<p>I think you should. I am doing so. </p>
<p>BTW I made a new thread for this year here.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/1539936-chemistry-olympiad-2014-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/1539936-chemistry-olympiad-2014-a.html</a></p>
<p>Hey guys, just wondering , what textbooks would i need to read to guarantee at least top 150 in USNCO. I was thinking of using these 2 :</p>
<p>[Chemical</a> Principles: Peter Atkins, Loretta Jones: 9781429219556: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Principles-Peter-Atkins/dp/1429219556]Chemical”>http://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Principles-Peter-Atkins/dp/1429219556)</p>
<p>[Organic</a> Chemistry: Francis A. Carey: 9780073047874: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-Francis-A-Carey/dp/0073047872]Organic”>http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-Francis-A-Carey/dp/0073047872)</p>
<p>Is there a better book for the locals rather than Atkins, or a better book for Orgo?</p>
<p>^I hear Zumdahl is nice.</p>
<p>^ Hmm , but I hear Atkins is better. Any previous USNCOers have tips ?</p>
<p>If I qualified for the national exam but didn’t make top 146, would it be okay to say I was a National Finalist on college apps, or is that only study camp participants?</p>
<p>Atkins vs Zumdahl ?!?!?!</p>
<p>Bumpbumpbump</p>
<p>(You should probably start posting in the 2014 thread instead.)</p>
<p>There is material tested on USNCO that Atkins has and Zumdahl lacks. There’s not that much, but you’re not going to know how to do some stuff on the FR if you only use Zumdahl (like using charge balance and mass balance to solve equilibrium … I think they test that? I don’t remember the test very well). Also Atkins has a much better set of chapters on properties of specific elements. Definitely helps for the “what is this chemical reaction” questions.</p>
<p>Or you could probably just take previous tests and figure out what you don’t know and find information on problems like those online. Atkins isn’t <em>that</em> much more in-depth.</p>
<p>Alright thx !</p>
<p>Could someone just give me a basic idea of what areas of chemistry are on the local exam? And then which ones are on the national exam as well? Also, when do these tests usually take place?</p>
<p>I prefer Silberberg + solution manual to either Atkins or Zumdahl. </p>
<p>[Chemistry:</a> The Molecular Nature of Matter and Change: Martin Silberberg: 9780073402659: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Molecular-Nature-Matter-Change/dp/0073402656]Chemistry:”>http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Molecular-Nature-Matter-Change/dp/0073402656)</p>
<p>I find his writing style very clear. You might try reading some sample pages of each text from the Amazon web site to see which suits you best.</p>
<p>Carbon13, have you made nationals, top 150, or camp?</p>
<p>Pheonix55555, thanks for asking, I tutor students interested in competing in the bio and chem olympiads. My D (now at an Ivy) participated in both, which sparked my interest in tutoring since my degree is in Organic Chemistry.</p>
<p>With regards to participating in the Chem Olympiad, even my students who don’t make camp always acquire these mad chem skills which makes them highly respected in their high school - and usually leads to other opportunities that would not have been available to them. In my experience there is no downside for anyone carving out 1 hour a day for Olympiad studying. And the upside is tremendous.</p>
<p>Ahh I see, to make top 150 in Chem Olympiad, about how many hours of studying would one have to do ? Also, how many hours to make Bio semifinalist/camp? </p>
<p>Im trying to decide between Chem Olympiad and Bio Olympiad, or should I do both because Im already a senior this year.</p>
<p>I would love to say “follow your heart and study the subject you can see yourself still interested long after you retire”. But, read this from the chem olympiad website…</p>
<p>"No more than two students per teacher or per high school may be nominated to take the national exam. "</p>
<p>So, if your science teacher can only nominate 2 students, ask yourself if you can reasonable be one of them. If not, study the Bio Olympiad because this restriction is not there.</p>
<p>Your question about hours to make semifinalist - probably 60 minutes a day until Christmas is a minimum for each exam. But considering there is considerable overlap in your school courses, this isn’t really a superhuman feat.</p>
<p>So… exact numbers… most of my students who did well studied at least 100 hours over 3 months, bio or chem olympiad. This is independent studying - so, not including a 1 hour tutor session each week.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Ahh alright, thx for the information!! </p>
<p>I think Ill stick to the Chem Olympiad though, because there isn’t really a step between Bio semifinalist and camp, but for chem I can at least say I made top 150 or top 100. Also, I am definitely in the top 2 of my class at school for chemistry. </p>
<p>I already went ahead and bought the Atkins book though, so will reading that be enough to achieve top 150?</p>