Intro to US National Chemistry Olympiad

Rounds, timeline, & location

Rounds, timeline, & location

Rounds, timeline, & location

Local exam, one day in March, high school or local college, open to all students
National exam, weekend in late April, local college, ~1000 students nominated by local sections
Study camp, early June, Colorado/UMaryland/Cyber [2020 & 2021], top20 in national
IChO, mid/late-July, host country, top4 in camp

中文版（Chinese Version）

USNCO vs AP

Rounds, timeline, & location

Rounds, timeline, & location

Equivalence to AP Chemistry in scope (plus introductory orgo)
Much harder than AP Chemistry exam
60 MCs in both local and national part i, 6 for each category (10 categories in total)
8 FRQs in national part ii, covers stoichiometry, thermo, kinetics, equilibria, reactions, orgo, inorgo explanations, etc.

Trends and challenges

Rounds, timeline, & location

Trends and challenges

Elevated difficulty since 2016 with interesting and novel problems
Solid background in Pre-Calculus with strong mathematical thinking and problem-solving skills
Higher level of conceptual understanding assessed, more figure/diagram-based problems in recent years
Advanced organic reactions assessed in nationals