like 48+ I think
Read somehwere that the average was 44.7 for top 150
any info on past top 20 cutoffs?
I heard 55+/80%+/decent for the parts, respectively
@jhgong 80% for the free response only? I thought it was like 90% something like that…
btw can you like do “below average” on labs and still make it to camp lol?
I think cutoffs for 20’s fluctuate each year; depends whether or not the camp qualifiers are gonna do it again 
@lifeishard4222
I am not perfectly sure what the exact percentage would be but that’w what I read in previous forums… 90%will be a guarantee though haha
Hye guys, it’s my first time doing this chem olympiad thing, so can anyone give me a breakdown of what goes on during test day? (especially with the lab portion).
I passed the local exam. My local section is Los Angeles. The chair said cut off was 44.
Oh wow, that’s ridiculously low for LA, maybe it was because of a few semi strange questions? Oh well, now all that’s left is nationals. … I just hope they don’t put something weird on the test
The chair said the test was really hard compared to previous years. Well, he said 10 studnets were qualified and I got 57/60.
Taking this next week, but anyone know how they grade part II? Like, do they grade for work or do they just grade answers?
Not too sure but definitely show work when asked to. Otherwise, maybe? At least it’ll be good for partial credit
@dongrae I’m in the Southern California section, which encompasses Los Angeles. We had 16 qualifiers with a cut-off score of 46. I think you might have your local section wrong – Check this map: http://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/membership/ls/acs-local-section-map.pdf
The local exam was way harder this year compared to the ones from previous years. The organic was easy but everything else was as difficult as the national exam. I got 49 to qualify.
On Part II, they give partial credit for your work, but you don’t need to show absolutely everything. For example, if they given you a titration where NaOH is used, you don’t need to show the conversion of mol NaOH : mol OH- (even though you probably should to avoid dumb mistakes). Even on the MC, I like to set up ICE diagrams / write out chemical equations simply to avoid careless errors. However, I am not sure how significant figures and round-off error are graded. The ACS keys are pretty liberal with significant figures and use rounded values for each part. Given that it’s a heavily time-pressured exam, I think that they’re a bit lenient on things like that.
Anyone got advice for the lab portion? I feel like 90 minutes is not enough to do two experiments with multiple trials, and also plan everything out.
@1golfer1 : Yes, I am in the Southern California section, too. I made a mistake. when I counted the people who got email from the chair. It was 16. Sorry. However, the cutoff was 44. I checked my another email again. And cutoff was 44.
Here is the email I got from the chair for clarification.
“Dear Students,
Congratulations, you have all qualified to take the ACS National Chemistry Olympid.
The test will be conducted at Occidental College on Saturday, April 18th.
The test will start at 8 am and end by 3:30. Snacks and lunch will be provided.
Please respond to this email so that I now you have received it.
If you have a problem with that date (I know of one already), please let me know by Thursday so that I might contact our National Office to see what can be done.
To prepare for the exam, please review the tests under National Exam on the www.ACS.org website. The tests will be given in the order: Part I, III, II.
For the lab portion, you need to only see how previous reports were written. There is no way you can prepare for this part since it is too nebulous of an area.
Please be aware that you may only use non-programable calculators. If you do not have one, I have extras (10)
Thank you
Gerald Delker
SCALACS Olympiad Chair
cell XXX”
@1golfer1 :In your comments, I feel as though you are a tad rude. You act as though you are my grammar teacher when I was a second grader, correcting my errors.We are not here to discuss my grammar or English. If you want to know the cutoff score, please contact the chair or your proctor.
@dongrae That’s not what I intended. I’m sorry it came off like that. I got the 46 number from my teacher. I also was sent the same email.
What are some of the topics that are covered heavily on the national exam?
Hey I took the test yesterday so can anyone PM to talk about it??