Welcome to Berkeley Math Tournament 2023! BMT 2023 will be in-person, with various satellite tournaments. The tournament will consist of 3 main rounds — Power, Focus/General, and Guts.

BMT is open to high school students in grades 12 or below. In particular, there is no lower age limit to compete in BMT; advanced middle school students are welcome to compete. Coaches can register up to 6 students per team. There are no restrictions on how many teams/students a single coach can register. You do not have to be local to the Bay Area or California to register for BMT.

Day-of Logistics Registration Portal

Registration Information

Registration is now closed for BMT 2023.

Registration, Waivers, and Pricing

Dates	Registration Period	Price Per Student	Additional Notes
10/2 – 10/14	Normal Registration	$20	Shirts may be pre-ordered for $8 per student.
10/15 – 11/1	Late Registration	$30	Shirts are not guaranteed, but may be purchased day-of for $10

*All dates are in PT. That is, Normal Registration ends at 11:59 PM PT on 10/14/2023.

**For students facing financial hardship, please contact finance@bmt.berkeley.edu for a fee waiver. We will not honor refunds during late registration.

Registration is performed on ContestDojo. Coaches may register up to 6 people per team, and ContestDojo will allow them to assign and modify teams up until tournament day.

All contestants are required to have their parent/guardian sign UC Berkeley’s consent waivers through this portal. Contestants will NOT be allowed to take the contest without having a signed liability and consent to treatment waiver.

Any questions about the ContestDojo portal should be directed to us at questions@bmt.berkeley.edu.

Student Eligibility

• Students must be in grade 12 or below to be eligible for BMT.
• Students do not have to be local to the California Bay Area or the U.S. to participate in BMT. Please see “Satellites” for other options on tournaments.
• Coaches may register multiple teams. We ask that for every 2 teams, there is at least 1 parent chaperone.
• Due to room constraints, we will cut-off registration at 700 students on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Team Finder

Students may register as a team of 1, however, it is beneficial to compete on a team of at least 4 due to our scoring guidelines. For students who do not have a full team, we organized a Team-Finder document. Follow all outlined steps in the document.

BMT Rounds

Power Round (90 mins)

The Power Round is a proof-based team round. Contestants will answer a series of questions centered around a single topic not typically seen in competitive mathematics, culminating in incredible results in the field of that chosen topic. For all questions (unless stated otherwise), you will need to provide a rigorous mathematical justification for your assertions in full sentences. The topic for the Power Round will likely be at an undergraduate level, but no substantial previous mathematical background is expected.

General Round (90 mins)

The general round is an individual round consisting of questions across the various subjects that comprise the focus rounds. This round is highly recommended for students with less prior contest experience.*

Focus Rounds (60 mins)

There are four focus rounds of 10 questions across four subjects --- Algebra, Geometry, Discrete Math, and Calculus. Each student can participate in two rounds of focus exams.*

Guts Round (75 mins)

The guts round consists of 9 sets of 3 problems across various subjects in math. The key feature of this round is that each set must be turned in before the next set is given. All teams can see a live scoreboard with their standings

*Students may choose to either take the General Round or two Focus Rounds.

Tiebreakers

The tiebreakers will be held for the top scoring students in the individual round. Tiebreaker qualifiers will be announced at the end of lunch and the beginning of activities, and will be a 15-minute test. The test will consist of three questions, and be scored primarily on correctness and secondarily on submission time; that is, an earlier submission will be worth more than a later one with the same number of correct answers, but less than a later one with more correct answers.

Summary

	Power	General	Focus	Guts
Important Details	Proof Based	Students may choose to participate in either the General Round or two separate Focus Rounds, but not both		Submitted and scored live in sets of 3
Location	Assigned Classrooms — See Tournament Guide
# of Questions	TBA	25	10	27
Duration	90 mins	90 mins	60 mins	75 mins
% of Score	30%	40%		30%
Important Scoring Notes	N/A	If teams have less than 4 members, the remaining scores will be counted as 0. The General Round will only count for half as many points as the Focus combinations		Teams are live scored, and there will be a displayed scoreboard
Collaboration?	Yes	No, students will work individually	No, students will work individually	Yes

Acceptable Answers

Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the acceptable test formatting document and common notions document for details on how their answers should be submitted. Answers not submitted in the listed formats will be graded as incorrect, even if equivalent.

Scoring

To calculate the individual score, we will take the average of every team member’s score on their individual portion if the team has 4, 5, or 6 members. If the team has fewer than that many members, we will add 0’s until the team has reached at least 4 scores, of which we will take the average.

While individuals are allowed to register a 1-person team, we highly encourage students without a team to use the Team-Finder to create a team of at least 4.

Scores for a given round will be normalized by either the top 10 scores or the top 10% score, whichever is greater.

If a student takes the General Round instead of the two Focus rounds, their score will only count for half as many points as the Focus combination will.

Day-of Logistics

For day-of logistics, including the schedule and information about check-in, activities, room assignments, and more, please read our day-of logistics post!

Frequently Asked Questions

Are calculators or other reference material allowed?

Graph paper and calculators are prohibited, but protractors, rulers, and compasses are permitted. Blank white scratch paper will be provided for all participants. All answers must be exact, reduced, and simplified. Illegible answers will not be graded. Cheating in any form will not be tolerated, and failure to comply with all rules may result in immediate and irreversible disqualification.

Can middle school students compete? What if I don’t have a team?

Yes! BMT is open to any student in 8th grade or below, including those who haven’t entered high school. While students are allowed to compete as individuals under “LAST_NAME Homeschool” or some other variation, we highly recommend that students compete on a team of at least 4 due to our scoring guidelines. To calculate the overall Individual score, we will take the average of every team member’s score on their individual portion if the team has 4, 5, or 6 members. If the team has less than that many members, we will add 0’s until the team has reached at least 4 scores, of which we will take the average.

How are awards handled?

Awards will be physically presented to contestants at BMT 2023’s closing ceremony.

I’m in a different timezone or non-local and can’t compete live. What are my options?

There will be BMT Satellite competitions held through our partners across the globe for competitors wishing to compete in a different time zone.

Will lunch be provided?

Lunch is not provided for BMT 2023. Students, coaches and parents are free to find food in Berkeley. Restaurants can be found on the south side of campus (~5 minute walk from homerooms) and downtown (~15 minute walk from home rooms)

Where can I find parking / How can I get around Berkeley?

BMT will not be providing parking or travel arrangements for students — it is up to coaches and/or parents to handle travel logistics. There are a number of parking garages around the campus, including Underhill Structure, Lower Hearst Structure, and the RSF garage. In addition, UC Berkeley campus is very public transport friendly. If you are staying in Emeryville, Bus Line 36 will take you directly to campus, and the Downtown Berkeley BART station is next to campus