Freshman scores in top 20 of prestigious competition

Freshman Miles Edwards scored in the top 20 of more than 4,000 students for the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical competition.

Edwards tied with three other students for 16th place.

The annual competition was a day-long exam in December and had 12 math problems.

“A score like Miles’, while yet a freshman, is unheard of,” said mathematics professor Kent Orr in an IU press release. He added that students who answer one or two problems correctly are usually approached by graduate schools to apply.

The Mathematical Association of America designs the competition for mathematics and physical science majors and expects contestants to be familiar with qualitative existence theorems, group theory, graph theory and number theory.

Edwards is currently enrolled in a course about algebraic geometry which is usually comprised of second-year graduate students.

Edwards plans to retake the exam three times, each year he is eligible as an undergraduate.

— MJ Slaby