Stanford Mini Math Meet (SM3) 2025
VIEW SM3 SOLUTIONS
Overview
OBJECTIVE: Provide an engaging math event for younger students who have minimal competitive math experience
DATE: October 25th, 2025
LOCATION: Stanford University
WHO: Middle School students residing within the United
States
TEAM SIZE: 4
COST: $40 per team* (Financial aid available upon
request!)
*Eventbrite charges around $2.00 per student in service fees.
Signup Information
SM3 will have 200 students (~50 teams) competing in-person at Stanford.
Closed Registration
The closed registration phase has concluded. Schools currently in contact with our organizing team can continue to sign up. Questions should continue to be sent to stanford.math.tournament@gmail.com.
Open Registration
Open registration begins on Monday, September 29th at 10 am Pacific. At this time, a registration form will be sent out to the SMT mailing list. The link to register is also here and below. It will be first-come, first-serve. There will also be a waitlist. On Tuesday, October 14th, teams will be informed of their registration status and sent further payment instructions if necessary.
SM3's purpose is to provide a math event for schools that are low income or historically underrepresented in mathematics. The environment may be less competitive than other middle school math events.
This selection process is only for SM3 2025, not for SMT 2026 or SMT 2026 Online. These selection criteria are not final; they may change as we work to promote diversity. Decisions made by SMT are final and non-negotiable.
Last updated on 10/7/2025
Registration Timeline
-->SM3 Schedule
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*Schedule and activities subject to change. Note that there is built-in buffer time to explain instructions and assist with technical difficulties.
Event Information
Students at SMT will participate in three different events. All students will the Treelay Round and Puzzlehunt. After the Treelay Round and before lunch, students will be able to choose another activity. This activity will be chosen during signup and cannot be changed afterwards.
The Treelay Round is a fast paced 40 minute round consisting of a total of 40 questions where students race through the problems utilizing various power ups sprinkled throughout. Teams start out with five questions and for each correct answer they hand in, they get another question. Teams get three attempts for each question. Once the 3 attempts are used up, the team will automatically receive another problem and cannot resubmit again. They will also receive randomized power ups that will be explained during the competition to use. Each correct answer defaults to 1 point, and power ups may have the ability to change this.
Puzzlehunt will be a series of puzzles related to SM3's theme. Teams will race outdoors to solve a variety of unique puzzles across Stanford's campus. If you've never done a puzzle hunt before, check out yukihunt.club for a beginner-friendly introduction! SMT's guide to common puzzlehunting ciphers is attached here.
Additional Activities!
After the Treelay Round ends and before lunch, students will paticipate soon-to-be-announced activities.
FAQ
Q: How many students may be on a team?
A: Teams must consist of 4 members. Teams with less or more students will not be accepted.
Q: Can I participate in SM3 remotely?
A: No, SM3 will be entirely in-person on October 25th, 2025.
Q: Do students on the same team have to be from the same school?
A: It is recommended that students form schools teams but not required.
Q: What schools or organizations can participate in SM3?
A: SM3 2025 will be open to all domestic students from US-based schools.
Q: Are calculators allowed?
A: No. Calculators are not allowed on any portion of the tests. Check the SMT rules for information on permitted items.
Q: What topics may appear on the tests? How hard are the tests?
A: Tests will primarily cover topics taught through standard seventh grade math curricula. The hardest problems will be similar in difficulty to MATHCOUNTS state-level problems.
Q: Do we need to have a teacher or coach attend SM3 in person?
A: Yes, you must have at least one authorized adult chaperone present per team who is responsible for the team during the event.
Q: Can I use the problems from previous SM3 tests listed below in my classroom/book/etc?
A: Yes! Feel free to use any officially released problems, provided you cite us in the format 'Stanford Mini Math Meet [Year] [Round] [Problem #]'