How to be an Olympian Nerd

I imagine a disgruntled descendant of Aristotle came up with the idea of holding Olympics for nerds. He was probably sick of his muscular halfwit cousins stealing all the glory. Today, Olympiads are basically exams for students who really really like exams. The International Science Olympiads are annual events where the most brilliant high school students from all around the world compete to demonstrate their knowledge in various areas of science. But hold your horses – you can’t just drop by at one of these international Olympiads. Here is how it works.

Olympiad = Outstanding
Bangladesh sends teams to the International Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, Informatics and Earth Sciences Olympiads. Consequently, we have national level Olympiads for the aforementioned. Most schools select students and provide some extra coaching to send them to the divisional rounds of these Olympiads. However, don’t worry if you’re a private student or your school doesn’t send students to the divisional rounds, you can register online on the websites of the specific Olympiads. Once you excel in the divisional round you move on to the national round. From there, if you’re one of the top scorers, you go to a training camp and then finally to the International Olympiad. The standards of these competitions are incredibly high and you really must be well versed in your subject of choice if you want to succeed.

Olympiad Offers
Why go through all this trouble? It looks stunning on your university application. If you manage to snag a bronze medal or even an honourable mention at an International Olympiad, you are almost guaranteed admission into the top notch universities from around the world. Even if you don’t win anything, the experience is unforgettable. The National Olympiads are usually whole-day affairs: they’re not just examinations, they’re more like a festival of science. There are lectures, discussions, Q/As, food and you can meet and mingle with likeminded science nerds. At the end of it, there might not be a wreath of olive leaves for you but I promise it’ll be worth your while.

Overachieving Olympian
If you’re determined to be the best, it’s going to be a long and tedious journey. Most of the divisional rounds are already over so you can start preparing for next year. First step, go to the website of the Olympiad you want to participate in and look at the syllabus for your level (SSC/O Level or HSC/A Level). If your school has covered the syllabus, you just have to revise; otherwise you’ll need to self-study. Remember, while memorising facts is important, Olympiads test your ability of analytical thinking as well. So it won’t hurt to go outside the syllabus to dig a little deeper into the subject matter in order to improve your understanding. Once you’ve mastered the syllabus, you can practice the papers which are usually available on the website for the Olympiad. For more guidance, tips and help with your preparation you can check out scienceolympiadsbd.blogspot.com. Lastly, keep in mind that Olympiad questions are usually multiple choice and there is negative marking; you should also time yourself while solving papers.

With the Biochemistry Olympiad coming up on March 20, it’s still not too late (for the registered students) to start preparing. Good luck!