Only 13 Florida students made it to the MIT Math Prize for Girls championship last weekend. Three of them came from Gainesville’s The Frazer School. One went home with first prize and $15,000. 

Katie He, Eileen Lai and Sophia Rong were among 280 girls from across the United States and Canada who first scored high enough on the American Mathematics Competition exam to apply for the math prize, then had their applications accepted. 

At the competition last weekend, the girls worked through 20 advanced math problems, with two and a half hours to solve them. 

“I knew there were a lot of really smart people there, so the chances of me getting first wasn’t particularly high,” He, a senior at The Frazer School, said in a phone interview. 

But she had worked hard and thought she had a shot at fifth or sixth place, so when the placement announcement reached seventh place and her name had not been called, she was not surprised. 

The twist came when it was announced that six students had excelled enough to require a six-way tie for first place. 

The first-place spot normally comes with a $50,000 prize. Because the six girls tied, they split the sum of the prize money for first through sixth place, sending each girl home with $15,000. The prize monetary allocation was $50,000 for first, $20,000 for second, $10,000 for third, $4,000 apiece for fourth and fifth and $2,000 for sixth place for a total of $90,000.

“When I heard six ways, I was so excited though,” He said. “Because that’s just really cool that we all get to be happy about our performances and celebrate together and share the same joy.” 

He said two years ago, she would not have imagined that she could win this accomplishment, as she was not succeeding in math the way she wanted to. Last year, she did a little better, placing first in two events at the Mu Alpha Theta national championship with the Buchholz math team. 

He said the math community supports each other, and that she wants the best for all her competitors. She said though math competitions are stressful, part of what she enjoys about them is knowing the other students in the room are all in the same boat. 

She also enjoys pushing past her apparent limits. He said many of the questions she comes across, she does not know how to solve. But she works through the problem-solving process and finds the answer, a skill she said can also be applied in real life. 

“A message I kind of learned, is that you can exceed your own expectations,” He said. “And that is very rewarding, and it’s a really good feeling.” 

He said she admires those who do well in math competitions, and was amazed to find herself on stage beside those people. 

“Katie is the best female math student I have taught in my 28 years of teaching and is on the short list of best math students I have ever taught,” Frazer said in an email. “We are fortunate to have Katie leading our math team this year.” 

He is a senior, and MIT is among the colleges she has applied for. She said she feels a connection to the school and would enjoy being there, but has not yet settled on where to go to college. 

For now, she is helping to build the Frazer School math team, working with two other seniors to mentor the younger students in calculus, and trying to set a good example of how to work hard on the team. 

Editor’s note: The monetary value of the top six contest winners was added to the story.