Claire Tian

Sophomore Kevin He smiles as he chats with fellow competitors at the Berkeley Math Tournament. A record high of 45 students attended this year, competing against 1,000 students from across the nation.

A record number of 45 students attended the Berkeley Math Tournament (BMT), competing against 1,000 other students from across the nation at the University of California, Berkeley on Nov. 2.

Sophomore Neo Liang and frosh Vihaan Gupta placed 7th and 10th respectively in the Geometry Focus Round. In total, Harker students earned 70 distinguished honorable mentions and honorable mentions, awarded to the top 20% and 50%, respectively.

Math teacher Anu Aiyer won the $500 blackpenredpen Mentor Appreciation Scholarship. Prior to the contest, BMT teams filled out forms nominating their coaches.

Students first took the Power Round, a collaborative, proof-based test designed to promote advanced math topics. Each year, the Power Round follows a specific theme and guides competitors through a series of intermediate steps that culminate in theorems or other advanced results.

“We hope to introduce new ways of mathematical thinking and problem solving to BMT participants,” BMT organizer Nathan Wong said. “We have a great opportunity in the Power Round to showcase mathematical rigor in niche or unexpected places.”

For the individual round, participants took either a general mathematics test or two of the algebra, geometry, calculus and discrete math exams. 

“We got to choose the individual rounds we participate in to fit our strengths,” sophomore competitor Elaine Xu said. “In between the two individual rounds, we got to discuss the problems with people in our room. It was interesting talking to random people, because even if I didn’t know someone’s name, we could talk about how we sillied so many problems — it was a bonding experience.”

In the final round, students competed in the team-based Guts Round consisting of a fast-paced series of problem sets that exposed students to a wide variety of topics and difficulty levels. 

“It’s less of a direct competition and more of a team bonding experience where you can really feel the love and care of the Harker community,” Math Club Director of Competitions and Curriculum Aarush Vailaya (12) said. “Now that I’m a senior, I get to teach and show the underclassmen how to attend contests like this and do math as a team.”

BMT offered optional activities like estimathon, a team estimation contest, and integration bee, a calculus-based variation of a spelling bee.

Awards were given for each individual exam and team performance. In team rankings, the Power Round is weighted 30%, the Guts Round 30% and the Individual Round 40%, with the specialized exams worth double the points of the general exam.

“Math competitions like BMT help you collaborate more with other like-minded people,” Palo Alto High School contestant Krittika Chandra said. “They help you meet other people with similar interests and reconnect with friends that you might have met earlier at other math events.”