Last year I made the USABO 2017-2018 thread, but coincidentally I ended up not participating at all because my teacher did not sign up in time! This year I will ensure my school is registered in time. If I start studying now, I hope I can make it past the open exam this year.
This thread is for discussing modes of preparations for the exams and to address any questions you all may have. Best of luck (7 months in advance)!
@muscleman001 PM me your email so you can be added to the USABO study group
Is the USABO study group the one on biolympiads.com?
Please add me to the study group.
Just found the link: https://groups.google.com/a/biolympiads.com/forum/#!forum/biolympiads-study-group. It’s public. ;->
Hello! Does anyone know textbooks to help pass semifinals?? I understand that it’s quite a stretch but IF I ever get past open exams, since prep time is short, I would need to study beforehand. Thank you!
The first step is to reread Campbell and then reread it again to make sure you fully understand most if not all the concepts. Next up Ravens Plant Bio is highly recommended. There are many other books recommended as well but that is only if you have plenty of spare time and are done with Campbell (x3) and Ravens (in no particular order): Brocks Microbio, Alberts Cell Bio, Hickman Zoology, Vanders Anatomy. Martyna from Biolympiads made a nice post https://biolympiads.com/book-list/
Hi all! Just a reminder, we are holding the Mock biology olympiad from the coming Monday for two weeks! 50 questions 50 minutes! Sign up here: https://biolympiads.com/mock-olympiads/. ;->
To anyone who took the test, how would you compare the difficulty of it to previous years? I think it was even harder than the 2017 one imo.
I thought it was way harder than the last couple of years - I didn’t really review biodiversity so those really got me. 
I think they made a mistake this year on one of the questions and accidentally highlighted the answer? Just wondering, I am not specifying which question it is.
BTW, did anyone find that the stuff they test each year varied like a lot
Guys, let’s refrain from discussing answers until after the testing period please. It can lead to people finding out answers beforehand, hurting us all more than helping. There’ve been situations like that in the past. The testing period ends this Friday, I believe. After that, I think we are safe.
Is the Campbell Biology in Focus (AP Edition) textbook sufficient for the USABO or should I acquire a Campbell and Reece non-AP edition?
@Missmerrygoround, non-AP edition is what most people use to prepare for USABO. Campbell in focus lacks the level of detail required.
If I’m unable to get a copy of Campbell and Reece, are the resources offered in the USABO student resource center enough? I have a copy of Albert’s cell biology but not Raven’s plant biology.
@Missmerrygoround I am not sure what the USABO student resource center is, so sadly I can’t help with that (I tried looking it up but couldn’t find anything).
Ah! If you’ve signed up for the USABO, then there should be a student resource center tab after you log in on https://www.usabo-trc.org. It’s a page with links to all the major sections of the USABO exam(s?): Animal Physiology, Cell Biology, etc.
oh my god, that actually seems useful. Thank you so much for telling me about it!
So from glancing over everything, I guess it could help with everything you need, at least for the open round. However, almost everyone who makes it to camp has read Campbell (it’s called the Biology Bible or smth lol), so there’s that to consider.
Now that everyone has finished, how do y’all feel about the test.