High School Math Contest

The University of South Carolina hosts a High School Mathematics Contest in the Spring semester every year. All South Carolina high schools are cordially invited to participate.

2025 Contest

The 38^th High School Math Competition is scheduled for Saturday, February 1, 2025

Tentative Schedule

Map of Campus: www.sc.edu/visit/map

8:00 AM to 9:15 AM	Registration in LeConte College, Room 118
9:30 AM to 10:45 AM	Written portion, 75 minutes (Classrooms assigned on day of contest)
11:00 AM to 12:00 PM	Lunch, on campus, Russell House (Greene St and Bull St) provides several options
12:00 PM to 1:00 PM	Special Event, Horseshoe Park.
1:15 PM to 2:15 PM	Team competition, LeConte classrooms, 3 to 12 team members from each school
2:30 PM to 3:15 PM	Single Elimination Tournament, Gambrell Hall Auditorium, the top 16 students from the Written portion
3:30 PM	Award Ceremony, Gambrell Auditorium

Parking

Please check back here for updated parking information. USC has recently been enforcing parking permits on weekends, so this might be different from years past.

About the contest

Since 1986, the Department of Mathematics of the University of South Carolina has been inviting all interested South Carolina high schools to our exciting events. Our goal is to stimulate interest in mathematics among high school students and to recognize those who exhibit exceptional talent.

The main event is a 75-minute multiple-choice exam with 30 questions—the Individual Test. Schools participate as a team in our Team Event: a 60-minute open-answer exam. The top finishers on the Individual Test will also be invited to participate in a tournament at the end of the contest.

Awards

Individual Awards

The top scorer of the Written Exam receives a medal, a plaque, and $400 cash prize.
The participant obtaining the second place in the Written Exam received a medal, a plaque, and $200 cash prize.
The participant in third place obtains a medal, and $100 cash prize.
Participants in places fourth to sixth receive a medal and $50 cash prize

Team Awards

Team awards will be based on the Team Event and on each school's top three finishers on the Individual Test. Schools are separated into divisions, and the top three schools from each division receive trophies.

Spotlight

The High School Math Contest was started in the late 1980's while Colin Bennett was department chair. At that time, Colin suggested to Charles Nicol, an associate professor, that he set up contacts with high schools. As a result, Nicol established a high school math contest which would bring some of the brightest high school students to campus.

The contest was successful from the very beginning, with hundreds of high school students participating and good relations built with the high school math teachers. The department has always organized this event on its own.

Department of Mathematics