<p>I know that Princeton only lets you place out of introductory Chemistry courses for a 5 on the AP Chem exam, but what if one were to make it to the international chemistry olympiad and, say, win a medal? Can an exception be made for those people to skip to some sophomore or junior level chemistry course, or do the rules apply the same for everyone regardless?</p>
<p>You can take a placement exam at the beginning of the year. It’ll place you into either gen. chem. (intro), 215 (advanced intro), or 301 (orgo). Email the department (<a href=“mailto:kirsten@p”>kirsten@p</a>…) about it.</p>
<p>I second the suggestion of emailing the department. If you really don’t need to take all those courses, they’ll probably be willing to let you start at the level where you fit.</p>
<p>Princeton doesn’t really care about AP scores for placement, you can basically sign up for whatever calss you want to, they take the view that if you place into a level that you arent prepared for, you’ll either drop down or suffer the consequences.</p>
<p>From my experience, if you got a 5 on the AP then you can have the options of gen chem (201/202), materials chem (207/208), honors gen chem (215), orgo (301/302) or orgo w/bio emphasis (303/304). Those are all sophomore/junior level courses I think.</p>
<p>The stuff on the USNCO is all first-year chem material, and ICHO material is just intro organic. IChO medal-winning chem skills will still put you with the other people who got a 5 in chem.</p>
<p>I think IChO is more advanced than that. At study camp, participants learn “inorganic, organic, physical, analytical, and biochemistry at a second or third-year college level.” So it’s more than just orgo. I would at least talk with the department and take a few placement tests. Don’t just passively pretend that you have no more chemistry knowledge than an AP student.</p>
<p>Here is the source of my quote: <a href=“http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay.html?DOC=education\student\co03.html[/url]”>http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay.html?DOC=education\student\co03.html</a></p>
<p>IChO study camp is 2 weeks long. No matter how intense or advanced the material is, it’s not going to cover an entire semester’s – let alone a year’s worth of material.</p>
<p>I don’t know because I have never attended. The only information I have is what is on the website. My main point is that these kids definitely have a lot more chemistry knowledge than the typical student who gets a 5 on the AP. Thus, they should at least talk with the department about appropriate placement. If they end up taking regular orgo anyway, then so be it. But it is at least worth 30 minutes of their time to find out.</p>
<p>Yeah, because I am getting some advanced undergrad books for the test, and a grad book right after the new year. I sound a bit obsessed, but I really want to get IChO gold. I love chemistry that much…that sounded a bit weird. :D</p>
<p>frozen-tears, I always thought that local exam was SAT level chem, USNCO was a difficult AP Chem exam, and IChO was near grad level. I have a book of 5 years of USNCO and IChO exams, and the USNCO is rather managable than IChO.</p>
<p>Speaking of which, what’s considered the most difficult/advanced undergrad chem course at P-ton? Is it in the 400s or something?</p>
<p>The underrad course numbered the highest is CHM 470: Environmental Chemistry of Soils, but i doubt this is the hardest course.CHM 405: Advanced Physical Chemistry looks pretty beastly to me. Have you attended study camp before?</p>
<p>Don’t be reluctant if you have to take “regular orgo.” 301 with Maitland Jones is one of the best courses I’ve taken.</p>
<p>Weasel:</p>
<p>No, but I’m definitely feeling it this year (I didnt find out about USNCO until it was too late this past year). I got my “advanced undergrad” books ready, and I do have 7 months to prepare lol. But yeah, I love chem so I’m gonna study the hell out of the subject to become very “pointed” in that sense :)</p>
<p>Did you take the local exam? If so, do you mind my asking your score on it?</p>
<p>No, I told you, I didn’t even know about this until it was too late :(. I think I could get at least 55 this time, and that was the highest score last year, so yeah if I prepare for IChO by february I think I can breeze through the first two rounds :).</p>
<p>I wish you luck. Getting a 55 is good, but it won’t guarantee that you’ll make it to Study Camp. I got a 55, and didn’t qualify for USNCO because two kids at my school scored higher (59 and 57). I looked at practice exams to see what I was missing out on and quickly realized that I would have done very poorly on these exams. My advice would be to work extremely hard but not be disappointed if you don’t make it. Learning the chemistry is far more important than any type of recognition you might receive as a result.</p>
<p>Well in NY I think 55 is a shoe-in. Also, it will be only my friend and I from our school, and he probably won’t have the time to study for chemistry the way I will.</p>
<p>I love chemistry, so IChO is just something I;m gunning for as a consequence if I keep up with the hard work :)</p>
<p>But the local test doesn’t even count for anything. If you are in the top two in your school, you are invited to take the national exam. The students who score in the top 20 in the US are invited to study camp. Students’ performance at study camp determines who goes to IChO. So my point is that a 55 is a very good score, but it’s not a shoe in for anything except the opportunity to take the national exam.</p>