Chemistry · YBTC, USNCO & IChO
School chemistry teaches the facts. Competitions test the reasoning.
Structured preparation for chemistry competitions — You Be The Chemist (YBTC) for middle schoolers, and the US National Chemistry Olympiad ladder from the local exam to the national exam, study camp and the International Chemistry Olympiad. Taught 1-on-1 or in small groups.
YBTC through USNCO
The full olympiad ladder
Problems, not just recall
Placed by level, not grade
Knowing chemistry is not the same as using it.
School chemistry asks a student to recall a fact or apply a worked method to a familiar problem. Competition chemistry hands them a situation they have not seen and asks them to reason their way to the answer — combining ideas from several topics, often under time pressure.
That is why students with top school grades often find their first olympiad paper hard. They are being asked for a skill the course had no reason to teach. It is learnable, but it is learned by working on hard problems over months with someone who can see where the reasoning went wrong — not by memorising more.
Where a student joins.
Placed by what the chemistry needs, not by school year. Each stage builds on the one before it, and starting too high is how students end up discouraged.
You Be The Chemist (YBTC) — grades 5–8
The entry point for middle schoolers. Students build the core vocabulary of chemistry — matter, elements and compounds, reactions, and laboratory safety — along with the history of the discoveries behind them. They also practise answering quickly and working as a team, which is how the Challenge is run.
USNCO local exam — the foundation
Sixty multiple-choice questions spanning the high school chemistry syllabus: stoichiometry, atomic structure, bonding, thermodynamics, kinetics, equilibrium, acids and bases, and electrochemistry. Work here closes gaps in the syllabus and builds the speed to answer accurately in the time allowed.
USNCO national exam — beyond the syllabus
The step where recall stops being enough. The national exam adds multi-step free-response problems and lab reasoning. Students learn to set out a solution a marker can follow, to connect topics a textbook keeps in separate chapters, and to reason about an experiment rather than recite one.
Study camp & IChO — the top of the ladder
The highest national scorers are invited to the ACS study camp, where the US team for the International Chemistry Olympiad is chosen. For students aiming this high we go into organic, physical and analytical chemistry at university level, working through past olympiad problems.
Who this is not for.
A student who needs school chemistry to improve. This will not help, and may knock their confidence. Competition chemistry sits beside the curriculum, not in place of it — if the foundation is shaky, fix that first.
A family looking for a credential in one term. Progress here is measured in terms and years. A student starting in Grade 11 can still gain a great deal, but the ladder rewards the student who starts early and keeps going.
A student who is not interested. This is voluntary, hard, and unforgiving of half-attention. It works for students who like the problems. It does not work as something a parent decides on a child’s behalf.
A competition record is evidence of depth — but which competitions to enter, when to register, and how a result actually ladders into an application is a strategy question. That is what our counseling plans decide.
Questions parents ask.
Where should my child start?
With what they actually know, not the grade they are in. Middle schoolers usually start with You Be The Chemist (YBTC); a high schooler new to competition chemistry starts with the USNCO local exam; one already scoring well locally works on the national exam's free-response and lab problems. We assess first and place accordingly.
What is YBTC?
The You Be The Chemist Challenge is a team chemistry competition for students in grades 5–8, run by the Chemical Educational Foundation. Teams answer questions on chemistry concepts, scientific discoveries and laboratory safety, starting at a local or regional round and advancing to state and national levels.
What is the US National Chemistry Olympiad?
The American Chemical Society's competition for high school students. It starts with a local section exam (60 multiple-choice questions); top local scorers are nominated for the three-part national exam; the highest national scorers attend a two-week study camp, from which four students are chosen to represent the US at the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO).
Is this the same as school or AP Chemistry?
No. The local exam overlaps heavily with AP Chemistry, but it asks students to apply ideas faster and in less familiar settings. The national exam goes further — multi-step free-response problems and lab reasoning that a school course has no time to teach. A strong AP grade is a good starting point, not a finish line.
Is it 1-on-1 or a group class?
Either. 1-on-1 classes move at your child's pace and suit a student with a specific exam in sight or uneven gaps to close. Small groups put students of a similar level together, which is how most competition preparation works best — they learn as much from each other's approaches as from the tutor. We recommend one after the first assessment.
Does a competition result actually help with admissions?
A serious one does, because it is externally verified and hard to manufacture. A national exam qualification says something a transcript cannot. But it works as evidence of genuine depth in a subject, not as a box to tick — which is why we would rather a student go far in one direction than collect shallow entries in several.
How much time does it take?
More than a school club and less than a full second curriculum. Competition chemistry rewards consistent weekly work over months rather than a sprint before an exam date. We will be honest with you about the commitment before you start, and about whether the timing makes sense for your child's year group.
Start with a conversation about where your child actually is.
A short call to look at what they have done so far and say honestly whether this is the right next step — and if it is, where they would start.