Is Science Olympiad worth it?

[multivariable]

Science Olympiad is the worst competition/after school activity I have ever done. Honestly, it is a giant cheating competition. It's all about how much info you can on a certain amount of pages. It doesn't require effort, but takes up way too much precious time, time in which you can be preping for something that really does matter, like ACT/SAT, finals, etc. Because of Science Olympiad, I am not seeded high on my tennis team (due to the fact that I haven't been attending practice much) even though I am one of the top players. Basically, it is a complete waste of time and not worth it.

Sounds like someone's a bitter hypocrite who spends time on a forum for an activity they obviously hate.

If you really feel that way, just quit. Don't waste your time on a club that you don't want to be in, and don't waste our time.

I see where you are going with the whole "hypocrite" thing. No, as a matter of fact, I most certainly am not a hypocrite. The only reason why I joined scioly.org was because I needed to talk to people who are doing the same events I am doing. A high school I am applying to requires that the student shows "interest in math and science." I am missing the science criterion. This is where Science Olympiad comes in handy to manipulate. Frankly, I am not going to learn anything from this competition. I mean, look at it. It is so unorganized. Every region test is different, every state test is different, and there is no proper way to do practice tests other than the 3 or 4 that some people have put on test exchange over the years. You have no idea what to expect on the test due to this. Placing first in the events at state would look great when I apply to the school, but they probably don't know that I can carry a binder packed with everything from the internet, have 8 pages of notes for Dyn.Planet, or just look up how to make a chart on Excel on Google the day of the test, considering Science Olympiad is a small competition. Honestly, placing first of 20 to 30 schools in state is NOT that big of an achievement.

Now, let's see.

Science Olympiad is the worst competition/after school activity I have ever done. Honestly, it is a giant cheating competition. It's all about how much info you can put on a certain amount of pages.

1. Cheating? Not every event requires a cheat sheet. Dedication and effort are required to succeed; you can't just waltz in and win. Despite the fact that I have a massive fossils binder, I only got 3rd at state, and it was because the other two teams knew more than I did and could do more work in a shorter amount of time.

It doesn't require effort, but takes up way too much precious time, time in which you can be preping for something that really does matter, like ACT/SAT, finals, etc.

3. Doesn't require effort? DOESN'T REQUIRE EFFORT? You insult me.

First off, I would like to point out that last year's State Meteorology winner and Ecology runner-up hated ever single moment of it. He believes in everything I am saying on this forum. All he did was print pages from Wikipedia and walk up to take his "much deserved, effort-necessary" medal, as all of you no-social-life people would say.
No, it doesn't require any effort. The only think you seriously need to know how to do is find the page you want on Google, and press print. Oh yeah, sorry you needed the effort to have ink and paper. My bad. Apologies please.

If this is all Science Olympiad means to you, cheat sheets and no effort, I'm sorry, but you're probably not going to be very successful. Please, go find a tennis court to play in.

I would like to point out that I have been a very successful person in my high school career so far, achieving countless trophies and medals in state and national math and geography competitions. What's the difference between those competitions and Science Olympiad, you may ask? Well, they are competitions that High schools and colleges actually know about and acknowledge.

Thanks for the advice though; I have stopped attending practices for SciOly, am still on the team, AND have been bumped up 5 seeds on my tennis team! Once again, thank you!

[Frogger4907]

AND have been bumped up 5 seeds on my tennis team! Once again, thank you!

No one cares dude. no one.

[multivariable]

AND have been bumped up 5 seeds on my tennis team! Once again, thank you!

No one cares dude. no one.

I just felt like showing an example of how cutting SciOly practice can help.
Also, I was being a polite person by thanking @yogoperson for his/her advice. Go learn some manners if you will, please.

[The Eviscerator]

AND have been bumped up 5 seeds on my tennis team! Once again, thank you!

No one cares dude. no one.

I just felt like showing an example of how cutting SciOly practice can help.
Also, I was being a polite person by thanking @yogoperson for his/her advice. Go learn some manners if you will, please.

Dude, if you had any manners, you wouldn't be on this board and you would keep your opinions to yourself. Nearly everyone on here likes science olympiad, so why say your opinion if you know you're going to enrage everybody? And you're, what? Like 12 years old? So quit acting like you're superior to all of us. Jeez.

[Liv]

In my opinion, Science Olympiad is definitely worth it. I have had so much fun throughout my three years, and to think that I had fun doing something educational is just crazy.


I'll admit it, the same team wins every single year in NY, but to be honest, they totally deserve it!
Some might say that it's not worth it because you can screw up so easily, well I know how you feel. My team practices on Thursdays, Tuesdays and Saturdays. We're a okay team in my perspective, top three in western long island and top ten in the state. We've been to nats before, but really, let's face the truth, the competition is getting harder and harder. New teams are popping up everywhere and such. But still, SO is totally worth it. Whatever may happen, SO will still be worth it to me, even if we aren't going to nationals or whatever because to me, it doesn't really matter. As long as I feel like I did my job on the team, I'm fine.


That is all.

[multivariable]

No one cares dude. no one.

I just felt like showing an example of how cutting SciOly practice can help.
Also, I was being a polite person by thanking @yogoperson for his/her advice. Go learn some manners if you will, please.

Dude, if you had any manners, you wouldn't be on this board and you would keep your opinions to yourself. Nearly everyone on here likes science olympiad, so why say your opinion if you know you're going to enrage everybody? And you're, what? Like 12 years old? So quit acting like you're superior to all of us. Jeez.

Last time I checked, this board was for anyone to post their opinion on "Is Science Olympiad worth it?" I have successfully done that, and now you are telling me I can't do that. I just want the person who created this, who is hopefully not as close-minded as you, to get a broader perspective of this "effort-required" "competition."

What possibly made you get the notion that I am 12 years old? Also, what did I say that make me seem as if I was "acting superior to all of us?"

[808girl]

I do have to agree with Multivariable though. It's his opinion. Let it go guys.....
The OP asked a question and to my knowledge, the answer can go both ways. Sure, this is a forum FOR science olympiad, but if he feels the need to disagree if you SO-fans, he can do so. If he's acting like 12 posting a negative opinion, then you're acting like a 10 year old responding to it.


Back on track...
Hmmm Science Olympiad...Is it worth it?

I know you're going to probably flame me for this, but here it goes:
I got a free trip to Wisconsin for +/- one week...so of course, pigeon yeah it's worth it. I also really like the atmosphere of the competitions too. However, I come from Hawaii...sadly, there is little competition. Previously, it was all public-school competitors until our school decided to enter. So......maybe I don't know what you MA, NY, and OH teams are feeling hahaha.

Note to SCIOLY first years though...Like Multivariable stated, SCIOLY takes a whole lot of your time. I balance ALOT of other activities including Science Fair, National Economics Challenge, Track, Cross Country, Club officers, tutoring, AND a semi-rigorous junior AP schedule. It's really difficult to manage time well and I have to admit that my grades are sliding I've never gotten so many Bs in my life!!!

Besides that, I really like the people I met in my school because of this competition. I am however very annoyed that I have to miss so much school!!! ARGH. My finals are right after that and I'm missing all the precious review days. I'll just have to study harder I guess :[

[winneratlife]

First off, I would like to point out that last year's State Meteorology winner and Ecology runner-up hated ever single moment of it. He believes in everything I am saying on this forum. All he did was print pages from Wikipedia and walk up to take his "much deserved, effort-necessary" medal, as all of you no-social-life people would say.

lolwut
You're a freshman. None of your friends can drive, I'm willing to bet. How do you have a social life? I'm not going to take offense at your stance towards Science Olympiad, because that is what I asked this question to hear: both sides, but I will take immense offense at that. Show some maturity in presenting your argument or you discredit it.
And for the record, I haven't studied for SciO for over 3 hours this year, or built for over 15. Total of sub20 hours spent across an entire season is nothing, so I'm not going to argue with the effort part.

I would like to point out that I have been a very successful person in my high school career so far, achieving countless trophies and medals in state and national math and geography competitions.

lolwut again
I assure you, I know 110% more about national math competitions and what colleges acknowledge. Here's what I've learned:
a) No college cares about an exclusively middle school competition, not even MathCounts, the biggest one.
b) As an attender in 2009 and knowing people who went in 2010, I assure you that KY has a very weak team.
c) KY's AMC 10 scores were rather weak; I could've won the state if I lived there. In addition, the highest score by a freshman guy was only 115.5, that is to say, not even AIME qualification. School winner counts for nothing, because that is a school competition, not a national one, because you didn't compete with the entire nation for that medal.
d) KY's team only took 4th place in Division B at ARML...considering that there are around 25 teams in DivA, above it, we can reasonably say KY's math is not very strong. In addition, that nullifies any KY state competition that might be of significance to you, particularly if they are oriented towards middleschoolers. In addition, most state competitions are ignored, even our MMPC, which is significant because MI has some of the strongest math competition in the country, barring VA (TJ), CA, NH (Exeter) and TX.

I've covered every math competition of significance there, with the exception of Harvard-MIT, which I know for a fact you could not have won, or you would be a legend, and I'd have heard of you via AoPS.

The OP asked a question and to my knowledge, the answer can go both ways. Sure, this is a forum FOR science olympiad, but if he feels the need to disagree if you SO-fans, he can do so. If he's acting like 12 posting a negative opinion, then you're acting like a 10 year old responding to it.

Yes. I do appreciate seeing the other side, but not in a manner that insults me or my friends on this forum.

I know you're going to probably flame me for this, but here it goes:
I got a free trip to Wisconsin for +/- one week...so of course, pigeon yeah it's worth it. I also really like the atmosphere of the competitions too. However, I come from Hawaii...sadly, there is little competition. Previously, it was all public-school competitors until our school decided to enter. So......maybe I don't know what you MA, NY, and OH teams are feeling hahaha.

I'm not going to flame you, just be jealous...and a bit insulted that you put MA instead of MI >.<

[gneissisnice]

Science Olympiad is the worst competition/after school activity I have ever done. Honestly, it is a giant cheating competition. It's all about how much info you can on a certain amount of pages. It doesn't require effort, but takes up way too much precious time, time in which you can be preping for something that really does matter, like ACT/SAT, finals, etc. Because of Science Olympiad, I am not seeded high on my tennis team (due to the fact that I haven't been attending practice much) even though I am one of the top players. Basically, it is a complete waste of time and not worth it.

Sounds like someone's a bitter hypocrite who spends time on a forum for an activity they obviously hate.

If you really feel that way, just quit. Don't waste your time on a club that you don't want to be in, and don't waste our time.

I see where you are going with the whole "hypocrite" thing. No, as a matter of fact, I most certainly am not a hypocrite. The only reason why I joined scioly.org was because I needed to talk to people who are doing the same events I am doing. A high school I am applying to requires that the student shows "interest in math and science." I am missing the science criterion. This is where Science Olympiad comes in handy to manipulate. Frankly, I am not going to learn anything from this competition. I mean, look at it. It is so unorganized. Every region test is different, every state test is different, and there is no proper way to do practice tests other than the 3 or 4 that some people have put on test exchange over the years. You have no idea what to expect on the test due to this. Placing first in the events at state would look great when I apply to the school, but they probably don't know that I can carry a binder packed with everything from the internet, have 8 pages of notes for Dyn.Planet, or just look up how to make a chart on Excel on Google the day of the test, considering Science Olympiad is a small competition. Honestly, placing first of 20 to 30 schools in state is NOT that big of an achievement.

Now, let's see.

Science Olympiad is the worst competition/after school activity I have ever done. Honestly, it is a giant cheating competition. It's all about how much info you can put on a certain amount of pages.

1. Cheating? Not every event requires a cheat sheet. Dedication and effort are required to succeed; you can't just waltz in and win. Despite the fact that I have a massive fossils binder, I only got 3rd at state, and it was because the other two teams knew more than I did and could do more work in a shorter amount of time.

It doesn't require effort, but takes up way too much precious time, time in which you can be preping for something that really does matter, like ACT/SAT, finals, etc.

3. Doesn't require effort? DOESN'T REQUIRE EFFORT? You insult me.

First off, I would like to point out that last year's State Meteorology winner and Ecology runner-up hated ever single moment of it. He believes in everything I am saying on this forum. All he did was print pages from Wikipedia and walk up to take his "much deserved, effort-necessary" medal, as all of you no-social-life people would say.
No, it doesn't require any effort. The only think you seriously need to know how to do is find the page you want on Google, and press print. Oh yeah, sorry you needed the effort to have ink and paper. My bad. Apologies please.

If this is all Science Olympiad means to you, cheat sheets and no effort, I'm sorry, but you're probably not going to be very successful. Please, go find a tennis court to play in.

I would like to point out that I have been a very successful person in my high school career so far, achieving countless trophies and medals in state and national math and geography competitions. What's the difference between those competitions and Science Olympiad, you may ask? Well, they are competitions that High schools and colleges actually know about and acknowledge.

Thanks for the advice though; I have stopped attending practices for SciOly, am still on the team, AND have been bumped up 5 seeds on my tennis team! Once again, thank you!

This is wrong on so many levels.

First off, did you really think it was gonna make you look better when you said you were only doing it to look better for colleges? Do an extracurricular because you like it, not because you think a college likes it. If you're so successful in all your other "more important" stuff, you don't need Scio to get into a good school and frankly, it's insulting to the kids who love it for you to whine and complain about it while doing it only to put on a resume. We had a girl like that in my Senior year (she didn't hate Scio, she did like it, but it was clear that it mostly for her to get into a good college), and she let the whole team down when she ended up missing Nationals for another competition, we had to scramble to replace her events the day before. That's uncool.

And of course the regional and state test are all different. You know what would happen if there were all the same? People would get answers from earlier competitions in different states and THEN it would be a big cheating competition (only way to prevent that would be to host every single regional on the same day, and that's unfeasible due to space issues).

Resources don't make the difference that you're claiming they do. I had a good Fossils binder that I spent weeks making and preparing, that alone is work, and at Nationals, most of the test relied on my innate knowledge cause it was pressed for time. I didn't rely on my binder for a lot of it, I had to ID as fast as possible and that was all me, not my binder. I got 5th, which is pretty darn good, and I can assure you that the 4 teams who beat me didn't rely on their binders either. Notes do make some events more trivial, like Ecology (I did it when there were no note sheets and even then it was one of the easier events), but that just means they can ask questions on a broader scale. You can't possible put everything you need to know on your answer sheets because you dont know exactly what they're gonna ask, it's still mostly up to personal knowledge.

As for "being easy to place first" in states, try competing in a more competitive state like Ohio or New York. It's HARD and anyone who gets a medal there completely deserves it. I don't know about your state, but here in New York, you only get medals with a lot of effort. It just sounds to me like you have bright kids in a very uncompetitive state, I'm sure you State Meterology and Ecology winner wouldn't fair nearly so well with that lack of effort in, say, Nationals.

Colleges acknowledge Science Olympiad, definitely. I even wrote my application essay about Science Olympiad and the knowledge and leadership experience I gained from it.

Stop belittling other people. It's one thing to have an opinion whether Science Olympiad is worth it, and it's another to come onto a forum and start spewing venom about why the competition sucks and winning doesn't take skill at all.

But you don't care, apparently running back and forth and whacking a tennis ball is more useful than science.

[zyzzyva980]

multivariable, can't you see that you aren't going to win this battle? This is like... trying to tell a Chiefs fan at Arrowhead stadium, "Could you maybe calm down a little and not be so loud?". This is like telling JFK, "It's just a flesh wound". This is like telling Kanye West that Taylor Swift's video really should have won the award.

I mean, look at it. It is so unorganized. Every region test is different, every state test is different

And you want them to be... the same? The varied test ensure that the person who works the hardest always wins, because while you never know what to expect, the events are limited in what they can put on the test. I mean really, what's the point of having a competition where you KNOW what the test is going to be like? Also, while we do lack tests on the test exchange, the ones that are on there teach you more than enough as to what you could possibly expect. If you want more tests on there, then add them.

Placing first in the events at state would look great when I apply to the school, but they probably don't know that I can carry a binder packed with everything from the internet, have 8 pages of notes for Dyn.Planet, or just look up how to make a chart on Excel on Google the day of the test, considering Science Olympiad is a small competition.

The allowed materials are there because that's what the supervisors deem necessary for the event. Why don't you try going into an event with absolutely nothing? Let me know how that works out for you. Besides, when you made the binder and notes, what did you do? You studied. You worked hard. "The team with best binder wins" applies here, but it most certainly should, because the team with the best binder did the most work. Besides, EVERYONE can bring in those resources. It's not like you have any sort of advantage over the other teams.

And you're looking up how to make a chart on Excel the day of competition?

Seriously?

Honestly, placing first of 20 to 30 schools in state is NOT that big of an achievement.

Move out of Kentucky and maybe you'll see some competition. My school is a heavyweight, we were a contender going into states, ask anyone else from Kansas, they can back me up, and we ended up getting one first place in one event. Same number of schools. And when you're done getting LAST in Kansas, then move on to Pennsylvania. Or New York. Or- perish the thought- Ohio, where you'll get laughed out of the competition.

First off, I would like to point out that last year's State Meteorology winner and Ecology runner-up hated ever single moment of it. He believes in everything I am saying on this forum. All he did was print pages from Wikipedia and walk up to take his "much deserved, effort-necessary" medal

Bully for him.

as all of you no-social-life people would say.

Hey man, I have a social life. I mock write a blog about not having a life, but everyone on here does have a social life of some sort.

Then there's you complaining about the competition on a forum specifically for people who enjoy the competition. Wait, what?

I would like to point out that I have been a very successful person in my high school career so far, achieving countless trophies and medals in state and national math and geography competitions.

Bully for you. Wait, why are you complaining about being successful? You have nothing to complain about. I've been trying for SIX YEARS to get into a national competition. It's not that I don't have the ability, it's just that I've been blocked out by other people who are just as passionate and competitive as I am. Quit whining, winning "countless" medals in national competitions is something that very few people even get the opportunity to do. Heck, out of 6,000 schools in SO only sixty get to go to nats, and even fewer people actually medal. You have absolutely NO reason to complain.

Thanks for the advice though; I have stopped attending practices for SciOly, am still on the team, AND have been bumped up 5 seeds on my tennis team! Once again, thank you!

Wait 'til your coach finds out how you REALLY feel.