Stanford Mini Math Meet (SM3) 2026
Overview
OBJECTIVE: Provide an engaging math event for younger students who have minimal competitive math experience
DATE: November 7th, 2026
LOCATION: Stanford University
WHO: Middle School students residing within the United
States
TEAM SIZE: 4
COST: $40 per team* (Financial aid available upon
request!)
*Humanitix charges around $2.00 per student in service fees.
Signup Information
SM3 will have 300 students (~70 teams) competing in-person at Stanford.
Closed Registration
Signups are limited to Bay Area midde schools from areas that are low income or historically underrepresented in mathematics. If you believe your school should register in this phase, please reach out to us at info@stanfordmathtournament.org.
Open Registration
Open registration begins on Monday, September 28th at 10 am Pacific. At this time, a registration form will be sent out to the SMT mailing list and posted on this webpage. It will be first-come, first-serve. There will also be a waitlist. On Tuesday, October 20th, teams will be informed of their registration status and sent further payment instructions if necessary.
This selection process is only for SM3 2026, not for SMT 2027 or SMT 2027 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 8/29/2026
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
Hidden Gems: Students play a card game based on both problem solving capability as well as strategy where teams have to use imperfect information in order to win the game by drawing cards, trading cards, and utilizing other mysterious features.
Bingo: Students compete to complete bingos and blackouts in a 7x7 bingo board, and will get points for each bingo and problem they complete. The team with the most amount of points at the end of 60 minutes wins.
Additional Activities!
After lunch, students will paticipate soon-to-be-announced activities or SM3 Puzzlehunt.
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.
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 November 7th, 2026.
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 2026 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 #]'