U.S. National Chemistry Olymiad¶
Key Website¶
Competition Format¶
The U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO) is a multi-tiered chemistry competition for high school students. ACS has sponsored the program since 1984.
Program Tiers¶
- Local Chemistry Olympiad Exam
- Usually held in March
- Used by ACS Local Sections to nominate students for the National Exam
- National Chemistry Olympiad Exam
- Usually held in April
- Three-part format (Part I, Part II, Part III)
- Study Camp
- Usually held in June
- Top 20 national scorers receive advanced training
- 4 students are selected from Study Camp to represent Team USA in IChO
History¶
- 1984: ACS-sponsored USNCO program began.
- 1984: USA began participating in IChO.
- 1992: USA hosted the 24th IChO (Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.).
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2012: USA hosted the 44th IChO (Washington, D.C.).
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IChO country profile totals for USA list: 62 Gold, 73 Silver, 33 Bronze, 1 Honorable Mention.
- 2026: Team USA earned 3 Gold and 1 Silver.
- 2025: Team USA earned 4 Gold.
Past Exams Archive¶
| Year | Local Round | Solution | National 1 | Solution | National 2 | National 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Link | Link | Link | Link | ||
| 2024 | Link | Link | Link | Link | ||
| 2023 | Original New | Link | Link | Link | ||
| 2022 | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 2021 | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | |
| 2020 | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | |
| 2019 | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 2018 | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 2017 | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 2016 | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 2015 | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | |
| 2014 | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | |
| 2013 | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | |
| 2012 | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | |
| 2011 | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | |
| 2010 | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | |
| 2009 | Link | Link | Link | Link | ||
| 2008 | Link | Link | Link | Link | ||
| 2007 | Link | Link | Link | Link | ||
| 2006 | Link | Link | Link | Link | ||
| 2005 | Link | Link | Link | Link | ||
| 2004 | Link | Link | Link | Link | ||
| 2003 | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | |
| 2002 | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | |
| 2001 | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | |
| 2000 | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | |
| 1999 | Link | Link | Link | Link | ||
| 1998 | Link |