<p>I go to a large public high school with an International Baccalaureat program. While the students are generally more or less strong, there aren’t many students who I would consider very enthusiastic in the sciences - and thus, there isn’t really any interest generated in administering exams for the chemistry, physics, and biology olympiads. FUrthermore, there is only one AMC test date - the AMC 12. So just like I’ve taken the PSAT at another school, I’m seriously considering taking the AMC 10 and science olympiad exams at another school.</p>
<p>WIll schools allow students to take these competitions at another school? I’m thinking about writing an e-mail to the top math/science teachers in the local area about taking one of those exams at another school.</p>
<p>Of course, I could ask one of my own teachers to administer the exam. But it’s unlikely to succeed - and if the teacher rejects the offer, my opinion of him will almost certainly decline - I don’t want this to happen so thus, I’m considering taking the exams elsewhere.</p>
<p>I’d be very surprised if they weren’t open to you taking the exams at their school. Just email them and express your interest/etc in them, and they’ll likely be more than happy to oblige.</p>
<p>AMC discourages what you are talking about in their pricing scheme. They really want more schools to register and give all of their students an opportunity to take the exam, rather than having the top students from schools all over town band together at one school. They charge an extra $15 per student for “guest” students taking the exam at a school other than their own. That’s on top of whatever the school wants you to pay for the service they are providing in administering the exam to you. (for AP exams, the school gets $25 per student as an administration fee. They also get something per student for SAT exams.)</p>
<p>Early registration costs $25 per school, and includes 10 exams. So if there are even 2 students at a school who want to take the exam, it is cheaper for their school to register than it is to have them be “guests” at another school. Even if you pay late fees for a last minute registration, it’s only $45, the minimum amount 3 students would pay to be guests. I recommend you find a couple of students at your school who would be interested in taking it, and go to one of your teachers with the offer to have the students pay the registration fee.</p>
<p>Yes, one teacher wasn’t open. I e-mailed her, even offering to pay the money, and she made a flat out lie to me, saying that it wasn’t legal for her to administer the exams on both dates. My mother suggested that the teacher didn’t want to spend any time proctoring over the exam so the teacher rejected my offer.</p>
<p>Most teachers really don’t support academic ambition so much (or at least from my experience). They like the most well-rounded students, not the students most passionate into their respective subjects. At least that was the way it was like in middle school. In high school I still need to figure out the motives of my own teachers… Still however, whenever I read about Feynman’s physics teacher or about teachers who have revolutionized the lives of other students, I can only feel discouraged.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, Texas! My school doesn’t have anyone half as ambitious than I am, the problem is. THough there is one person I have in mind. $15 dollars, hmmm… That’s still less than the fee for the SAT and I frankly think that these tests are more worth it than the SAT is. I’ll buy that given no other choice. But I’ll try again, contacting another teacher.</p>
<p>How about the chemistry/biology/physics olympiads?</p>
<p>I only have experience with the chem and physics olympiads. They both require a registration fee and someone willing to proctor. The fee is a flat rate per exam, not a school registration fee that includes a batch of exams. If you are the only one taking the exam, maybe you could do it in the library with the librarian proctoring. She could basically go about her business while keeping an eye on you working at one of the library tables. Chem and physics give you a window of time to take the prelim exams, unlike the AMC. That means that a week-end is possible. Your parents could hire some sort of neighborhood professional to receive the exam in the mail and administer it to you at a public library or at one of your houses on a Sat or Sun.</p>
<p>Let’s assume that your teacher is not “lying” about the two dates. Let’s just say she is mistaken, or confusing the AMC and AIME exams (which also involve 2 dates, but students can only take 1). You could go back to her with a printout of the info from the AMC web-site. If the problem is really that she does not want to proctor twice, you could try the librarian idea or offer to help pay for a substitute to come in for a half day. The school may not allow a cash transfer to take place. But an approved sub (retired teacher?) could come in as a “volunteer”, and then the participating students (or one of their parents) slips them a “thank-you” card which just happens to include the amount they would have been paid as a sub (around here, that would be about $45 for a half-day).</p>
<p>You can work this out, but you have to be willing to think outside the box. There are homeschoolers (including my son) who take all of these exams. You just have to come up with proctoring arrangements that are acceptable to the contest and feasable for you.</p>
<p>a couple more thoughts - first, get your parents involved. They may be more effective than you can be in getting your school to support you in these efforts. </p>
<p>Also, unlike AMC, the chem and physics olympiads do not seem to be geared towards wanting large numbers of students and schools involved. They just want to identify the strongest kids wherever they are. So the pricing doesn’t penalize students for taking the exams at other schools. On the other hand, not as many schools offer those as offer AMC exmas, so you might have to hunt harder to find a school willing to host you.</p>
<p>Do you program? The easiest of the competitions for students w/o school support is USACO. You just do that one at home on your own time. <a href=“http://www.usaco.org%5B/url%5D”>www.usaco.org</a>.</p>
<p>Wow, that’s a pretty daunting list of tasks to do. I paid $15 to be able to take the AMC12B as a senior at another school because I screwed up the AMC12A. I would recommend emailing the AMC person for a list of schools in your area offering the exam. I got a pretty long email for CA.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! =) I talked to my chemistry teacher today - at least he was honest. He said that he didn’t have enough time, and suggested I contact the ASB office for hosting exams (I’ll have to pay for them myself but if I can get some support it’s better than going to another school. Though I probably won’t, given my limited social life). I think I’ll e-mail the program directors to get a list of schools that offer the tests - I think I’ll go wit this option! Of course, I mustn’t procrastinate!</p>
<p>As for programming contests, do they offer seperate competitions for each programming language? I’m learning C, but learning C++ and visual basic is going to take the rest of my time out of studying for math competitions. Yes, they’re easy to learn - but I need to devote all of the spare time I have now for self-studying AP Physics C and for math competitions. Thanks though! =)</p>
<p>Simfish - Redmond HS did the AMC-B last year. Is Redmond close to Seattle? If so, try Garfield or Lakeside. </p>
<p>The USACO contests allow you to program in C, C++, or Java.</p>
<p>Webhappy - What daunting list? Do you mean my post? If it looked daunting, it’s only because I was talking about multiple possible approaches to getting multiple possible tests administered. An individual person only needs to find one approach that works for their situation, but they may have to think beyond getting a teacher at their school to simply hand them what they want.</p>
<p>Ah, thank you so much for the information, Texas137! =) (prepares to e-mail a math teacher at Redmond High). Yes, Redmond is very close to Seattle so I’ll try Garfield and Lakeside too (though on the other hand, I know several students at Garfield, which can be quite distracting and meeting students I haven’t met in a long time is quite distracting)</p>
<p>EDIT: I just e-mailed the math teachers at RHS and have also e-mailed the chemistry olympiad coordinator as well! Hopefully, we should keep this thread so that others as ambitious as I am will know what to do! I’ll check with my C teacher about the computing olympiad as well.</p>
<p>Simfish - you don’t need your CS teacher to do the computing olympiad. Except for one contest in the spring which has to be proctored, the contests are something you do at home on your own during a block of time over the week-end. It’s all on the internet. (or “internets” if you’re a republican ;-))</p>
<p>AP Physics C is a joke if you’ve had virtually any physics and any calculus, you shouldn’t have to spend too long studying for it. You could probably cram it all into a weekend, or maybe two weekends. Remember, the AP tests are geared towards people who are strong, but not really Caltech material.</p>
<p>Ah, I see. I haven’t had any previous physics experience (other than through very disorganized phases of self-education so I’ll have to do some memorization too) but from what I see of the problems, the mathematics really isn’t so difficult since the course is geared towards average, not gifted students.</p>
<p>I just ordered the paperback version of the first half of physics for scientists and enginners. once I get done with that I’ll order a paperback version of the second half: very cheap prices at less than $10. the study guide costed more than the textbook!</p>
<p>Wow, diffusion of responsibility is surprisingly powerful.</p>
<p>I e-mailed every math teacher in RHS, none replied as of yet. OTOH, I sent it to them all in one e-mail so they know I’ve sent it to every one of them.</p>
<p>Sent e-mail to math coach of Garfield hhigh - should produce better results. Though distractions by people I already know there will certainly hurt.</p>
<p>Next up: International School Kirkland and Lakeside high, both of which have many strong students.</p>
<p>It will only distract you if you let it. Furthermore, if you get along well with these people, it will probably benefit you. I find that I do better on examiations when I’m in a good mood - so chat and relax a bit with them before the test. If you dislike them, just dress nicely, courteously say hi, and don’t stress about them.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. Yes, I suppose I’ll forget about them once I’m on the examination; it’s just that sometimes i want to impress them so that kind of is a bit stressing. But the intensity of the exam should block out all other thoughts. Dunno about how well I get along with them - we just know each other, without such poor relations.</p>
<p>and on a side note: Yay I just received my Physics for Scientists and Engineers book!</p>
<p>Really getting weird. Garfield didn’t even reply. And yet, when I e-mailed around 8 schools in the area to take the PSAT, all of them sent an e-mail back.</p>
<p>Maybe you should go back to the idea of doing it at your own school. It only costs $45. The big problem is finding a proctor. But it doesn’t have to be a math teacher. It could be almost anyone. If there is a teacher who has to stay after school for some other reason (detention monitor? coach? librarian?), they could proctor this by putting the 2-3 interested students in the back of some room for 75 minutes. What do they do when students have to make up an exam? They must have some precedent for sticking a few kids in some corner for a test. Or you could try to get something in your student newspaper about it, decrying the lack of support for academic excellence. Maybe someone at your school who you would never think of asking would step forward and volunteer. Or get your parents involved to exert pressure on your behalf.</p>
My school doesn’t have anyone half as ambitious than I am, the problem is. THough there is one person I have in mind. $15 dollars, hmmm… That’s still less than the fee for the SAT and I frankly think that these tests are more worth it than the SAT is. I’ll buy that given no other choice. But I’ll try again, contacting another teacher.</p>