The exam is coming! The exam is coming!
Once again, the St. Louis Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) will be participating in the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO). The primary goals of this program are to stimulate interest and achievement in chemistry among high school students throughout the United States and to provide recognition of outstanding young chemistry students, teachers, and schools.
The St. Louis Section nominates students from this area to take the USNCO national examination. A preliminary screening exam will be administered online and made available to registered students. The local exam for the US National Chemistry Olympiad will be held on Saturday, March 11, 2023 from 2:00 – 3:50 PM Central Standard Time. Depending on demand, an alternate Sunday or Saturday in March may be arranged.
Students achieving top scores on the local exam will be invited to participate in the USNCO national exam, which is administered locally, usually at the University of Missouri – St. Louis campus. The national exam involves three parts administered to more than 1,000 students nation-wide. Students can use past exams available at www.acs.org/olympiad to prepare.
Students competing in the USNCO are eligible to be selected as members of the United States team for the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO). For the past thirty-eight years, the United States has sent a team of four students to compete with nations around the world at the IChO. The students participate in examinations, get to know students from other countries and learn about the host country’s culture over several days. Gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded to the best performers, and the IChO provides students the opportunity to interact with their peers from other countries. The 55th international event will be held in Zürich, Switzerland, July 16-25, 2023.
In 2022, 43 students from 7 St. Louis area high schools participated in the screening exam – let’s get more participants this year! Based on total scores, two of our students — Alice Liu of Marquette High School and Alan Song of Parkway West High School — were invited to participate in the USNCO Study Camp at the University of Maryland in June. This is a great honor, since out of thousands of students participating in USNCO nationwide, only twenty are selected to attend the study camp. Four of the study camp participants represented the US team for International Chemistry Olympiad last summer; although students from China, the hosting country, earned the top three gold medals, the USA team members each earned a medal – three silver and one gold.
If you are interested in receiving more details about participating in this year’s screening exam, please reach out to Dr. Bruce C. Hamper, coordinator of the local Chemistry Olympiad exams, at hamperb@umsl.edu.
Related C&EN articles:
Chemistry Olympiad Study Camp Begins
China Takes Home Top 3 Golds in 54th International Chemistry Olympiad
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