Stanford Math Tournament
The Stanford Math Tournament (SMT) is an annual student-run math competition for high school students held at Stanford University. SMT aims to encourage interest in math by providing students from around the world an opportunity to work on fun and challenging problems and to meet other students interested in math.
Subscribe to the SMT mailing list to receive announcements about SMT.
SMT 2023
Go to our new website, https://www.stanfordmathtournament.com/, to register for SMT 2023!
About SMT
Stanford Math Tournament (SMT) is run by Stanford students.
Teams compete in groups of up to eight students. The contest consists of an individual portion as well as a team portion.
Team Portion
The Team Round is an 50-minute exam consisting of 15 short answer questions.
Power Portion
The Power Round is an 80-minute exam focused on proof-writing. The content of the test focuses on a single subject matter that is usually significantly different than traditional competitive math problems.
Guts Portion
The Guts Round is an 80 minute team exam consisting of 9 series of 4 questions each, whereby teams must submit answers to a previous round in order to gain access to the next. Subsequent rounds are both harder and worth more points than previous rounds, culminating with the final round which is estimation-based, with your score determined by how close you are to the actual answer.
Individual Portion
Students may choose to take two subject tests in a specific topic or take a single, longer General Test.
The Subject Tests are 50-minute exams consisting of 10 short answer questions. The subjects offered are Algebra, Combinatorics, Number Theory, and Geometry.
The General Test is a 110-minute exam consisting of 25 short answer questions that is designed for students that have less mathematical background.
For full rules and more detailed information, see our SMT info page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Make sure to check the rules page for detailed information regarding SMT. If your question is not answered below, feel free to contact the SMT coordinators at stanford.math.tournament at gmail.com.
Registration
Q: How many students may be on a team?
A: Teams consist of 8 students.
Q: Can I participate in SMT remotely?
A: Yes! The competition will be held online this year and will be open to all US students.
Q: Do students on the same team have to be from the same school?
A: Yes, with one exception. Established math institutions such as A-Star and Euler Circle are invited to send teams with students that do not attend the same high schools.
Q: What schools can participate in SMT?
A: SMT 2021 will be open to any US schools. This is a change from the Bay Area only policy last year.
Q: Can international teams participate in SMT? If so, how do they register?
A: No, unfortunately we will be limiting registration to US based students
Testing
Q: Are calculators allowed?
A: No. Calculators are not allowed on any portion of the tests. Check the SMT rules for information on permitted items.
Q: What topics may appear on the tests? How hard are the tests?
A: See the mathematical expectations document for guidelines on what topics may appear on each test. It is also advisable to look at the test from previous years in order to get a sense of the typical style and difficulty of SMT tests.
Q: Which individual test should I take?
A: If you have little or no experience with contest math, we strongly recommend you take the General Test. Looking at past tests will help you get a sense of the difficulty of each test.
Logistics
Q: Do we need to have a teacher or coach attend SMT in person?
A: No, you are not required to have a teacher or coach at the tournament.
Q: Can I use the problems from previous SMT tests listed below in my classroom/book/etc?
A: Yes! Feel free to use these problems provided you cite us.
Previous Tournaments
Check out previous years' tests to get a feel for the kind of problems that might appear on this year's SMT tests. You can also view the solutions for these problems to practice solving them yourself.
SMT 2022
View results View international results
SMT 2021
SMT 2020
SMT 2019
SMT 2018
View results View coordinators
SMT 2014
View results View coordinators
SMT 2013
View results View coordinators
SMT 2012
SMT 2011
Tests
| Subject | Problems | Solutions |
|---|---|---|
| Team | Problems | Solutions |
| Power | Problems | Solutions |
| Advanced Topics | Problems | Solutions |
| Algebra | Problems | Solutions |
| Calculus | Problems | Solutions |
| Geometry | Problems | Solutions |
| General | Problems | Solutions |
If you are missing some information that was on our old site but is not here on this page, you can view the old SMT home page here.