<p>Tigerbookmark, what grade are you in?</p>
<p>Tigerbookmark, did you make semifinals last year?</p>
<p>Langwang, I’m in 9th. Why do you ask?</p>
<p>Maple, nope. This is my first year taking the F=ma. Hopefully after taking E&M next year, I will be ready for the semi.</p>
<p>The semifinals are a lot easier than you might think. You can probably do B1 from last year mentally. </p>
<p>Also, E&M alone won’t cover the semis - you’ll need to know thermo and relativity as well.</p>
<p>I’ve been studying up on thermo, but haven’t gotten to relativity yet. So I’m even less ready now 
I’ll try my best this year and study for next year just in case I qualify. Where did you learn your thermo and relativity?</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the semis test all of introductory physics, not just mechanics, E&M, thermo, and relativity (though those are the most important). So questions on diffraction, conduction of electricity, semiconductors, etc. are all game.</p>
<p>My dad taught me thermo, and I took a class on relativity a few years ago, though some of it has evaporated.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice Maple. I’m going through my physics book chapter by chapter now, trying to cover as much as I can between now and the next exam. </p>
<p>Did you take the AMC yesterday?</p>
<p>Hi, I was wondering if any of you guys knew the approximate cutoff off the f = ma semis (to make it to the team), i.e around how many do you need to solve out of the six?</p>
<p>^Prob around 6/6 lol. That’s what I heard.</p>
<p>And why is this thread dead. I sent some things to people I really wanted answered lol. I’m kinda hoping a 15.25 or 16.5 isn’t enough for semi’s (hoping no dumb mistakes like 1+1=3 lol!)</p>
<p>“isn’t enough”?
And yea I’m right with you Whatdoyouthink</p>
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<p>It’s usually in the 5-6/6 range. I NEARLY qualified last year, but made an incredibly silly mistake on A3 and my rusty special relativity messed up A1.</p>
<p>The USAPhO semifinals aren’t that hard a test, as you can see. In fact, none of the science semifinals are actually challenging, they just require you to know some additional stuff beside what’s usually covered at the AP level. USAPho semifinals have the potential to be challenging, but for some reason they aren’t (2007 test being an exception).</p>
<p>The anticipation is killing me!!!</p>
<p>I screwed up that test so badly… looking at about a 10. I would get above 20 on previous years’ tests in practice, but this one I just messed up so badly. I think it was a combination of the pressure of it being my first time taking f=ma and the beginning of a nasty cold and cough. Sigh. I had studied so hard for this, I had thought making semis would be easy, but nope, not happening. I seriously wish there was a second chance like there is for AMC (A and B). What sucks the most is that I still have a little bit of hope that the cutoff will be <10. It also sucks that I know my score on this test isn’t a true representation of my physics knowledge.</p>
<p>Did 18. Hope at least 16 right. Nervous too</p>
<p>man my teacher tells me about this one week in advance. the week before midterms. i had no time to study. ended up answering 16. might get like 6 right. im in Phsyics B. And how the heck are you in Physics C as a 9th grader tiger.</p>
<p>Do you guys know when is the list of semi-finalists coming out?</p>
<p>The anticipation is making me very nervous… Just a few more days until the results are posted.</p>
<p>eswara - my school does not offer the B, so if you want to take AP Physics, you have to take the C.</p>
<p>fruit - according to the release dates for the past few years as listed on the physics olympiad webpage, I think it should be this Wednesday or Thursday.</p>
<p>the website is down right now…could they be posting the semifinalists?</p>
<p>Apparently not :(</p>