The University of Waterloo finished in first place, followed by Harvard University in second and Duke University in third. The examination consists of two three-hour sessions. In each session, students must solve six problems. Students are not allowed to communicate among themselves, and are supposed to write essay solutions to the problems. All the necessary work to justify an answer and all the necessary steps of the proof must be shown clearly to obtain full credit.
Partial credit is given if the contestant has shown significant progress toward the solution.
The problems are intended to test ingenuity, as well as technical competence. The W.L. Putnam Mathematical Competition began in 1938, because William Lowell Putnam believed in the value of organized team competition in college studies. Putnam, a member of the Harvard class of 1882, wrote an article in the December 1921 issue of the Harvard Graduates' Magazine describing the merits of an intellectual intercollegiate competition. Putnam's dream came true after his death. In 1927, his widow, Elizabeth Lowell Putnam created a trust fund known as the William Lowell Putnam Intercollegiate Memorial Fund.