Students place in national girls’ math competition

Senior Celine Liang placed fifth and freshman Catherine Wu placed seventh in the sixth annual Math Prize for Girls competition on Sept. 20. Their results showed that they are two of the top young female mathematicians in the nation.

The national competition, hosted by the Advantage Testing Foundation, took place at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and pitted them against other girls from all over the nation.

The participants, who had to apply to the competition,  were selected by the Advantage Testing Foundation. Once there, they completed a written test for approximately two and a half hours. Liang, who won the competition last year, said she was pleasantly surprised when she placed fifth this year because she did not think she did well on the test. She said that it was easy to make careless mistakes.

“I went and did the best I could and just enjoyed the moment,” Liang said.

Last year, Wu placed fourth in the competition. Because the competition was harder this year, she said she was just hoping for an honorable mention. To her surprise, she placed even higher than what she hoped.

“I wasn’t as nervous as I probably should [have been], but I didn’t really know what I’d get,” Wu said. “I was happy, I guess. I was sort of hoping that I would do better [though].”

Both Liang and Wu received in $1,250 cash prizes.

For Liang, the competition was all about bonding with other girls interested in math. She already knew most of her competitors from other contests she has participated in during high school.

“It helps [girls interested in math] because it gives them a place where they can all meet each other,” Liang said. “The environment is [definitely] a big part of the competition because the girls are all in the same place doing what they love.”