milesdavis22

Hi all-

I'm a little confused about the entrance examination for the columbia SHP.

I took honors bio last year but we never even touched on the human body-- do we have to know any organismal bio/ human body bio? what topics will be on the bio section?

i'm taking honors chem this year- do i need to know like acid/base rxn's? what topics do i need to know for the chem section?

As u may already know --- I HAVENT TAKEN PHYSICS YET!!! how advanced will the physics be--- will it be general or numeric? what topics do i haev to know for thge physics section?

thanks so much for the help! im really confused and really need clarification! if u have taken the test or r already in SHP-- PLEASE RESPOND!!!

thehotrocks

The science section is actually very diverse. I remember when I took it geology and meteorology were on it, lol. I remember leaving out some of the physics questions about parallel and series circuitry.

Overally the science section was pretty straightforward though. I remember taking out my Bio Regents book the day before, and seeing one of the questions word for word on the test. So science is essentially Honors level, no complicated genetic stuff, no calculus-related chem, no calculus-related physics. More than anything it tests for general awareness of science, which is next to impossible to study or cram for.

The challenge math questions part is definitely the most important--get more than ten of these right and you're almost guaranteed to get in. These are generally AMC-level questions.

milesdavis22

Lol the infamous AMC-- i took that and got a 102 i think (lol barely got in-- AIME was HARD-- anything like that?)

is a 102 as a score on the AMC probably indicative that i will be able to do the problems on the challenge math entrance exam?

thanks about the physics--- most of the stuff in physics ill probably be able to derive anyway -- except for circuits and electricity. For bio-- is basic mendelian genetics ok? for chemistry do i need to know stoichiometry or gas laws?

thanks again for the help! anything that you can suggest for studying or ANY information would be of great help!

odin64x

Is the entire test multiple choice or no?

milesdavis22

s a 102 as a score on the AMC probably indicative that i will be able to do the problems on the challenge math entrance exam?

thanks about the physics--- most of the stuff in physics ill probably be able to derive anyway -- except for circuits and electricity. For bio-- is basic mendelian genetics ok? for chemistry do i need to know stoichiometry or gas laws?

thanks again for the help! anything that you can suggest for studying or ANY information would be of great help!

Edwardz

Ok... Here we go..

I took the SHP entrance exam last year, and am now attending the program.

You get crammed into a small room in a random building with a dozen other people (most likely all Asian), and a procter starts the test for you. There WILL be things from Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, AND Physics on the test. If I recall correctly, the science section was regents level, so you shouldn't sweat it too much. Just get a basic understanding of the subjects you haven't learned yet. And yeah, I do remember a question about parallel/series circuits.

There's an easy SAT I-level math section on the exam followed by a much harder AMC (as mentioned above) level math section that basically makes or breaks your entrance. To quote my dad, "Everyone there is like you, so they can all get perfect scores on the easy parts. It must be the hard parts that pronounces the truly brilliant student." - or something like that.

odin64x: I'm pretty sure that the entire thing was multiple choice.

milesdavis22: 102 on AMC is great. An honors course should be able to handle the science on the exam, and there are around 5 (if I remember correctly) purely physics questions. Make sure you get a crude understanding of forces and vectors.

Also, don't forget to bring a calculator. Abuse it 'til its batteries die because everyone else will bring one.

Oh - and I forgot to mention that the less number of years you've been in high school, the better curve you'll get. So if you're a freshman and you get an identical score to a sophomore taking the test, you'll be more likely to get accepted. That's all for now =p

milesdavis22

ALright thanks alot man

what kind of bio and chem will be on the test?

for physics-- all i know is one-dimensional kinematics (v=vot + .5at^2, etc) and vectors (i + j) that i learned in precalc. will that be sufficient?

Edwardz

hmmm..Math vectors are a bit different from physics vectors. Just know the difference between vector and scalar quantities and how they work.

Ahh - I'm not sure about the depth of bio and chem, but I came in 3/4th done with the cirriculum and no physics knowledge, so you'll be fine. The test also contains questions about experimenting and the scientific method (If I remember correctly), so brush up on that too.

Foxconn

Does anyone know where I can get AMC sample questions
I personally never did the AMCs and I want to see how challenging they are

hanguksaram

do they take points off for wrong answers?

Edwardz

Foxconn: http://www.unl.edu/amc/a-activities/...12archive.html

hanguksaram: I'm 75% sure they do.

hanguksaram

okay, thanks

tikibu

what r ur guys stats..if u dont mind
sat scores...ap scores...gpa...class rank and such
thanx

odin64x

Would you say the math challenge questions were hard because they were just plain old hard, or would you say that they were hard because you werent allowed a calculator?

Edwardz

tikibu:

221 PSAT
780 Math IC
780 Chem
750 Bio M

5 on AP Euro, gonna take 4 more in 2 weeks
No rankings in our school,
GPA is around 97...

odin64x: Oh. You're allowed to use your calculator on the challenge math part, but the types of questions that they ask make the calculator basically useless.