REGISTER FOR THE USABO FOR THE ADVENTURE OF YOUR LIFE
OPEN to EVERY School in the USA!
REGISTER FOR THE 2024 USABO NOW!
As the premiere biology competition for high school students in the United States, the USA Biolympiad (USABO) enriches the life science education of nearly 10,000 talented students annually. It provides the motivation, curricular resources, and skills training to take them beyond their classroom experience to the level of international competitiveness. Check out “What Is the USABO?” in the toolbar above for further information about the USABO. To view the full 2024 USABO Calendar, click here.
After two rounds of challenging online exams, twenty Finalists (To view the 2023 USABO National Finalists, click here) are invited to a residential training program where they learn advanced biological concepts and exacting lab skills at the USABO National Finals. At the 2023 National Finals, Yufei Chen, Damon Gurvich, Kaiden Wu, and Richard Zhu earned the right as the USA Biolympiad Team to represent the USA at the 2023 International Biology Olympiad (IBO) in Al Ain, UAE.
Since CEE began administering the USABO, every member of the “USA Biolympiad Team” has continued to medal at the IBO. All four members of the USA Biolympiad Team in years 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2017 were awarded gold medals. The USA Biolympiad Team has achieved the coveted Number 1 position in the world in 2007, 2011, and 2013. The USA Biolympiad Team received 2 gold medals and 2 silver medals at the 2023 International Biology Olympiad in Al Ain, UAE. Yufei Chen achieved the Number 1 Student position in the world at the 2023 IBO. The 2024 International Biology Olympiad will be held in Astana, Kazakhtan July 7 to 14, 2024.
2024 USABO Changes
Registration
Please note that the USABO Registration Payment date has been moved from January to December. The deadline for the USABO Registration Payment Fee is December 15!
Exams
All exams will be online at one time and on one day administered by the Art of Problem Solving. Test Administrators will continue to proctor the online exams and are required to complete the online Test Administrator Certificate that includes the USABO Honor Code. Students will continue to complete the online Student Certificates that includes the USABO Honor Code. Exams will be password protected. NEW! It is requested that all proctored exams not only be moderated, but student activity recorded by Zoom, Teams or other software. The Open Exam recogntion will include Honorable Mention Certificate (Top 20%) and Certificate of Merit (Top 30%). Test Administrators will find these score cutoffs and the appropriate certificate located in Exam Results in the Teacher Resource Center. The Semifinal recognition will include Recognition of Academic Excellence (Top 50 scores), Honorable Mention (Next 75 scores), Certificate of Merit (Next 100 scores). Certificates will be mailed to the school.
National Finals
The 2024 National Finals will be iin person.
What is the USABO? page
This page is the landing site for the USABO https://www.usabo-trc.org.
- Click on the Facebook icon at the bottom of the page and friend the USABO. New on the USABO Facebook page:
- News and interesting facts in biology each day.
- Opportunities for students at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate level in biological research worldwide.
USABO Registration Site
CEE continues to provide a more user-friendly registration site tested for usability by USABO teachers. Once your school information has been entered, it will be permanently stored to ease registration in coming years. Teacher information is not stored as many teachers move on to new positions, retire, or for other reasons no longer participate in the USABO. If you registered your school for the USABO in the years 2011 through 2023, you will find your school in the dropdown menu in the Test Administrator section on the USABO homepage. Although you will find your school in the dropdown menu, all teachers and students will still need to register for 2024 and the $95 registration needs to be paid.
USABO Exam Question Format
The USABO Open Exam uses Multiple Choice format with one response per question.
The USABO Semifinal Exam uses the Multiple Choice, Short Answer, and Multiple True/False Choice formats.
IBO Theoretical and USABO National Exam use the Multiple True/False Choice format.
Teacher Resource Center (TRC)
The TRC is dynamic. Once your school has completed the registration process and payment has been received, please check the TRC for the latest resources and links to help you to prepare your students for the USABO. Content is arranged according to the seven IBO focus groups:
- Cell Biology
- Animal Anatomy and Physiology
- Plant Anatomy and Physiology
- Ethology
- Genetics and Evolution
- Ecology
- Biosystematics
- Neurobiology
- Bioinformatics
All Open Exams and the Semifinal Exams from 2003 to 2021 with keys are available online in the Teacher Resource Center (TRC). Test Administrators may use them as they see fit with their students. Under no circumstances is the URL to be provided to students or linked to school or external web sites!
Student Corner (SC)
This area is open to ALL students whether they have registered for the USABO or not. It includes the following sections:
- How to Start a USABO Club: Step by step information and guidance from USABO students who have formed USABO Clubs at their schools. Each year, this information is updated with input from USABO participants.
- General Content: As the title implies, this has information on the areas of the IBO Curriculum.
- Content: This area has been expanded to include:
- Suggested sites.
- Suggested texts for in-depth and supplemental study or reading.
- Scientist of interest
- USABO Finalists’ Favorite Links
- Introduction to the seven areas of the IBO curriculum resources where more in-depth resources are found in the Student Resource Center.
Student Resource Center (SRC)
This page has information specifically for students who have registered for the USABO.
- All seven areas of the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) have been updated with useful links, study problems, and other resources to prepare for the USABO. In addition, two new areas will be added in 2021; Neurobiology and Bioinformatics.
- The Biodiversity area has an image of a common organism for each taxonomic representative prescribed by the IBO.
Official website: https://www.usabo-trc.org