<p>How do we sign up for the local exam. My teachers don't know too much but are willing to nominate me if thats what is required. Also i am a green card perm. resident, can i still particiapate?</p>
<p>You can take the local exam but not the national exam (you need to be a US citizen for that).</p>
<p>one word of advice:</p>
<p>CONCENTRATE ON ONLY ONE OLYMPIAD. Otherwise, your head will explode and by the time of the test, you will probably have forgotten everything/confused yourself.</p>
<p>Well, maybe no heads will explode, but it is much better to concentrate on only one olympiad at a time. </p>
<p>In terms of the chemistry olympiad: to prepare for the USNCO local/national tests, do the practice tests! Like, MANY times over. If you get bored, then work through Atkins's gen chem book. I found it awesome. Be able to answer all the questions in the book with perfect accuracy (YES, including calculus problems, which is EXTREMELY helpful to understand for camp, albeit simple). </p>
<p>If you have gone to the camp before, forget studying for the tests. What you should study is up to you, but I have my own plans of success =P.</p>
<p>All the other semi-finalist olympiads are finished at least a month before the USNCO national exam. (except USAMO)</p>
<p>I'm looking to do USNCO next year when I'm a junior and I'm wondering a little about it myself. Where do you find the practice tests at? Is anyone who's gone far in the program on this board who could tell how they prepared? I'll most likely order the Atkin's textbook to go through over the summer.</p>
<p>Atkins + the first 6 chapters of Carey's is more than enough to get to camp. Then you should probably finish that carey's book and read ones on analytical chem, biochemistry, and do the IChO prep problems to make the team.</p>
<p>^lol you make it sound so easy. only if it were...</p>
<p>whoever wants to do all this should actually really enjoy Chemistry because studying a year just for a test is useless. you'll forget a lot of the stuff by the next year and what good will that do (only if you're not into the chemistry of course)</p>
<p>uh, the assumption is people who take USNCO do enjoy chem, or else they wouldnt spend a couple of months preparing for a combined 6 hours of testing, lol</p>
<p>after reading these boards, there must be a lot of people who study for olympiads just to put it on their transcripts. :(</p>
<p>nah, I'm a sports fan. To me, winning is second to breathing. =D</p>
<p>I'd like to think that the vast majority prepare for olympiads because they truly do enjoy the material. As for myself, I enjoy chemistry very much, and to me, it doesn't even seem as if I'm preparing. It's that fun to me ;)</p>
<p>How I got to the camp:</p>
<p>Locals: slept...didn't prepare at all...blah.</p>
<p>Nationals: Spent two weeks (spring break) reading through Atkins/doing problems in the book. Each day consisted about 2-4 chapters(ish) + problems.</p>
<p>Did some practice tests.</p>
<p>Woke up early for the national test.</p>
<p>PWNED it.</p>
<p>Got a phone call.</p>
<p>(Btw, I truly enjoy orgo synthesis lab stuffs...so the camp was awesome...although that was as far as I got)</p>
<p>This year, this year...</p>
<p>i agree with everyone who says that ppl here make it seem WAY TOO EASY!!
[QUOTE]
CONCENTRATE ON ONLY ONE OLYMPIAD. Otherwise, your head will explode and by the time of the test, you will probably have forgotten everything/confused yourself.
[/quote]
HAHA IM GOING ALL OF THEM =p and studying for them all too, along with my 6 APs.</p>
<p>and i <3 the USAMO its my favorite</p>
<p>edit: what's the atkins book called again?</p>
<p>how hard is it to get to nationals from new jersey? i heard the cutoff was a 59--is that way too high?</p>
<p>LOL, if you're from NJ you're up against the stiffest competition of any place. I think some sections may have tests (customized tests) that are harder than the actual USNCO (although I cant confirm this, it's only hearsay), which explains why a third of all USNCO campers are from NJ. And if your section uses the USNCO local exam, a 59 sounds about right lol.</p>
<p>hey guys.
um i just talked to this girl who took the test last year (the local test) and she's from NJ
and she said the cutoff was a 52
now i think that's not right
is it?</p>
<p>Depends on your section and how many people they send to the national exam I guess.</p>
<br>
<p>.< ugh. my section is probably uber-competitive</p>
<br>
<p>this year at camp...
5 from Cali
4 from NY
5 from NJ
6 people from elsewhere...</p>
<p>doing the difficult math, 25% were from cali, 25% were from NJ, 20% were from NY. WOW. (thats kinda sad...underrepresentation from the other states)</p>
<p>Well, if all goes according to plan I shall be going from Massachusetts ;) Has anyone even been from Massachusetts in the past 5 years or so?</p>