USNCO local exam

<p>How do you guys think you did? I think I got a 58/60, hopefully it's enough for NY.</p>

<p>I don't believe there are that many who take this test, and it may be enough for you to have scored within the toip five or so of your district, which will allow you to move on to the second round.
I wish I had known about this before senior year, because I am actually interested in Chemistry.</p>

<p>Yeah...I got messed up by my school because they wouldnt put me in honors sciencein 8th grade. I could have taken chem 2 years ago and maybe even taken the olympiad all four years of high school...oh well...</p>

<p>That's a good thing about chem I guess, not a lot of people like it, so the ones who truly love it stand out. :)</p>

<p>is the usnco that competitive? you have to get nearly perfect score??</p>

<p>I got a score in the high 40s and qualified for nationals...</p>

<p>But I live in Florida, so maybe it's less competitive there.</p>

<p>hmmm in florida some kid I know got in the top 10 in his section with a 40...I looked at the NY ACS local section's results from 2000 - 2002 and they showed that the "qualification range" (I.e., highest and lowest score of national exam qualifiers) was from 47-54 in some years to 49-59 in others. However, I felt this test was MUCH easier than the local exams from those years. Thus, I'm playing it safe and not getting confident with my 58 (although it would be nice to be top 3 and receive distinction...but hey its qualifying that counts)</p>

<p>i thought the way they did it was take the top (however # of scores) from the group...
i went to it and they took the top 32 students and announced them about 15 minutes after we took the test. those 32 kids went on and did essays and a lab and weill hear back in a few weeks about which 14 move on.</p>

<p>Haha. At first, I thought you were talking about the US National COMPUTING Olympiad. I think the Chem one is usually abbreviated USNChO to differentiate it from the Computing one. Not to be picky or anything...</p>

<p>My USNChO district is pretty competitive. At least one finalist usually ends up attending the study camp in Colorado; I think there's even been a couple who've actually attended the IChO. The people who run our section usually add ten MC questions (as well as a free response for tie-breaking purposes) to the original 60-question test, leaving us with a grand total of the molecular weight of 2-Butene (yeah, I'm really that geeky). </p>

<p>If you scored 58/60...wow: that's really good! Congrats! Hey, what's better than spending another day taking a five-hour test?...</p>

<p>Spending two weeks taking even longer tests!!!</p>

<p>Hahahaa...ha.</p>

<p>I believe USACO is the Computing Olympiad, while the USNCO is the Chemistry Olympiad. :)</p>

<p>oh okay, so you dont HAVE to get perfect score to move on :) that makes me feel much better!</p>

<p>eh...I got lucky. Some stuff (like lattice energies) thankfully did NOT show up for the test. It balanced out when you consider the questions I know I got wrong involved that one about the isomers of C3H8O (Forgot the damn ether isomer lol) and the Mg and HCl problem (increased concentration of HCl = faster reaction rate...so why did I choose the same exact graph as was shown for 1 M....:( )</p>

<p>But yeah overall I'm happy and excited. The only thing I'm worried about with nationals (if I made it) is the lab...but I heard it doesn't count for much anyway.</p>

<p>If you're from NJ, ouch. Half the study camp kids are from NJ lol.</p>

<p>I recommend Atkins because Greg B. recommends it. Hopefully I can finish it before the April exam :).</p>

<p>Oh, well...phooey ChaosTheory. Anyway, I realize that I made a mistake in my last post: 2-pentene, not 2-benzene. Oh, and I forgot about the ether isomer of C3H8O too. My friend pointed it out to me right after the test ("It was three isomers, wasn't it?" Me: "I only got two iso--- oh #$%*). Luckily, it was only one question, and I did well enough on the rest of the test to make up for it. :)</p>

<p>yeah, now it's time to study for nationals! The best I've done on one of those is about a 35 (I have the last 13 years of multiple choice in one book lol) so I need to get better...but the FR and lab seem very easy.</p>

<p>I just got a call from my section coordinator today...I actually got 54 right, and thus tied for second place in the section. I also was number 1 in my county (westchester) so I'm getting a certificate from the westchester chair. I'm so happy right now, but it's time to start studying for nationals :).</p>

<p>That's weird... my USNCO qualifying exam has 100 questions... and it's tomorrow.</p>

<p>LOL where are you from? I guess your section has its own thing. Most sections use the local exams the USNCO publishes annually for use in the local level.</p>

<p>Of course in NJ this could never work...</p>

<p>Right now I'm cramming for the exam... I'm reviewing past tests, and there's a lot of material that I've never encountered (and I'm almost 3/4 of the way through AP!). So, I'm basically reading my entire book. It's very fun... and I'm also pretty sick, which makes everything muuuchhh easier...</p>

<p>holy crap i hate chem. don't you hate it when you have to learn all the rules and characteristics for the different groups but oh wait, there are exceptions!</p>

<p>Good luck LesOs. See if you can remember some of the problems and post them on this site, so we can find out whether your section devised its own exam, or just added forty questions to the original USNCO.</p>

<p>LOL my best bet is that they used this year's exam plus 40 recycled questions from the past 7 local exams...</p>