putnam Exam Participants.

Iowa Collegiate Mathematics Competition

Some Saturday in the spring semester.

This competition is usually held in late March or early April.  It consists of 5 questions similar to those on the Putnam Examination.  However, it differs from the Putnam Examination in that students work together toward solutions to these problems in teams of 3.  This competition is sponsored by the Iowa Section of the MAA.  The problems and other information for this competition can be found at the MAA Iowa Section website.