I also scored 22/25. I also agree that I will not be able to replicate that score, except for maybe on the last test. I find it interesting that I generally got

I also scored 22/25. I also agree that I will not be able to replicate that score, except for maybe on the last test. I find it interesting that I generally got lower scores on questions I didn't even have to think about at all, because I didn't bother to put in sufficient amounts of justification to my answer. I'm not sure what I think about the test as a metric for software engineers OR of the results we'll get. Colin is a Putnam fellow - probably not the guy you want writing a math test :) For the results - first, people on HN aren't a representative sample. Second, people had the opportunity to look at the exam before deciding to take it. My hunch is that people who would not have done well may have decided it wasn't worth their time to hear about it. Not sure what we can make of this. Perhaps if Colin was disappointed, he's not as disappointed as he could have been. And also if he was disappointed, it may not actually matter. Regardless, if I built my own startup and were hiring, I do think I'd want people who have demonstrated that they're fast, dedicated, and could probably get above 50% of the marks on this exam.