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01-03-2008, 08:25 PM
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#46 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: NY ---> Hahvahd, Cambridge, MA 2012 Gender: Male
Threads: 117
Posts: 1,629
| Lol, yeah. It's all about knowing your theory/descriptive chemistry really well. Labs dont count for much in the national exam; as long as you have a plan of action that shows you understand the concepts involved, nothing bad should happen (i.e., it's not a dealbreaker for going to camp...although if you want to be comforted, go for a 55+/90+ on the theory part of the exam to compensate for an anticipated failure on the actual test).
The thing is, chemistry is hated on by the general public (boo), so people who are naturally good at it will do very well on the olympiad.
Even if you don't make it, remember the cardinal rule: olympiads only test how well you do on olympiads.  | 
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01-03-2008, 08:34 PM
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#47 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: new joisy Gender: Unsure
Threads: 137
Posts: 3,181
| Quote: |
chemistry is hated on by the general public
| yeah i've seen that before
sad
but hey! good for the ones who really like it ^_^ | |
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01-03-2008, 10:24 PM
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#48 | | Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Threads: 29
Posts: 516
| I was called the morning of and asked if I wanted to take it, haha. Out of five four of us qualified, but one wasn't a US citizen and I had the lowest of the four qualifiers so the other two people went.
It wasn't that bad. There are A LOT of questions though, so go through it quickly. Answer all the silly ones about safety first, heheh.
I'll probably take it again, but I don't think I'll study for it. I like chem well enough, but I'm not motivated enough to study for it and don't care about it enough to want to make it to the camp. | |
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01-03-2008, 10:57 PM
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#49 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: NY ---> Hahvahd, Cambridge, MA 2012 Gender: Male
Threads: 117
Posts: 1,629
| you're talking about the local exam? You get 2 hours for 60 questions...time is never an issue. I was the last one done in my room of 70 kids, and I had 5 minutes to spare (then again, I was being OCD like~ triple checking my answers lol). On the national exam, it becomes a factor because it's 1.5 hours for slightly harder questions (1st 6 and last 6). | |
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01-03-2008, 11:40 PM
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#50 | | Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Threads: 29
Posts: 516
| wait WHAT? no way. There were definitely 100 questions, and I only had 1.5-2 hours. | |
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01-04-2008, 08:16 AM
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#51 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: NY ---> Hahvahd, Cambridge, MA 2012 Gender: Male
Threads: 117
Posts: 1,629
| Oh...your section doesn't use the ACS local exam? That sucks lol. | |
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01-05-2008, 03:16 PM
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#52 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: new joisy Gender: Unsure
Threads: 137
Posts: 3,181
| what was the cutoff in previous years does asnyone know
in NJ | |
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01-05-2008, 04:10 PM
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#53 | | Member
Join Date: Oct 2007 Gender: Male
Threads: 40
Posts: 589
| what was previous cutoff for oregon? | |
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01-05-2008, 05:09 PM
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#54 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: NY ---> Hahvahd, Cambridge, MA 2012 Gender: Male
Threads: 117
Posts: 1,629
| LOL wow NJ is the toughest state for USNCO. A third of all campers each year are from that state...and some of the sections dont even use the local exam, as in they use harder tests they create on their own (and maybe even harder than the national exam!). IDK much about it though, but I'd guess that a 55+ in any section that uses the ACS local exam is a must in order to qualify for the national test. | |
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01-05-2008, 05:19 PM
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#55 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: new joisy Gender: Unsure
Threads: 137
Posts: 3,181
| even NJ? higher in NJ? and wow..out of 60?? haha my friend got a 59 lol that's good lol | |
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01-05-2008, 06:56 PM
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#56 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: NY ---> Hahvahd, Cambridge, MA 2012 Gender: Male
Threads: 117
Posts: 1,629
| Yeah, the highest kid here got a 56... | |
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01-06-2008, 09:54 AM
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#57 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: new joisy Gender: Unsure
Threads: 137
Posts: 3,181
| ooh. he got the entropy question wrong, which has more entropy SO2 or O2 | |
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01-06-2008, 10:22 AM
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#58 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Threads: 20
Posts: 1,221
| Yeah, I had 1.5 hours for 100 questions, I think.
No one finished in my room. Ha, ha.
I was a USNCO semi-finalist with no preparation at all.
There are certain schools in my area that train students specifically for the olympiad. My teacher knew this, so she told me not to study and to just do as well as I could. | |
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01-06-2008, 04:42 PM
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#59 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: NY ---> Hahvahd, Cambridge, MA 2012 Gender: Male
Threads: 117
Posts: 1,629
| ^are you doing it again this year?
And I'd think diatomics have less entropy but then again it's been months since I looked at anything other than organic chemistry. | |
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01-06-2008, 05:59 PM
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#60 | | Member
Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: OK
Threads: 51
Posts: 639
| I hate the first pages of all those tests. The ones I missed last year were on the first page. Maybe I'm just bad at labs cause I never do them. Instead I spray people with water bottles!  | |
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