<p>^The Putnam exam has nothing to do with the strength of math department. I sat at the training sessions for a while (when I was at WashU) and none of the stuff is related to what you learn in class. In fact, you don’t need to have anything beyond Calclus I/II to compete. The training was all about creative tricks and practicing problems from the past. What’s good about WashU’s camp was they got an incredibly talent and funny professor that’s very good at solving these kind of problems AND commiting to be the coach; whereas in many schools, the camp was just a student-run camp with no faculty involved. Part of it is that many math professors can’t solve them either. Your brain has to be wired in some ways to "see’ the solution. That’s where the difference lies. The professor at WashU was not even from the math department but in the physics department and he’s the leading world expert in quantum physics and applied math. Also, the students don’t have to be math majors either. Like I said, you don’t need much math to compete, though many members are already taking graduate level courses.</p>
<p>When I was at WashU, it was the last time they were in the top-5. WashU hasn’t done as well in the last decade even though it’s much tougher to get into WashU these days. The prof is in his late 60s now and I suspect he might have retired from coaching the training sessions in recent years. Having a coach that can teach you all the tricks you need makes a world of difference.</p>