<p>There wouldn’t be any announcements. Only a few schools proctor them and only 5 students are allowed to take them.</p>
<p>O wow, cross me off the list then haha. Sorry to sound negative but my (current) school sends people to MIT, Harvard, etc. I’m sure those people would fill all of the spots:/</p>
<p>I don’t think usabo has the 5 person stipulation, the open exam is, well, open.</p>
<p>^Oh. Then is that the usnco?</p>
<p>O, that’s good to hear then:)</p>
<p>How far are you guys on preping?</p>
<p>Not very far. I don’t even know if I’m going to try to do it. What about you?</p>
<p>Third & last year at USABO. Made finals for the past two years and silver medaled last year. Hoping for gold this year.
My advice to new people:</p>
<ol>
<li>Know Campbell inside & out. What I did my first year was I bought the Campbell 6e online materials. Best 30$ I ever spent. The practice quizzes there are really good. 6th edition of text is fine - no need to buy 8e, it covers just about the same stuff. And in my experience 6e online stuff is much better and more straightforward than 8e.</li>
<li>Read Raven, I think the title is Biology of Plants, but don’t quote me on that. Campbell doesn’t have enough plant stuff. That said, make sure you know Campbell well before you start with Raven.</li>
<li>Look up old tests. There are a ton of old USABOs/IBOs floating around. The best way to get better at them is to practice. When you run out of those, use GRE exams. The UK and Australian Olympiads are good warmup, but they’re really too easy compered with USABO.</li>
<li>If you can, sit in on some college bio lectures at a local university. You don’t have to enroll or anything, just show up and listen to the prof. And don’t wast your time with intro bio if you’ve already read campbell, listen to something more advanced.</li>
<li>Study! Seriously - don’t wait till the last month. Study year round. </li>
</ol>
<p>Best of luck to all of you!</p>
<p>@ Fairy: No, as far as I know there is no 5 person stipulation… maybe they changed the rules?</p>
<p>@ Warts: My school didn’t proctor it until I talked to my bio teacher. Talk to yours as soon as possible.</p>
<p>Lol 6e. That is completely pointless when 7e is like 10 bucks.
I’m thinking of getting mastering biology with 8e. It looks pretty good.</p>
<p>I actually bought 6e on ebay on a whim right before my freshman year. Masteringbiology is alright, but I think the 6e online quizzes are more straightforward… and the online objectives are kinda nice. </p>
<p>And they give you a new 8e at finals. I currently have two of them sitting on my bookshelf. Last year, one girl actually cut her book in half so she wouldn’t have to carry the whole thing around.</p>
<p>Also, I see a large disparity on invertebrate phylogeny over different books…</p>
<p>bumppppppppppp</p>
<p>where can we find plant and animal anatomy charts to memorize?</p>
<p>So exactly what is the difference between 6e online and masteringbiology?</p>
<p>Bumppppppppp</p>
<p>How long does it take to read campbell one time through? then is it faster 2nd time? and also, should I take notes and stuffs? should i use Cliffnotes? lol so many questions 
this would be my first year… when is the dead line for the sign up?</p>
<p>If we do get past Semi’s, when are finals?</p>
<p>Good luck to all!</p>
<p>June 6 - June 19.</p>
<p>what was last year’s cutoff score for the semis? (like what you have to get right out of 50 on USABO open exam?) </p>
<p>oh, and is there a penalty for guessing.</p>
<p>Hey, so did who took it today? Anyone want to discuss? PM me plzzz</p>