<p>If you’re a good student, you’ll probably do fine. I know a girl who used mostly the AP Chem books at school/old tests and she qualified for something beyond nationals. (Sorry, can’t remember what it was.)</p>
<p>I have Atkins and am currently going through that. I need to finish it by December and start Orgo by Jan if I want to be ready for my country’s national exam.</p>
<p>Which Zumdahl book is it? Can someone post a link to it?</p>
<p>Quick question I am in IB Chemistry and the book that is being used is Chemistry 10th edition Chang. Is this a good study source? Thanks</p>
<p>What are the chances of making semifinals with just AP Chem + some outside studying? Put differently, how difficult is it to make it past the first round?</p>
<p>Whether you make it to nationals or not depends on your region (aim for 55/60 or above). You should be fine if you do some extra studying and do all of the practice tests:
[Chemistry</a> Olympiad Exams](<a href=“American Chemical Society”>American Chemical Society)</p>
<p>The Zumdahl book is this one:
[Amazon.com:</a> Chemistry (9780547125329): Steven S. Zumdahl, Susan A. Zumdahl: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Steven-S-Zumdahl/dp/0547125321/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346502909&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+zumdahl]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Steven-S-Zumdahl/dp/0547125321/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346502909&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+zumdahl)
I’m pretty sure you can find a better and cheaper book than Zumdahl though.</p>
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<p>My son advanced to the National Level last year in a fairly difficult region (2 from our area made it to the study group and another student was in the national top 150). He did not realize that old exams were available online, so he did not prep at all for the competition. He was studying AP level chemistry at the time using the Chang textbook.</p>
<p>According to the teachers I spoke with who were at the National round of the competition, in their experience, students who advance to the top 20 have been working with a mentor for a number of years to help them prepare. They are not learning the required advanced material in the classroom.</p>
<p>^ Okay, thank you. I suppose I’ll take the test this year just to see how I do. My main focus will be USABO, though.</p>
<p>I know two people who have made the international team and have medaled too personally. It’s really hard to even make top 20 and 150 but it looks REALLY good on your college application. </p>
<p>one of them finished AP calculus in 8th grade and had been doing chemistry since fourth grade and won a gold medal in 2010. the other had been doing chemistry since seventh and is also in advanced math and won a silver. i heard you have to have taken a third year college chem course (phys chem) to even stand a chance in top 20.</p>
<p>i’m studying for it with my dad, who is a chemistry professor at Yale and part time at Harvard and since last year. if you check c&en (chemical and engineering) magazine’s website, you can look up some of the problems that were on the actual international test last year. </p>
<p>[Pop</a> Quiz! | July 16, 2012 Issue - Vol. 90 Issue 29 | Chemical & Engineering News](<a href=“http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i29/Pop-Quiz.html]Pop”>http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i29/Pop-Quiz.html)
my dad even had some difficulty solving these problems. </p>
<p>my dad recommends chang and ap the central science. all ap chem prep books are good too. I studied from both and got a 5 on the ap exam last year. </p>
<p>if you research some of the finalists last year, they look like some really serious folks… :P</p>
<p>hope to see you all at the study camp this year!</p>
<p>^YOU’RE SO LUCKY TO HAVE SUCH AN AWESOME DAD AND TO KNOW THE AWESOME FINALISTS!!! I think you can make it this year.
Argh, looking at the finalists’ achievement just makes me feel kind of sorry for myself 
I am taking AP Chem right now, so I think I will have learned chapter 12 in Zumdahl by the time of regional exam. I guess I will just learn ahead the other chapters.
btw, it’s kind of funny that 3 of IChO participants are Asian guys and the other one is Asian-looking. Jason Ge is really handsome /creepymoodon</p>
<p>I’m sure you’ll be fine too. up to chapter 20 in the central science should be fine for the local and some of the national exam. i don’t know the zumdahl equivalent though…
Haha you’re right about Jason and i laughed really hard when i saw that all the top 20 finalists from last year were asian. every. last. one.</p>
<p>The local round isn’t too hard if you’re doing well in AP chem. its similar to the AP exam. National exam is harder than the AP exam.</p>
<p>Usually you need to score a 50+/60 to get nominated for national, higher if your area is competitive. Also, 2 max nominees per school. In my local section, it’s a bit more competitive so we have 10 additional problems. The lowest nominee score was a 60/70 I think. I got a 65/70, highest was 68-69, I don’t remember.</p>
<p>Top 20 isn’t impossible if you never took college chemistry.</p>
<p>I had a really good shot last year. I got 50/60 on the national multiple choice, 5 of the incorrect being really stupid mistakes like forgetting to convert units. -_- but I have this year to try again! I made it to honors (top 150) with AP chem knowledge, old tests, and a little organic chem self-studying. </p>
<p>I am using Atkin’s The Quest for Insight and Zumdahl’s chemistry for exercises. Zumdahl’s exercises are more relevant to chemistry olympiad and the challenge exercises are really nice… but Atkins is generally more difficult and makes you use some problem solving skills. Except the equilibrium chapter exercises for some reason was really easy. Don’t bother reading Zumdahl or Chang if you have AP chemistry knowledge. Instead, I use Linus Pauling’s General Chemistry for content. It’s such a great book and Pauling really is able to explain things. He’s a great writer as well as an amazing two-time Nobel laureate (chem+peace)!</p>
<p>I also study out of Klein’s Organic Chemistry and use edX, which offers free online classes/open courseware (solid state chemistry).</p>
<p>All of the above texts mentioned are strongly recommended. Except for Atkins, it’s not that great… </p>
<p>Especially Linus Pauling’s book, it’s only $10.</p>
<p>By the way, I know one of the international US guys. I remember that he did the best in my local section of more than 200 (Detroit). he’s from a private school in my area. I go to a public school that thinks we rival them. :)</p>
<p>Wow this thread died…Nevertheless, I will give you a quick run down on the level of skill needed:
Local Level: 1st year college chemistry should be enough
National Exam: 1st year college chemistry + 1st year Organic Chemistry
Team Selection test: Heavy on the Organic Chemistry
International Level: Wide range of difficulty from Organic Chem to College level thermodynamics.</p>
<p>Hope this helps, however AP Chemistry should be enough to take you past the local level. If you want to make it further, then serious self-study is needed.</p>
<p>@Sophia7X are you talking about Sidharth Chand?</p>
<p>@starchow</p>
<p>Thanks for those recommendations, in terms of chem topics.</p>
<p>Is that recommendation sourced, from experience, etc.?</p>
<p>@starchow </p>
<p>Yes she is.
Btw, I will beat Sidharth Chand this year. No way DCDS is going to dominate over Troy.</p>
<p>Are all of the Olympiad tests in March? My school doesn’t talk about any of this.</p>
<p>What is the likelihood of me being successful with any Olympiad test by starting my studying now?</p>
<p>Local exam: AP Chemistry difficulty.</p>
<p>National exam: AP Chemistry + a hint of organic</p>
<p>Team Selection/International exam: In-depth mastery of every subfield of chemistry.</p>
<p>I’ll be doing it this year!</p>
<p>@DraconicSheep These recommendations are from experience and reading through the threads for the Olympiad exams from the past few years.</p>
<p>@mapletree7 No offense, but you literally just copied what I wrote 4 posts above (post # 32)</p>
<p>@efeens44 It depends on how much background you have in the subjects. In general, if you have taken the AP science class for the Olympiads + a little outside practice you should make it past the local round. But if you want to make it further, then serious self-study is needed.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>@Starchow</p>
<p>No, I did not. Your post is incorrect in some aspects. For instance, the USNCO semis are only slightly harder than AP Chemistry, and you do not need a full year of organic chemistry knowledge to do well. </p>
<p>Also, you shouldn’t say that the USNCO locals require first-year college chemistry, as that might lead some people to believe that it requires the chemistry course taken AFTER AP chemistry. Just about everyone on this thread has/is taking AP chemistry, so your post should reflect that. </p>
<p>Finally, the USNCO locals are much easier than AP Chemistry, and are very conceptual.</p>
<p>Top 20 more or less requires a decent OChem knowledge base.</p>