***USNCO 2016***

I come from a relatively not super competitive region, so keeping hope alive

^I thought it was fairly easy. Last year’s was the utter definition of terrible IMO…so much computation…

For those who took it, what do you think is cutoff for non-competitive regions?

@dncn888 Depends how “non-competitive” the region is… Could be as low as 35 - 40 if few actually prepared.

@MarkinovRules The test was nowhere near “fairly easy.” There was also a lot of math.

The cutoff for most regions should be somewhere in the 40s.

@1golfer1 Agreed. Tons of math and some really tough conceptual questions. I got a 51 and I usually end up in the mid to high fifties…

Good news everyone! The Chemistry Olympiad has been relocated, so the US will participate in it this year.

@sattake I also noticed that there were a lot more “explain why this happens” questions than there have been in past years. Some people are really going to get killed by this test because it is so much more understanding- and inference-based. Even the heavy math problems required critical thinking; few of them were formulaic “plug-and-chug” sorts of questions.
51 is a great score by the way. You qualified with that, right?

@1golfer1 yeah I qualified. It seems ACS is making their local exams significantly harder- at least that has been the trend the past couple years. Hopefully I can do well at nationals

@sattake what region are you in/how how competitive is it?

It was within my school which is fairly competitive. Cutoff was 49 @essyr2017

@sattake Thanks! I know my school won’t be competitive; only two of the people, including me, are actually doing well in chemistry while I don’t even know why the others are taking it. I don’t know about my region, but I’m assuming it will be fairly competitive but not too competitive. I haven’t done this before so my expectations aren’t high, but I want to at least make nationals

@essyr2017 if you get above a 45 you are in good shape,p. Good luck!

@sattake Thanks and congrats on your qualification!

Did your local sections already say who qualified? If I was not yet notified, should I be worrying?

I was notified. I qualified with a score of 39.

@Ksty1098

When did you take the exam? My coordinator said that he’ll get back to us by April 1st, but all you guys getting results is making me wonder

bump

@dncn888 No don’t worry about it. When you get your results back is largely dependent on your regional coordinator. For mine, they scan ours and give our scores back the day of or the day after. For others, it may take longer; ask your coordinator if you are anxious.

Thx sattake

@Ksty1098 What region are you from? (Sorry I’m asking so many questions about this… I just want a picture of how hard the test is this year/what score I should aim for)