To all coaches and students,
Thanks for signing up for BMT! We're excited to have you on board. Please read this email in its entirety as it contains the tournament day logistics.
Event DetailsImportant Information
During BMT, we will be posting updates to the website (https://berkeley.mt), including tiebreaker qualifiers. Please be on the lookout for any announcements. For any day-of directions, questions or concerns ask a BMT staff member or volunteer, which you can identify by their BMT shirt.
An annotated campus map is provided at the bottom of this page.
Arrival and Check-in
Online check-in available
From November 5 to November 7, coaches can optionally begin the check-in process online on ContestDojo. We recommend organizations that are ready to check in to do so online before Saturday.
If you check-in online, you must still show up at your assigned check-in location to pick up materials.
Check-in will happen from 7:40 AM to 8:45 AM in the following rooms:
- Dwinelle 145 — Coaches who haven't checked in online should go here.
- Dwinelle 155 — Coaches who checked in online should go here for materials pick-up.
At check-in, coaches will receive:
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A sticker sheet containing name tags for each student with their ID, as well as their room assignments. Students are responsible for remembering their student ID throughout the day. If a student writes an incorrect ID on their test, they may not receive a score.
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An information packet about the tournament, containing a schedule, map, and other relevant information.
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A bag containing any pre-ordered t-shirts for the organization.
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A voucher for pre-ordered lunches, which can be redeemed during the lunch break in front of Dwinelle Hall.
Check in closes promptly at 8:45 AM, so please be on time. If you arrive after this time, your team will be late to the power round, which puts them at a great disadvantage.
Parking
Parking can be found near campus at the following locations:
- Telegraph-Channing Garage (recommended)
- Underhill Garage
- RSF Garage
- Lower Sproul Garage
- Ellsworth Garage
More parking options are listed at the Berkeley Parking and Transportation website.
Schedule of Events
| Time | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 7:40 – 8:45 AM | Check-in (coaches only) |
After arrival, coaches should proceed to one of the two auditoriums in
Dwinelle Hall, depending on whether they have already checked in online or
not. Check-in (if haven’t checked in online) — Dwinelle 145 Materials Pick-up (if checked in online) — Dwinelle 155 |
| 8:45 – 10:45 AM | Power Round |
Classrooms in Dwinelle Hall, Wheeler Hall, Pauley Auditorium, and VLSB. Students will be assigned a room at check-in. |
| 10:45 AM – 1:15 PM | General and Focus Tests |
Please choose a room at random that has your set of tests. General Test — Pauley Auditorium, VLSB 2050 Algebra & Geometry — Dwinelle 79, 88, 105, 106, 179, 182, 187, 258, 259 Algebra & Discrete — Dwinelle 223, 229, 234, 235, 242, 246, 251 Algebra & Calculus — Wheeler 20, 24, 30, 120, 124, 130 Discrete & Geometry — Wheeler 102, 104, 108, 200 Discrete & Calculus — Wheeler 202, 204 Geometry & Calculus — Wheeler 222 |
| 1:15 – 2:45 PM |
Lunch Free Sponsor Swag Extra T-Shirt Sales Disputes (–1:45) |
Pre-purchased Lunch Pick-up — Outside Dwinelle Hall Free Sponsor Swag Pick-up — Outside Dwinelle Hall T-shirt Sales (while supplies last) — Dwinelle 145 Problem Disputes (Power, Individual) — Dwinelle 234 |
| 2:45 – 4:30 PM | Guts Round |
Auditoriums in Dwinelle Hall, Pauley Auditorium, and VLSB. Students will be assigned a room at check-in. Students must arrive and enter as an entire team. |
| 4:30 – 6:00 PM |
Activities Disputes (–5:00) Tiebreakers |
Activities — Please see activities descriptions below. Problem Disputes (Guts) — Dwinelle 234 Tiebreakers (by invite only*) — Dwinelle 219 |
| 6:00 – 7:00 PM | Awards |
The Awards Ceremony will take place simultaneously in Dwinelle Hall, Pauley
Ballroom, and VLSB. You will be assigned an awards room at check-in. Going to a different room may result in your awards being delayed. |
* Tiebreaker qualifiers will be posted on the website, sent to coaches via email, and announced after Guts.
A campus map can be found at the bottom of this page.
Testing Rooms
Each team will be assigned a room for their Power Round, Guts Round, and Awards Ceremony during check-in. Room assignments will be provided on the sticker sheet as well as emailed to all coaches, along with Team and Student IDs.
For Focus and General tests, students may go to any of the rooms assigned to the test combination they selected. Room assignments for each test combination are listed on the tournament guide.
Students are responsible for finding the rooms that their tests are taking place in. A map is attached in the information packet provided at check-in.
Lunch
There will be a one-hour lunch period in the middle of the day for students to get food. Pre-purchased lunches will be available for pick up outside Dwinelle Hall. Many other options are available on the southern side of Berkeley campus.
Activities
Parent Activities
Between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM, we will have a parent lounge in Dwinelle 155. Additionally, we will have the following activites for parents.
⭐ An Iconic IMO Problem and How I Came to the U.S. (9 AM – 11 AM) by Zvezdelina Stankova [Dwinelle 155]
We're honored to welcome Professor Zvezdelina Stankova from UC Berkeley's Department of Mathematics as our guest speaker. Professor Stankova is an International Math Olympiad (IMO) medalist, former coach of the USA team, founder of the Berkeley Math Circle, and co-founder of the Bay Area Math Olympiad (BAMO). She is an expert in the theory of permutation patterns and has inspired generations of young mathematicians through her teaching and outreach.
Campus Tours (11 AM) [Dwinelle 155]
We will be holding campus tours of UC Berkeley during the day, around 11 AM. Signups will happen during the day, and will be announced in the parent lounge.
Guts Viewing Room (2:45 – 4:30 PM) [VLSB 2040]
Come watch the Guts Round be scored live! See the leaderboard update in real-time as teams race to solve problems and sprint to submit their answers. Cheer on your favorite teams as they compete for the top spot in this fast-paced, high-energy round!
⭐ Bitcoin, Hacking, and Fermat's Last Theorem (4:30 PM – 6:00 PM) by Pico Gilman [Dwinelle 145]
What is the relationship between bitcoin, large number factorization, and Fermat's Last Theorem? In this talk, third year undergraduate MIT student Pico Gilman will explain how to efficiently count the number of points on elliptic curves using C++! No knowledge of elliptic curves or coding is needed.
Pico Gilman is a 2025 Barry Goldwater scholar and 6th place for the Putnam Mathematical Competition, studying number theory and elliptic curves at MIT.
Student Activities
After the Guts Round, we will be hosting student activities. These are optional activities that promote recreational math, and include the following:
⭐ Bitcoin, Hacking, and Fermat's Last Theorem by Pico Gilman [Dwinelle 145]
What is the relationship between bitcoin, large number factorization, and Fermat's Last Theorem? In this talk, third year undergraduate MIT student Pico Gilman will explain how to efficiently count the number of points on elliptic curves using C++! No knowledge of elliptic curves or coding is needed.
Pico Gilman is a 2025 Barry Goldwater scholar and 6th place for the Putnam Mathematical Competition, studying number theory and elliptic curves at MIT.
⭐ Hamster Rescue Team Puzzle Hunt by Hudson River Trading [Pauley Ballroom]
Ready to unleash your puzzle-solving skills and embark on a whisker-twitching adventure? Join HRT's Hamster Rescue Team — a puzzle hunt where you and your fellow Hamster Rescuers will work together to save adorable hamsters in need, and earn cool prizes along the way! Can your team puzzle its way to hamster-saving glory, or will you get stuck spinning your wheels? Come find out at HRT — your furry friends are counting on you!
Origami by Cal Origami [VLSB 2040]
Do you want to bring home a cute souvenir from BMT? Come make your own origami dodecahedron! We will be offering multiple paper patterns and instructions, and teaching from the basics of modular origami. No prior craft experience is needed!
Float Your Boat: The Archimedes Challenge by Society of Physics Students [Wheeler 102, 108]
In 250 BC, Archimedes discovered the principle of buoyancy, noticing it in his bathtub and using it to prove the kings' crowns were made of gold. Can you use it to keep heavy boats afloat?
Estimathon [VLSB 2050, 2060]
Got wit and strategy? Come to our Estimathon®, a contest combining trivia, strategic planning, and sharp mathematical thinking. Teams of up to 3 will race against the clock to tackle a challenging set of 13 Fermi-style problems, testing their ability to think fast and outsmart the competition.
Integration Bee [Dwinelle 155]
Compete head to head against the best integrators around! Students will face off in a tournament style bracket, solving difficult integrals involving some clever tricks, to determine who will be the champion of all integrators.
Plank Countdown [Wheeler 120, 124, 126, 130]
Miss the excitement of the MATHCOUNTS® Countdown Round? Want to show off mental math in a countdown match... while planking? If you'd enjoy that exciting and silly experience, come join us for our Plank Countdown tournament!
Fraudulent Math [Wheeler 220, 222]
Attention all students, mathematics is under attack by people who claim that we need "rigor" and "logic" to justify our answers. Join us for an event of Fraudulent Math, where we will compete to see who can come up with the most outlandish, mind bending proofs of false statements and who can create impossible constructions.
Redstone Engineering [Additional Registration Required]
Tired of your calculator? Build digital circuits to compute the Fibonacci sequence using Minecraft redstone, also touching upon the basics of computer architecture! No prior computer knowledge is needed, though familiarity with Minecraft controls is recommended. Hosted at UC Berkeley's very own Open Computing Facility.
Because of limited space in the Open Computing Facility, we will be releasing a sign-up form after late-phase registration for those interested in the activity. The location will be sent to those registered for the activity.
Awards
The Awards Ceremony will take place simultaneously in Dwinelle 145, Dwinelle 155, Pauley Ballroom, and VLSB 2050. You will be assigned an awards room at check-in. Teams attending Awards Ceremony must attend in the auditorium they are assigned, or else they may not receive their award on time.
Campus Map
Our team is hard at work finalizing the remaining details of the event. If you have any other questions or concerns before the tournament, you can reach us at team@berkeley.mt.
We couldn't be more excited to see you at BMT this year. We hope you are too!
~ BMT Coordinators
