"Official" 2014 USABO thread

Test Preparation AP Sciences
21

<p>Well, there’s two things I say:</p>

<p>1) Everything is fair game.
2) Nothing is guarenteed.</p>

<p>Opinion559</p>

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</p>

<p>Actually, I really don’t happen to know what the cutoff is, but I can almost entirely guarentee that it’s not near 90%.</p>

<p>airbusfan</p>

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</p>

<p>Yep. Never was that great at semis myself. </p>

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</p>

<p>I’ve been mixed on this. Personally, I found Alberts an excellent read, but I didn’t actually end up reading it until after I qualified for team, so it’s perfectly possible to make team without reading it.</p>

<p>(Actually - I didn’t read any book but Campbell until 2011 - and I made silver in 2010. So Campbell-only is actually a completely valid path to take.)</p>

<p>That said, Alberts helped…crystallize some of the concepts of Campbell for me. And plants…that was definitely worth the read.</p>

<p>So, tl;dr use your own discretion?</p>

<p>Apollo11</p>

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</p>

<p>…Erm.</p>

<p>You sound incredibly dedicated, and I hate to have to say this, but, well…</p>

<p>A: Nothing guarentees semis or finals or whatever.
B: I definitely didn’t study that much, and I actually greatly enjoy reading biology textbooks.</p>

<p>Honestly, I wouldn’t study 3+hours/day on something unless I really enjoyed it. And honestly? USABO isn’t worth 3+hours/day unless studying for it is something you really enjoy.</p>

<p>BiologyMaster64</p>

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</p>

<p>Well, we’re not planning on changing our ways.</p>

22

<p>I like doing it, it’s not that bad. I think it is kind off fun, because I listen to music and consume ungodly amounts of ginger ale. Also, I think it is easier to do this than Seimens/Intel (you were a Seimens SF right? How’d you go about doing the research?).</p>

<p>Lastly, it seems like USABO kids have a great showing at MIT, which is never a bad thing!</p>

23

<p>Ok I’m going to try to address as many questions here as I can:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Biofun: I made it to camp this year (2013)</p></li>
<li><p>Biofun: As I’ve said earlier, don’t worry too much about cutoffs – if you study hard, you can make it. For those that insist on having a target score (I know I was one of them), the cutoff for open is roughly 25/50 (50%) and the cutoff for semis is roughly 139/208 (67%). This data is all based on the most recent USABO 2013 statistics on the TRC (user Rupnok posted the histogram and other data on the 2013 thread)</p></li>
<li><p>(DelBoyandRodney) Reading 2 hours a day will pretty much guarantee you semis. And if you read efficiently (and have sufficient luck) you might be able to cinch nationals. You can gauge the difficulty yourself by looking at the old exams (see page 1 of this thread). As for entering USABO, the website has details on starting a USABO club</p></li>
<li><p>Apollo11: Trust me this is in no way easier than Siemens or STS</p></li>
<li><p>(BiologyMaster64) I strongly doubt AP Bio and its many quirks will affect USABO in the slightest…</p></li>
</ol>

<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>

<p>I leave you with the three axioms of USABO Camp

  1. Anything is fair game
  2. Use your discretion
  3. You’re screwed regardless (although NightShadeQueen argues about the validity of this one and prefers to rephrase it “Nothing is ever guaranteed” :P)</p>
24

<p>Just curious (as a first time USABO-er), what’s the cutoff for the open exam?</p>

25

<p>

</p>

<p>I’ve seen a number of questions on the Open Exam that require knowledge of material covered in Alberts. How many of these questions are usually present on the exam?</p>

26

<p>I got a 34 on last year’s open exam and I have never read Alberts. You can answer a lot of those questions with just logical reasoning.</p>

27

<p>I’m taking AP Biology this year and was wondering how much extra material I would have to learn in order to take USABO. The textbook the school gives is a Campbell’s Biology 8th Edition and I’m planning to use the Barrons AP Bio prep book (if that makes a difference).</p>

28

<p>hey can someone pls pls pls pls email me the ans to the 2013 usabo open exam?!??!?! I’m already in college but would really appreciate it!! </p>

<p>email:kashmoney33333@********** or PM them to me</p>

29

<p>What’s the best way to memorize the information in Campbell? Would doing approximately 1.5 hrs of Campbell a day until the open work?</p>

<p>Also, if I read Campbell, will it help with the new AP Biology exam?</p>

30

<p>I’m pretty sure if you just read through it once you should be fine for open. I got 25/50 for 2 practice exams after reading through it and skipping plants and taxonomy (I’m planning to get back to them later).
Also some people suggest note taking but I thought it slowed me down quite a bit and I never really went back to them anyways.</p>

31

<p>You can take the new AP Biology exam without knowing any biology! It is simply interpretation of graphs and charts. There is very little information you actually have to memorize like maybe definitions of terms etc., from C & R.</p>

32

<p>Ah, I see.</p>

<p>Got any idea what last year’s cut off was? I’d think it’d be around 50% or so, but idk.</p>

33

<p>Anyone know if a 4th edition Campbell’s would too outdated? IIRC it’s from the early 90’s, and I found it in my parent’s book collection (for whatever reason, they have a LOT of old textbooks [they got them at garage sales, I guess]). I may or may not do the Biology Olympiad (don’t know if my school offers it), but I still want to read through textbook so I can learn more about Biology. But I have to wonder… is a book that old still going to be accurate/complete?</p>

34

<p>No - just buy a used one on Amazon. 7e will work just fine, and will cost less than $20:</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Buying Choices: Campbell and Reece’s Biology Seventh (7th) Edition (Hardcover) (Textbook only)](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0031Z0RNG/ref=sr_1_3_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1376592228&sr=8-3&keywords=campbell+biology+7th+edition&condition=used]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0031Z0RNG/ref=sr_1_3_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1376592228&sr=8-3&keywords=campbell+biology+7th+edition&condition=used)</p>

35

<p>I’ve posted all the exact 2013 cutoffs on Post #26 - 50% is correct :)</p>

36

<p>I already asked this in the 2013 thread and got a few responses, but would any of you be interested in an online study group for USABO? MathGuy777 and I are planning to start one in the near future.</p>

37

<p>Sure! I was going to ask Michael about forming a study group, actually.
I’m mostly active around 7-9ish though.</p>

38

<p>And airbus, thanks!</p>

<p>Now to study Campbell and pray that I get to finals. From your experience, which topics were tested most in the exams?</p>

39

<p>@DiscipulusBonus Yes, a study group would be great! I’ll ask Michael about it as well.</p>

40

<p>^^</p>

<p>How awesome would it be if each of us made it to camp?</p>