Chemistry Olympiad 2015

@andyis @lifeishard4222 This is grading scheme:
Top 150: Decided by MC
Top 50: Decided by FRQ
Camp: Decided by Lab
So no, you can’t flunk the lab.

@1golfer1 You terrible person. That lab took time, and by not doing it, you gained an unfair advantage over the rest of the competitors. You make me sick.

@1golfer1 I’m pretty sure it is a holistic grading. Meaning if you got 100% on the lab without anything else, you would not even be considered. Or else, no one would bother with anything but lab since it grants automatic admission into camp. Lab is a major deciding factor when almost all other things are equal, common among the top. However, the free response grading, weighted the most, is ridiculous and few, even campers, would make 90% as knowing everything does not guarantee a score over 90 (and 100 is absolutely unheard of on free response). If you do not exceed the average camper by a lot in MC (well, there is little to exceed by) or Free repsonse, you cant make camp without lab. Of course, without lab means average, or better. Below average is unlikely as you would need to be really unprepared.

However, i may be misinformed, but I really doubt the validity of your assessment of “lab for camp” since practical is not so significant, even in iCho, it is worth less than theory

According to most people 37.5/50/12.5 for each part seems to be correct. And yeah I doubt that lab will put someone in an advantage over who has a strength in theory. If it does I am more relieved though…

like making observations and making a data table but not answering the 2 questions… is that a flunk or partial ?

They grade each part separately so you probably got some points

The last testing day is almost over, boys…

We can probably discuss soon…

In about 5 hours if we want to be completely sure. Also we should confirm that there are no extensions or anything weird going on, as it would be distasteful to have something uncalled for occur. Furthermore, the MC is released next monday so the wait is not toooo long

@andyis I’m going off what I our Chair told us. I am certain that top 150 are determined by multiple choice only, but the other criterion might be off.
We’re probably ok to discuss now, but probably wait on specifics until tomorrow. I was really annoyed by the typos ACS made.

I say we wait a while but discuss by PMs… I feel like some people still haven’t taken it

MODERATOR’S NOTE: No, you’re not.

Yeah; the multiple choice was definitely harder than last years (or even two years before) due to the sheer amount of trivia on it; predicting a low cutoff.

Well, the test was a bit weird, but in total, there were about ~3 unexpected trivia on MC, so even if the cutoff is lowered, I’d assume around 3. However, to create this untraditional setting, I expect many questions that cause grief were removed, resulting in a similar level score. However, this is just my feeling.

@1golfer1
Please get rid of your post… Apparently the testing is not over yet

@jhgong Can’t get rid of the post, but there is not anything incredibly useful in there. Questions about eletcrochemistry that relate the reduction of water to hydrogen to pH are pretty common (it was even on the local exam); Typo on the lab was given by the test supervisor; Someone needs to contact ACS about the mistake on the absorption question – Question should be dropped (even though I got the question “correct”).
I’d be shocked if anyone is actually still testing though. Maybe Alaska?

Well, better safe than sorry. I would not like to compromise a 20 to 21 or 50 to 51 or 150 to 151 just because of giving out hints and losing the position you had earned. At least we should wait till completely confirm until discuss later. Besides, google is probably the best source, moreso than the people at the forums, to confirm your answers

@andyis Actually, the answers are harder to find online that you might think.

^because you forget what actual question states… but just wait for a week? and we can still PM

Possibly if you are talking about problem solving/ forgot key words? I would expect math problems be impossible to find, but those are not what most worry about. Trivia on the other hand should be easier. Some probably require some extrapolation/ are unsure. Especially if you want lab answers or something. I do agree comparing answers can be satisfying, but the actual ranking is what counts, and no one wants to compromise it