Math Prize for Girls: The Ultimate Guide for High Schoolers
Updated: 2nd November, 2026
TL;DR
If you love math, you have one big question to answer: can you enter? The Math Prize for Girls is a free, in-person contest at MIT for girls in 11th grade or below who live in the U.S. or Canada. You qualify through an AMC 10 or AMC 12 score taken in November, and the 2026 contest was held October 11. The 2027 dates aren't posted yet. If you want to take math into research, look at the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. It pairs you 1:1 with a PhD mentor.
What is the Math Prize for Girls?
The Math Prize for Girls (MP4G) is a free math contest for girls, held each fall at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It's sponsored by the Advantage Testing Foundation and Jane Street, and it offers $100,000 in cash prizes, including $50,000 for first place. The official site says about 250 competitors take part each year. You can enter more than once, but no student can win more than $100,000 over multiple years.
Here are the quick facts, based on the 2026 contest, the latest year posted.
Application deadline: May 31, 2026, with decisions sent by July 1, 2026. Late applications aren't accepted, and the 2027 deadline isn't posted yet.
Duration: A weekend. Registration, tours, and talks happen on Saturday, and the contest and awards happen on Sunday. The test itself is 20 problems in 2.5 hours.
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2026, the exam was in Walker Memorial (Building 50) at MIT, and other events were at the Boston Marriott Cambridge.
Eligibility: You must be female in gender identity, in 11th grade or below as of March 1, 2026, living in the U.S. or Canada, and have taken an official AMC 10 or AMC 12 in November 2025.
Cost: There's no fee to apply or to compete. Travel, hotel, and food aren't covered.
Selectivity: The top 300 applicants are invited, based on AMC and AIME score cutoffs.
When is the Math Prize for Girls in 2027?
The 2027 date isn't posted yet. The most recent contest was Sunday, October 11, 2026, and it's held in the fall each year. We could find the 2026 schedule online, but it's always good to check the official website first for 2027 updates.
Day | What happened in 2026 |
Saturday, October 10 | Harvard and MIT campus tours, contestant registration, a math talk, a team contest called Estimathon, a Women in STEM Ask Me Anything with MP4G alumnae, and MIT admissions information sessions |
Sunday, October 11 | Late registration, the exam (about 9:15 am to noon), a panel for families, lunch, and the awards ceremony from 1:45 to 4:00 pm |
Who can compete in the Math Prize for Girls?
You can compete if you're a girl in 11th grade or below who lives in the U.S. or Canada and took the AMC in November. Here are the official 2026 requirements.
Grade: You must be in 11th grade or below as of March 1, 2026. You can't be graduating from high school or starting full-time college before the contest.
Gender: You must be female in gender identity.
Residency: You must live in the U.S. or Canada. U.S. or Canadian citizens and permanent residents living elsewhere can apply, but they must email a scan of a U.S. passport or permanent resident card to mathprize@atfoundation.org after applying.
Test: You must have taken an official AMC 10 or AMC 12 in November of the year before the contest.
How do you qualify for the Math Prize for Girls?
You qualify by taking an official AMC 10 or AMC 12 in November, then scoring above the cutoff. For the 2027 contest, that means the November 2026 AMC. The Mathematical Association of America lists the AMC 10A and 12A for November 5, 2026, and the AMC 10B and 12B for November 13, 2026.
The AMC 10 is open to students in grade 10 and below, and the AMC 12 is open to students in grade 12 and below. You don't sign up with the MAA yourself. Ask your school whether it hosts the AMC, or check local colleges and math circles. Our guide to the AMC 10 and AMC 12 explains dates, scoring, and registration.
Cutoffs are set separately for the AMC 10, the AMC 12, the AIME, and past MP4G exams. You're invited if you clear the cutoff on any one of them, and a low score on another exam won't hurt you. SAT scores can't replace the AMC. If you qualified for the AIME and took it, you can enter that score too.
How do you apply for the Math Prize for Girls?
You apply online on the official site, and the form is built around your test scores. Here's how the 2026 process worked.
Enter your details. Add your basic contact information and your school.
Add your AMC scores. Enter at least one AMC 10 or AMC 12 score. If you took both the A and B versions, enter both.
Add your AIME score. Enter your 2026 AIME score if you took it, and say whether you were invited to MP4G before.
Wait for your decision. The organizers verify your scores with the MAA and email decisions by July 1.
Ask your AMC contest manager, usually a math teacher, if you're unsure which exams you took. Giving false information is grounds for disqualification at any time.
What is the Math Prize for Girls format?
The contest is a 20-problem, 2.5-hour test that you take alone and in person. Every answer is a number, so there's no multiple choice and no proofs. The problems stay within high school math, and none of them need calculus.
That works out to about seven and a half minutes per problem, so pacing matters. The organizers describe the contest as a test of mathematical creativity and insight, not just speed. There's no online version, and the exam is held at MIT.
What do Math Prize for Girls winners get?
The top ten finishers share $98,000, and a separate Youth Prize adds $2,000. Ties split the money evenly.
Place | Cash prize |
First | $50,000 |
Second | $20,000 |
Third | $10,000 |
Fourth and fifth | $4,000 each |
Sixth through tenth | $2,000 each |
Youth Prize (top performer in 9th grade or below) | $2,000 |
The prizes go beyond cash. Here's what else is on offer.
Trophies: 25 more top performers earn Honorable Mention trophies.
Merit scholarships: Honorable Mention winners and above get $500 merit scholarships to the Canada/USA MathCamp summer program, if their applications are accepted.
Math Prize Olympiad: The top 35 performers are invited to a proof-based contest given at their school in November or December.
Wolfram|One: Every contestant gets a one-year license.
Cash awards are generally taxable, and checks are mailed to winning students within about 90 days of the contest.
How hard is the Math Prize for Girls?
It's very hard, because you only get in after a strong AMC or AIME score, and then you face 20 problems in 150 minutes. The top 300 applicants are invited, so everyone in the room already did well on a major math contest.
The official site doesn't publish a score distribution or an acceptance rate, so treat any percentage you see online as a guess. The contest is a different kind of test from a school exam. Problems reward clever ideas, and a single idea can solve a problem in a few lines. If you've tried the Harvard/MIT Mathematics Tournament (HMMT), you'll see a similar mix of short answers and tricky ideas.
How do you prepare for the Math Prize for Girls?
The best prep is to work through past MP4G problems, then build speed on AMC and AIME practice. The official site posts past exams from 2009 to 2026 on its resources page. Here's a simple plan you can follow.
Start with the AMC. Your AMC score decides whether you get in, so treat the November AMC as step one.
Read past problems first. Look at a few MP4G exams without a timer to see what the questions feel like.
Practice in timed blocks. Try 10 problems in 75 minutes, then review every miss. Write down the idea you missed, not just the answer.
Take one full practice exam. Do 20 problems in 150 minutes a few weeks before the AMC and AIME cycle.
Find a study group. Talking through solutions with other students shows you new ways to think about a problem.
Is the Math Prize for Girls worth it?
Yes, if you enjoy hard math problems and can get to Cambridge for the weekend. The contest costs nothing to enter, and the weekend includes campus tours and an MIT admissions information session. It's still a one-day test with limits, so weigh both sides.
Pros -
There's no application fee or participation fee.
The prize pool is $100,000, with $50,000 for first place.
The application asks mainly for your AMC and AIME scores, so you don't need to write essays.
Every contestant gets a one-year Wolfram|One license, and the weekend includes campus tours and an Ask Me Anything with alumnae.
Cons -
You must have taken the AMC in November of the year before, so you can't qualify late.
Only girls living in the U.S. or Canada can enter, with a few exceptions for citizens and permanent residents abroad.
The contest is in person only, and travel, hotel, and food aren't covered.
Only the top 300 applicants are invited, and late applications aren't accepted.
Frequently asked questions: Math Prize for Girls
Is the Math Prize for Girls free?
Yes, there's no fee to apply or to compete. You do have to cover travel, hotel, and food. MIT lists places to stay and parking near campus, and Cambridge is just across the river from Boston. If you win, checks are made out to you and mailed within about 90 days.
Is there an online option?
No online option is listed on the official site. The contest is held in person at MIT, and you take the test in a Walker Memorial exam room. The only part given at your own school is the Math Prize Olympiad, and that's just for the top 35 performers. It's always good to check the website first in case this changes.
Can middle school students compete?
Possibly, yes. The official rules list a maximum grade (11th grade or below) and don't list a minimum grade. You'd still need an official AMC 10 score in November and a score above the cutoff. If you're in middle school, ask your school whether it hosts the AMC 10.
Where can you find past problems?
You can find past exams on the official Past Problems and Solutions page. It covers 2009 to 2026. The 2026 exam has problems only so far, while 2023 to 2025 include solutions and Olympiad problems too. Start with the most recent years.
Can you submit SAT scores instead of the AMC?
No. The organizers say the SAT is less rigorous than the AMC, so they don't accept it. You must have taken an official AMC 10 or AMC 12 in November. If you missed it this year, eligible students can apply the following year.
What if you miss the AMC in November?
You can't qualify for that year's contest. The rules require an official AMC in November of the year before. Plan ahead and ask your school about the next November date. You can also try the AIME path if you qualify, since AIME scores count too.
Can't make a one-day, in-person contest in Cambridge work, or want to take your math skills into a project you can show colleges? Look at the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. It pairs you 1-on-1 with a PhD mentor to develop an independent math research paper, done entirely online. Apply here. If cost is the main barrier, also look at the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students.
Stephen Turban is the co-founder of Lumiere Education and a graduate of Harvard College, where he earned an A.B. in Statistics before beginning a PhD at Harvard Business School. A former McKinsey & Company consultant and former researcher, his research has been covered by the Harvard Business Review, The Economist, BBC News, Freakonomics Radio, and the Washington Post. In his articles for Forbes, he writes on what students and professionals can learn from high school research, high school passion projects, critical thinking, and mentorship. At Lumiere, he leads a selective research program where students work one-on-one with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper. Connect with him on LinkedIn.