Natplus Contest |top| -

To understand NatPlus, you have to understand its structure. It is a three-day event disguised as a two-day exam.

This is the "Plus." Only the top 10% from Day Two advance. They enter a sealed room. No phones. No watches. Each student is given a single problem, but it is incomplete. Halfway through the three-hour session, a proctor reads aloud a "Variable Update"—new data that fundamentally changes the problem. In 2019, the Variable was: "Ignore the first two pages. Assume pi = 3.2." In 2021, it was a live video feed of a stock market ticker that students had to incorporate into a calculus proof. natplus contest

: High popularity in the late 1980s (specifically 1989 for NC1). To understand NatPlus, you have to understand its structure

This is not a standardized test. This is not a drill. This is the —known to its survivors simply as NatPlus . They enter a sealed room

As of this writing, the 2026 NatPlus National Finals are two weeks away. The official website has posted a single, cryptic line: "This year, the answer is not a number. And you will not write it down."

To prepare for the NAT+ contest, students can follow these tips:

Every enduring contest has its myth, and NatPlus has the .