The Harvard/MIT Mathematics Tournament (HMMT) is a prestigious annual math competition for high school students that is entirely student-organized, by students at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and nearby schools, many of whom are HMMT alumni themselves. HMMT holds two tournaments a year, one in November at Harvard and one in February at MIT, and participants can choose only one per season. Both tournaments feature individual tests, a team round, and the signature guts round.
The primary difference between HMMT November and HMMT February is in their difficulty. While both tournaments are intended to challenge strong math students from all around the world, the February contest demands a considerable amount of mathematical maturity and problem-solving experience. The November tournament includes problems approximately at the level of the American Mathematics Competitions tests (AMC 10 and AMC 12), as well as problems covering the range of difficulty of the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME). The February tournament includes problems similar to the more difficult November problems, as well as problems comparable to those of various national and international olympiads. The February contest often attracts dozens of IMO medalists and top scorers on national olympiads. Interested students are encouraged to visit the archive of past problems at the November and February tournaments to determine which exam is most appropriate for them.
Location(s)
- Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Schedule
- November (Harvard)
- February (MIT)
Cost/Compensation
- Team: $80
- Individual: $10
Eligibility Requirements
- HMMT is open to high school students around the world.
- Students form teams of 4-6 for November and 6-8 for February, or apply as individuals and, if accepted, are placed on a team with other individual applicants.
- Students MUST participate through their school if the school submits an application for any tournament in the season.
- All members of a team should attend the same school or live within 150 miles of each other, at the time of applying for registration.
Deadline
- October
Application or Entry Requirements
- To participate in one of the tournaments, all teams and individuals must submit applications through the online registration workflow when it becomes available (typically a 3-week period in September/October).
- After the application deadline, HMMT will run an acceptance lottery. Not all applicants who register will receive a spot at a tournament. Students who do not receive a spot can join a waitlist.
- Only adults can register on behalf of students, either as the coach of an organization’s team or the parent/guardian of an individual competitor.
Notifications of Decisions
- Lottery results are released 1-3 weeks after the application deadline.
Financial Aid Details
Other Dates to Keep in Mind
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The Harvard/MIT Mathematics Tournament (HMMT) was founded jointly in 1998 by Harvard and MIT students to provide middle and high school students with math problems beyond the scope of what is traditionally offered at their schools. Now, with two annual tournaments, hundreds of staff members and volunteers, and over 20 years of experience, HMMT has expanded into one of the largest undergraduate-run math tournaments, hosting thousands of participants from around the globe.
