The USA Mathematical Talent Search

Biographical notes:

The USA Mathematical Talent Search (USATMS) is a year-long mathematics correspondence competition for secondary school students. Established in 1989 by Dr. George Berzsenyi to discover and nurture American mathematical talent, most invited participants were high performers in other mathematics exams such as the American Invitational Mathematics Competition and/or the American High School Mathematics Examination. The USAMTS is also promoted through mathematics organizations, conventions, and meets. Its sister organization, the International Mathematical Talent Search (IMTS), was founded two years later. Participants can also choose to apply to the Young Scholars Summer Program (YSSP), held yearly at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

The competition consists of four rounds of five problems each for a possible yearly total of 100 points. Student answers are then graded by a group of mathematicians and returned to the students with scores and comments. The Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP) publishes the problems and solutions in its quarterly publication, Consortium.

Many of the USATMS participants and winners have gone on to compete in other prestigious events such as the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), the International Physics, Chemistry, and Informatics Olympiads, the American Regional Mathematics League contests, and the Intel (formerly Westinghouse) Science Talent Searches.

From the guide to the The USA Mathematical Talent Search Records 2010-050., 1989-2011, undated, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)